Gustave Doré

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doré photographed by Felix Nadar.

Paul Gustave Doré (January 6, 1832 – January 23, 1883) was a French artist, engraver, and illustrator. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving, of which he remains the most popular master.

1 Life
2 Works
3 Gallery
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Life

Doré was born in Strasbourg and his first illustrated story was published at the age of fifteen. Doré began work as a literary illustrator in Paris. Dore's commissions include works by Rabelais, Balzac, and Dante. In 1853 Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron. This commission was followed by additional work for British publishers, including a new illustrated English Bible. Doré also illustrated an oversized edition of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. The Doré illustrated edition of The Raven is the first edition of Poe's most recognized poem.

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (1855)

Doré's English Bible (1866) was a great success, and in 1867 Doré had a major exhibition of his work in London. This exhibition led to the foundation of the Doré Gallery in New Bond Street.

In 1869, Blanchard Jerrold, the son of Douglas William Jerrold, suggested that they work together to produce a comprehensive portrait of London. Jerrold had got the idea from The Microcosm of London produced by Rudolph Ackermann, William Pyne, and Thomas Rowlandson in 1808.

Doré signed a five-year project with the publishers Grant & Co that involved his staying in London for three months a year. He was paid the vast sum of £10,000 a year for his work. The book, London: A Pilgrimage, with 180 engravings, was published in 1872.

London: A Pilgrimage enjoyed commercial success, but the work was disliked by many contemporary critics. Some critics were concerned with the fact that Doré appeared to focus on poverty that existed in London. Dorée was accused by the Art Journal of "inventing rather than copying." The Westminster Review claimed that "Doré gives us sketches in which the commonest, the vulgarest external features are set down."

Doré illustrated several fairy tales: Cendrillon (or Cinderella).

A Doré wood engraving illustration from The Divine Comedy.

Over London by Rail, c. 1870. From London: A Pilgrimage.

London: A Pilgrimage was a financial success, and Doré received commissions from other British publishers. Doré's later works included Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Milton's Paradise Lost, Tennyson's The Idylls of the King, The Works of Thomas Hood, and The Divine Comedy. His work also appeared in the Illustrated London News. Doré continued to illustrate books until his death in Paris in 1883. He is buried in the city's Père Lachaise Cemetery.

[edit] Works

Doré was a prolific artist and it is difficult to compile a comprehensive bibliography. Blanche Roosevelt (1885, pp 241-243) listed the following titles:

In the autumn of 1857 he illustrated Ed. de La Bédollière's Nouveau Paris, Histoire de ses 20 Arrondissements, 1 vol in 4to, with 150 drawings, published by Barba. Also, Aline, Journal d'un Jeune Homme, with one large page of illustrations, written by Valéry Vernier, and published by Dentu.
The next work was a translation from Mayne Reid, called L'Habitation du Désert, 1 vol. in 16mo, published at Hachette's, by A. Le François, 60 drawings (footnote: The above are American works (names of translators not given) and are at present in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.)
La Fille du Grand Chieftain, by Ann S. Stevens, 1 vol., 15 drawings.
Flêche d'Or, M. V. Victor, 1 vol., 13 drawings.
L'Ange des Frontières, by E. S. Ellis, 1 vol., 10 drawings.
Les Vierges de la Forêt, by N. W. Buxted, 1 vol., 10 drawings

The above were published one after the other during the years 1860 to 1862.

The Tempest (Shakespeare), published in London in 1860, 1 vol. in 4to.
Les Figures du Temps, with biographical notice (Paris, 1861), 1 vol. in 12mo.
Les Chansons d'Autrefois, by Plouvier and Vincent (Paris: Coulon and Pineau, 1861), in 12mo.
Le Roi des Montagnes, by Ed. About, fifth edition, 1 vol in 8vo (Hachette and Co., Paris; 1861), 157 drawings, with eleven not in the text.
Les Mythologies du Rhin, by Saintine (Paris: Hachette, 1862), 1 vol. in 8vo, illustrated with 165 drawings; six more than required by the text.
L'Espagne, Mœurs et Paysages, by Godard, Paris, 2 vols in 8vo (Paris, 1862).
Les États Unis et le Mexique, by Malted (Brun, Paris, 1862), 1 vol. in 4to.
Histoire aussi intéressante qu'invraisemblable de l'intrépide Capitaine Castagnette, neveu de l'Homme à la Tête de Bois, 1 vol. in 4to, illustrated by 43 wood engravings (Hachette, 1862).
Aventures du Baron de Münchausen, traduction nouvelle par Théophile Gautier fils, 1 vol. (London, 1866).
In 1863 Gustave began his season by M. Épiné's Légende de Croquemitaine, 1 vol. in 4to, published by Hachette, illustrated by 177 wood engravings. This book was of such importance that an edition for private circulation was printed on vellum paper. It was also brought out in London in 1866.
His next work was La Chasse au Lion et à la Panthère, by Gastineau, 1 vol. in 8vo, completely illustrated (Hachette and Co., 1863).
Don Quixote de la Mancha, translation by Louis Viardot, 2 vols. folio, was the great work of 1863 (Hachette and Co.), 370 drawings. London: Cassell and Co.
Les Contes de Perrault, was begun in 1862, but not published until 1863, at Hetzels. This is the celebrated work which had a preface by S. P. State, and over 100 drawings. (Id., Los Cuentos de Perrault, in Spanish, published by Ledouse, 1863.)
De Paris en Afrique, by Gastineau (Paris, 1865), 1 vol. in 12mo,—drawings.
L'Histoire d'un Minute, by A. Masse, 1 vol., 12mo (Paris, 1865).
Victor Hugo's Travailleurs de la Mer, also in 1866, brought out by Sampson Low and Co., in London.
Cressy and Poitiers, by E. Edgar (London, 1865), 1 vol. in 8vo, over 50 drawings.
L'Épicurien, by Thomas Moore (French translation: Paris, 1865), in 8vo, freely illustrated.
Falmy Realm (London, 1865), in folio.
Le Chevalier Beautemps, by Quatrelles; Preface, Alex. Dumas fils (Paris, 1865), grand in 8vo.
Atala, by Châteaubriand (Hachette Edition, 1865), 2 vols, grand folio, 80 drawings.
1866 begins with Théophile Gautier's Le Capitaine Fracasse, published by Charpentier, and illustrated with 60 large drawings, 1 vol. grand in 8vo.
Histoire de la Guerre en Mexique, by G. La Bédollière (Paris, 1866), in 4to,—drawings.
Dante's Il Purgatorio ed il Paradiso, Hachette and Co., 1867.
Le Chemin des Écoliers, by Saintine (Hachette and Co.), 1 vol. in 8vo,—drawings (1866).
La Sainte Bible, according to the Vulgate, new translation, 2 vols. grand in folio (1866), over 200 illustrations. Mame, publisher, Tours; Cassell and Co., England.
Paradise Lost, by John Milton, edited by Cassell and Co. (London, 1866).
La France et la Russie, by La Bédollière (Paris, 1867).
Les Fables de Lafontaine, 2 vols. in folio (Hachette and Co.), 8 large and 250 small plates, 1867.
Les Pays-bas et la Belgique (Paris 1867), in 8vo, fully illustrated.
Thomas Hood's Poems (London, 1870: Ward and Lock), 2 vols. in folio.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Coleridge, grand in 4to (1870), 40 large and 3 small drawings.
New edition of Rabelais, 2 vols. in folio (Paris, 1873: Garnier). London: Chatto and Windus, 1873.
The Droll Stories, by Balzac, London: John Camden Hotten Bright, sans datum c1874, 425 illustrations.
London, by Louis Ernaut, 174 wood engravings, (Hachette and Co., 1876), 1 vol. in 4to.
L'Espagne, by Baron Ch. Davilliers, illustrated with 309 wood-engravings (Hachette and Co., 1874), in 4to. London: Sampson Low and Co.
Michaud's Histoire des Croisades, 1875 (Paris: Hachette and Co.), 2 volumes, medium folio, 100 grand compositions.
The Idyls of the King, Tennyson, 36 drawings, Hachette and Co. (London: Ward and Lock).
Orlando furioso (Ariosto), in 1877, was the last great classic ever illustrated by the prolific artist.
The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe, New York: Harper & Bros., 1884, Folio, 26 large steel engravings.
Dante's Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, New York: Belford, Clark & Co., 1885, 70 woodcut plate illustrations.

[edit] Gallery

Little Red Ridinghood	The Creation of Light	Jonah and the Whale	The Deluge
The Destruction of Leviathan	illustration to the Divine Comedy	illustration to the Divine Comedy	illustration to the Divine Comedy
"The Empyrean", illustration to the Divine Comedy	Baron Munchausen	The Ancient Mariner	Illustration to Orlando furioso
Illustration to Orlando furioso	Illustration to Paradise Lost	Illustration to "The Raven"	Andromeda

[edit] References

Delorme, Rene (1879) Gustave Doré. Paris: Librairie d’Art (80 illustrations, earliest photogravures of Dore paintings)
Roosevelt, Blanche (1885) Life and Reminiscence of Gustave Doré. New York: Cassell & Co., Ltd. (141 illustrations)
Jerrold, Blanchard (1891) The Life of Gustave Doré. London: W. H. Allen & Co., Ltd. (138 illustrations)
Valmy-Baysse, J. (1930) Gustave Doré - L’Art et la Vie. Paris: Editions Marcel Seheur (314 illustrations)
Deze, Louis (1930) Gustave Doré - Bibliographie et catalogue complet de l’oeuvre. Paris: Editions Marcel Seheur (103 illustrations)
LeBlanc, Henri (1931) Catalogue de l’oeuvre complet de Gustave Doré. Paris: Ch. Bosse (30 illustrations)
Farner, Konrad (1963) Gustave Doré der Industrialisierte Romantiker (2V) Dresden: Verlag der Kunst (521 illustrations, reprinting most of the Delorme photogravures)
(1983) Gustave Doré 1832-1883. Strasbourg: Musee d’Art Moderne (exhibition book: 591 illustrations)
Renonciat, Annie (1983) La vie et l’oeuvre de Gustave Doré. Paris: ACR Edition (343 illustrations)
Malan, Dan (1995) Gustave Doré, Adrift on Dreams of Splendor. St. Louis: MCE Publishing Co. (500 illustrations)
(due 9/2006) Fantasy & Faith: the Art of Gustave Doré. New Haven: Yale University Press (exhibition book: 160 illustrations, 120 in full-color)