Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald - a multifaceted publisher

[...] Mr. O[stervald], on the other hand, loves the much more aesthetic business of visiting the friendliest sons of fair Minerva, the artists and painters everywhere on his travels and enjoying the same beautiful works in their studios. [Translated by the author/DeepL]

Letter from Sigmund Wagner and David Hess dated 17.10.1816, in: Neujahrsblatt der Künstlergesellschaft in Zürich, 1890, p. 12

With these words, the Bernese publisher Sigmund Wagner (1759-1835) described his long-standing friend Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald (1773-1850) from Neuchâtel. At the beginning of the 19th century, the art lover Ostervald became one of the most important Swiss publishers of Voyages pittoresques: by targeting an international clientele, Ostervald made an important contribution to the spread of images of the Swiss Alpine region throughout Europe. The publisher commissioned numerous Kleinmeister to execute his works in Neuchâtel and Paris, making him a key figure in Swiss art production.

In 1800, a unique large-scale project in the Alps aroused the interest of Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald: on the Simplon Pass, Napoleon Bonaparte had the first artificial road in the Alps built, which was opened in 1805. As the area was of great military importance to Napoleon, he wanted to develop this Alpine pass for fast and safe crossings.

The new Simplon road was also a stroke of luck for tourism: the pass could finally be traveled comfortably by stagecoach. As a trained cartographer who was involved in surveying and designing the terrain in Neuchâtel at the time, but also as a trained businessman, Ostervald recognized the potential of an illustrated travel guide about the new pass road on the Simplon.

Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald had not learned the trade of publishing. But as a great art lover, he had good contacts with Swiss artists. These were to help him realize his idea of a magnificent book on the Simplon route: Ostervald managed to win over the well-known Bernese Kleinmeister Gabriel Ludwig Lory (known as Lory père), his son Mathias Gabriel Lory (known as Lory fils) and Maximilien de Meuron from Neuchâtel for his project. To this end, the two Bernese moved to Neuchâtel in 1805 and set up a studio there, where they themselves and other workshop employees worked on the realization of the illustrated book dedicated to the Simplon route.

On behalf of Jean-Frédéric d'Ostevald, the young artist friends Gabriel Lory fils and Maximilien de Meuron set off on a journey over the Simplon to Lago Maggiore and Italy in the summer of 1809. Along the way, the two made drawings that Ostervald wanted to use for his planned Voyage pittoresque de Genève à Milan par le Simplon. In his travel journal, Maximilien de Meuron reports on the new pass road and the imposing mountain scenery:

The Chalbet gallery is 44 steps long. If you turn around before entering it, you can enjoy a magnificent view. Brig appears in the distance, at the foot of the Valais mountains, above which the glaciers of the canton of Bern rise majestically. [Translated by the author/DeepL]

Travel journal of Maximilien de Meuron, July to August 1809, Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel, AEN, MEURON MAXIMILIEN DE-40/02, July 19, p. 25

This drawing of the stone bridge at Baveno on Lake Maggiore was made by Maximilien de Meuron (or Gabriel Lory fils). It was probably created in the summer of 1809 during the joint trip over the Simplon Pass to Italy with Lory fils. The depiction was included as Vue du Pont de Baveno et de l'Isola Madre in Ostervald's Voyage pittoresque de Genève à Milan par Simplon.

The imprint of the Voyage pittoresque de Genève à Milan par le Simplon tells us that it was published in 1811 and offered for sale in Paris, Swiss cities and various European metropolises such as Amsterdam, Milan and Mannheim.

For many travelers to Switzerland, Mont Blanc was also a great source of fascination in the Alps: at 4810 m, it is the highest mountain in the Alps and was long considered unconquerable in the 18th century. The Geneva natural scientist Horace Bénédict de Saussure (1744-1790) wanted to change this: In 1760, he promised a reward for those who would be the first to succeed in climbing the mountain. It was not until 1786 that the two alpinists, Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard, reached the summit; one year later, de Saussure himself also scaled Mont Blanc. Thanks to these and other expeditions, the area became one of the most popular hotspots in the Alps around 1800:

Since then, Chamouny has been the destination of Swiss travelers, especially the English and French, in the same way as the Bernese Oberland [...]. [Translated by the author/DeepL]

Karl Baedeker, Die Schweiz. Handbüchlein für Reisende, Koblenz 1844, p. 336, https://mdz-nbn-resolving.de/details:bsb11156164 [21.02.2025]

A trip to the Mont Blanc region usually started in Geneva and led first to Chamonix, from where the impressive mountains, glaciers and waterfalls of the region could be explored. As a popular destination for English and French travelers, this region was an attractive motif for another publishing project by Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald: for this, he once again teamed up with Gabriel Lory père and Gabriel Lory fils and published a short album depicting the valley of Chamonix in 1815 with the title Voyage pittoresque aux glaciers de Chamouni (1815). In 1826, he expanded the work with numerous additional views by various artists and published a new edition under the title Voyage pittoresque dans la Vallée de Chamouny et autour du Mont-Blanc (1826).

Around 1820, Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald settled in Paris and ran his publishing business from there. The location in the French capital was ideal for him: the artists who worked on his published works were able to combine their work in Ostervald's studio with participation in important exhibitions and their artistic training in Paris. At the same time, the publisher in Paris was now in the middle of one of Europe's cultural centers and could hope for an interested and wealthy clientele for his works.

In 1822, a whole group of Schweizer Kleinmeister gathered in Paris at Ostervald's studio. Many of them exhibited their works of art that year at the so-called "Salon" - the most important exhibition in Paris - and at the same time collaborated on the publisher's Voyages pittoresques. Ludwig Rullmann (1765-1822) captured this group of artists working around Ostervald in a portrait in 1822.

Rose has made progress in painting. Her first attempts at drawing from life surprise me with the ease of her drawing and the truthfulness of the trees' characteristics. [Translated by the author/DeepL]

Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald to Maximlien de Meuron, Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel, MEURON MAXIMILIEN DE-52/01, letter dated 18. October 1813, fol. 2r

Based on the social conventions of the time, the surviving sources and the interest of historiography, we know today mainly of men who were active as Schweizer Kleinmeister. However, Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald's network also includes a woman who painted landscapes and views of Switzerland: we are talking about Rose d'Ostervald (1796-1831), the publisher's eldest daughter. Even as a child, she showed a good eye for rendering landscapes and was taught various artistic techniques by Maximilien de Meuron, Gabriel Lory fils and Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz. Like her male colleagues, she traveled through Europe and captured her motifs along the way. She exhibited her paintings in Geneva at the Musée Rath (1826) and at the Paris Salon (1831) and collaborated on her father's publications as well as those of other publishers. Rose was therefore a successful artist about whom we can still learn a lot.

Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald's Voyages pittoresques not only catered to the interest in the Swiss mountains, but also to the enthusiasm for antiquity at the time. Around 1800, the upper classes in particular traveled to Italy and Greece, discussed ancient culture and admired art from this era.

On this subject, the publisher published the work Voyage pittoresque en Sicile from 1822-1826, which was his most ambitious project with almost 100 views of the Mediterranean island of Sicily and a detailed accompanying text. Various of the Kleinmeisterknown to us were also involved, as well as English and French artists and the English architect and archaeologist Charles Robert Cockerell (1788-1863).

As the production of the Voyage pittoresque en Sicile was very complex and expensive, the work was traded at high prices as a luxury product. Only wealthy people could afford such magnificent works of art. A "Liste des Souscripteurs" for Ostervald's Voyage pittoresque en Sicile reveals that the publisher was able to attract precisely this clientele: In addition to kings and aristocrats, collectors and art dealers also added their names to this order list for the 24 deliveries of the work.

For 20 years he [Ostervald] was in Neuchâtel the sun that warmed all who had talent there for the arts. Now he has been in Rouen for 2 years, where he is at the head of a large trading house with his brother-in-law and a third associate, which has its sub-bureaux in almost all countries and parts of the world. [Translated by the author/DeepL]

Letter from Sigmund Wagner and David Hess dated October 17, 1816, in: Neujahrsblatt der Künstlergesellschaft in Zürich, 1890, p. 12

The publishing business was not Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald's only professional activity: from 1810-1820, he also worked as a textile merchant in France. Ostervald was a trained merchant and was well connected to the Neuchâtel textile industry through his family connections. In the 18th century, this industry specialized in the production and trade of so-called Indiennes. These were printed cotton fabrics that were produced according to patterns from India and then traded on the European and West African markets. This means that part of the production was fed into the triangular trade. Through this trade, consumer goods were exchanged for people in West Africa, who in turn were sold to plantation owners in the American colonies as workers.

Another interest of Jean-Frédéric d'Ostervald was cartography: after studying geography and mathematics, he worked from 1800-1810 as commissioner general of Neuchâtel, overseeing the work of surveying the principality. He also worked as a cartographer himself and published the Carte de la Principauté de Neuchâtel levée de 1801 à 1806 [...] in 1811.

Even after returning to his homeland in 1836, following many years in Paris, Ostervald continued to develop new cartographic projects. Jean-Frédéric d’Ostervald is remembered as a talented cartographer, but his Voyages pittoresques also reveal him to have been an important publisher who skillfully catered to the varied tastes of his international clientele.