(b Paris, 13 Feb 1755; d Paris, 22 Sept 1832). French painter and printmaker. He was a protégé of Gabriel-Christophe Allegrain and was taught by Joseph-Marie Vien. His own preference was for genre painting in the Flemish style. In 1781 he was approved (agréé) as a member of the Académie Royale, Paris, on the basis of several works to be exhibited at that year’s Salon; among these, the Charitable Gentleman (Paris, Gal. Cailleux) is a moralistic scene clearly inspired by Jean-Baptiste Greuze but using the technique of Isaack van Ostade. The pictures Debucourt exhibited at the Salons of 1783 and 1785 continued to draw their inspiration from Flemish art, then very popular in Paris, while remaining faithful to the realities of French peasant life. One of these works, The King’s Act of Charity and Humanity (untraced; engraved in 1787 by Laurent Guyot), was accepted for exhibition in 1785 only after Debucourt had, by royal command, changed the title and made Louis XVI less easy to recognize.

• Debucourt, Philibert-Louis
  • Gouache manner, §2: History
  • Norblin de la Gourdaine, Jan Piotr
  • pupils
    • Garneray: (2) Louis Garneray
    • Jazet, Jean-Pierre-Marie
  • works
    • Aquatint, §2(i): Experiments and prototypes, c 1650–c 1760
    • Caricature, §1(ii): Western, 1720–1870
    • Prints, §III, 5: Technical processes: Mixed and experimental
    • Prints, §III, 6(ii)(a): Colour printing, 15th–18th centuries