The Dorville family<\/h3>\n
Armand Isaac Dorville was born on July 18, 1887 in Paris. He came from a distinguished and influential family.<\/p>\n
His father, L\u00e9on Albert Dorville, was a banker and ran a Jewish relief organization founded by his own father, Armand\u2019s grandfather. Armand\u2018s mother, L\u00e9onie Monteaux, was from a banking family from Avignon. Armand Dorville had two sisters, Jeanne and Valentine, and a brother, Charles.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
War and Peace<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Black](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Faculte-de-droit-de-lUniversite-de-Paris-bibliotheque-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Facult\u00e9-de-droit-de-l'Universit\u00e9-de-Paris-biblioth\u00e8que\\"")
<\/span>Library of the Faculty of Law, Universit\u00e9 de Paris-Sorbonne.<\/div>
Biblioth\u00e8que num\u00e9rique de la Sorbonne, https:\/\/nubis.bis-sorbonne.fr\/ark:\/15733\/mjs<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Studies and career<\/h3>\n
After gaining his high school diploma Armand Dorville matriculated at the Faculty of Law in Paris and specialized in trade law. In 1901 he wrote his doctoral thesis, which won a prize. Dorville was subsequently secretary of the Bar Council and established a career in a private law firm.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Black](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Franzoesisches-Militaer-1916-BA-Bild-183-S27820-e1736341730911.jpg\" "\\"Western")
<\/span>French soldiers proceed to the front during World War One, 1916.<\/div>
Federal Archives, picture 183-S27820<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Military service<\/h3>\n
In 1914 Dorville was conscripted for military service. He was wounded at the front near Tournai and taken captive. However, he managed to escape and returned to his regiment. He was promoted several times before the end of World War One and had been made an officer by 1918.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Black](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Armand-Dorville-mit-Nichte-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Armand-Dorville-with-niece\\"")
<\/span>\u201cUncle Armand\u201d. Dorville had no children of his own, but he had several nieces.<\/div>
Family collection<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
A good life<\/h3>\n
After the war, Dorville returned to his life in Paris. He was successful, committed to social causes, and interested in art and culture. He traveled extensively, for example to Damascus in 1925 and the Soviet Union in 1926. He wrote about his travels in the satirical magazine Le Figaro and in the daily newspaper Le Temps.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Art and Culture<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Colour](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rue-Edouard-Detaille-Paris-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Rue-Edouard-Detaille-Paris\\"")
<\/span>Rue \u00c9duard-Detaille, Paris (photo from 2019). Dorville used to live at number 4, in the left-hand house at the back.<\/div>
CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikipedia<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Oil](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Forain-Portrait-de-femme.jpg\" "\\"Forain-Portrait-de-femme\\"")
<\/span>From the Dorville Collection: Portrait of a Lady by Jean-Louis Forain, 1886, restituted 2020.<\/div>
Kunstmuseum Bern und Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland GmbH \/ Mick Vincenz \ud83d\udd0d Hover over image to enlarge <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Oil](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Vuillard-Promenade-1962Ma056-Gliese-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Vuillard-Promenade-1962Ma056-Tiles\\"")
<\/span>\u00c9douard Vuillard: La Promenade. Le Square des Batignolles, c. 1898\/1899. Acquired after restitution in 2023 with the support of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Kulturstiftung der L\u00e4nder. Clemens Sels Museum Neuss.<\/div>
Photo: Carsten Gliese, Cologne \ud83d\udd0d Hover over image to enlarge<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The Impressionist collection<\/h3>\n
Armand Dorville lived in a town house in rue \u00c9douard-Detaille in Paris. This is where he kept his precious art collection. It included around 450 paintings by famous artists such as Renoir, Manet, Signac, Daumier, Degas, Rodin, and many others.<\/p>\n
The collection was known to museums and Dorville was active as a patron and donor. He had particularly close links with the Mus\u00e9e des Arts D\u00e9coratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts) in Paris; the museum received a generous bequest after his death.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Colour](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Barreau-de-Paris-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Barreau-de-Paris\\"")
<\/span>Headquarters of the Paris Bar Association (photo from 2013).<\/div>
Miguel Hermoso Cuesta. CC BY-SA 3.0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
In addition to painting and the fine arts, Dorville was also interested in books and legal history. He was a member of the \u201cAssociation des Bibliophiles du Palais\u201d (Bibliophiles Association at the Law Courts) founded in 1923, which devoted itself to particularly rare and valuable books by lawyers and politicians. In 1928 he joined the \u201cCommission des recherches historiques du Barreau de Paris\u201d, a historical research organization within the Paris Bar Association.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Colour](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Cubjac-chateau-Sudrie-Pere-Igor.jpg\")
<\/div>
Ch\u00e2teau de la Sudrie, Cubjac, Dordogne (photo from 2014).<\/div>
P\u00e8re Igor. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia commons<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Colour](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Cubjac-chateau-de-la-Sudrie-2014-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>
Ch\u00e2teau de la Sudrie, Cubjac, Dordogne (photo from 2014).<\/div>
P\u00e8re Igor. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia commons<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Painting.](\"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pissarro-Place-La-Roche-Guyon-SMB.jpg\" "\\"Pissarro-Place-La-Roche-Guyon-SMB\\"")
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