Joseph de Longueil

Joseph de Longueil was an artist and printmaker active during the mid-18th century, with his documented professional output spanning the years 1730 to 1770. His primary medium was the print, reflecting the era’s demand for high-quality, illustrative, and narrative engravings.

Longueil's work often engaged with contemporary genre scenes, social morality, and literary themes. His documented catalog includes the suggestive scene Dangerous Caresses and the contrasting moral narrative, Le retour a la vertu. He also contributed to major illustration projects, evidenced by prints such as Lafontaine Tales, Amsterdam, and the calendar illustration Decembre, which was part of the Almanach iconologique. Another recorded title is Jonge man probeert een dame te verleiden.

The importance of Joseph de Longueil prints is attested by their inclusion in major international collections. Six of his prints are currently represented in prominent museum collections, including the Rijksmuseum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), and the National Gallery of Art (NGA). Today, many of these museum-quality prints are available in the public domain, providing researchers and enthusiasts with access to downloadable artwork that exemplifies 18th-century printmaking techniques.