Paul CHENAY

Paul Chenay (1848-1906) lived a long life and was primarily a reproductive etcher.  As a matter of fact he  worked quite often for the Chalcographie du Louvre, interpreting other artists’s work in etched format.  As many in his trade, he too has been largely forgotten, regarded mostly as a hired hand, rather than an artist.  The person in charge in the 1960s to compile under Jean Adhémar in the printed inventory of the Bibliothèque Nationale specifically the work of Chenay, wrote the following brief commentary in the introduction to his work: “he must not be completely forgotten because he engraved with drawings of Victor Hugo in 1863. While in Guernsey around the same time, he also drew two portraits of the master, of whom he was the brother-in-law, and one of which is with his wife.