He also served as collecting advisor and buying agent for American art collector Louisine Havemeyer.

Together, the two men visited Japan, China, Mongolia, Java, and Indonesia in an effort to collect art objects and artworks.

Upon his return to Paris, Duret published his Voyage en Asie in 1873, which documented the collector's travels and purchases throughout Asia.

Although Duret recounts his personal travels in Voyage en Asie, he also comments on the family structures, languages, and religious practices of the countries he visited.

Acclaimed when exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1885, it was ranked by many as the best portrait of Duret painted by any of the great Realist artists of the period.