Louis Victor Bevalet Biography

Louis Victor Bevalet (1808-1887) was a French illustrator who specialised in scientific illustrations and taxidermy.

His father, Antoine Germain Bevalet (1783/84-1864) was also an artist; his mother, Anne Marie Patin, died shortly after his birth. 

Bevalet married Sophie Augustine Gaffet in 1841 in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. 

Bevalet was a student of Nicolas Geneviève Huet and Pierre-Joseph Redouté. 

Between 1835 and 1836, he participated as a draftsman and preparator on a scientific voyage to Iceland and Greenland on the French corvette Recherche, under the command of Joseph Paul Gaimard. Several volumes of the voyage were later published under the title 'Voyage en Islande et au Groënland exécuté pendant les années 1835 et 1836'. 

Another expedition followed from 1838 to 1840 under Captain Jean Jacques Louis Fabvre (1800-1864) to Scandinavia, Lapland, Spitsbergen and the Faroe Islands. Here he wintered in Altafjord while conducting research. Several volumes about this journey were published under the title 'Voyages en Scandinavie, en Laponie, au Spitzberg et aux Feröe, pendant les années 1838, 1839, 1840 sur la corvette la Recherche'. Some of his plates from both journeys can also be found in the illustrated atlases of the travels.

Bevalet was a member of the Société littéraire d'Islande and of the Comité central des artistes, founded in 1848. For his services, he was awarded John the Knighthood of the Order of Vasa by King Charles XIV.