John Simon (engraver)

He was born in Normandy of a Huguenot family about 1675, and studied line engraving in Paris. Coming as a refugee to England early in the reign of Queen Anne, he took up mezzotint, which was then in vogue, with great success.[1]

Simon worked until about 1742, and died on 22 September 1751.[1]

Simon was a rival to John Smith, producing numerous portraits of royal and other distinguished personages. He worked from pictures by Godfrey Kneller, Michael Dahl, Thomas Gibson, Thomas Murray, Philip Mercier, Enoch Seeman, and others; he also engraved the Raphael Cartoons. He took biblical, historical, and decorative subjects from Louis Laguerre, Watteau, Barocci, and Rosalba.[1]

The Mahican Etow Oh Koam, one of the Four Mohawk Kings, after Jan Verelst.

Simon published some of his prints himself at addresses around Covent Garden. He also worked for Edward Cooper, John Overton, Thomas Bowles, and other printsellers.[1]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Simon.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Simon, John (1675?-1751)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

• Bénézit, Emmanuel, ed. (1976) [1924]. "Simon (Jean)". Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays (in French). 9. Paris: Gründ. p. 612. ISBN 2-7000-0157-5. OCLC 1148831420 – via the Internet Archive.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Muller, Kevin R. (Fall 2008). "From Palace to Longhouse: Portraits of the Four Indian Kings in a Transatlantic Context". American Art. 22 (3): 26–49. doi:10.1086/595806. JSTOR 10.1086/595806. S2CID 159984142.
• Sharp, Richard (2004). "Simon, John". In Matthew, H. C. G. & Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 50. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 659–660. ISBN 0198614004. OCLC 1035757202 – via the Internet Archive.
• Smith, John Chaloner (1884). British Mezzotinto Portraits. 3. London: H. Sotheran. pp. 1060–1130. OCLC 679810041 – via the Internet Archive.
• Wax, Carol (1990). The Mezzotint: History and Technique. New York: H. N. Abrams. p. 28. ISBN 0810936038 – via Google Books.