Gustave Doré

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Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell, Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; Template:IPA; 6Template:SpacesJanuary 1832 – 23Template:SpacesJanuary 1883) was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravings illustrating classic literature, especially those for the Vulgate Bible and Dante's Divine Comedy. These achieved great international success, and he became renowned for printmaking, although his role was normally as the designer only; at the height of his career some 40 block-cutters were employed to cut his drawings onto the wooden printing blocks, usually also signing the image.<ref>Template:Britannica</ref>

He created over 10,000Template:Spacesillustrations, the most important of which were copied using an electrotype process using cylinder presses, allowing very large print runs to be published simultaneously in many countries.<ref>Mayor, Hyatt A., Prints and People, Metropolitan Museum of Art/Princeton, 1971, no. 677, Template:ISBN</ref>

Although Doré's work was popular with the general public during his life, it was met with mixed reviews from contemporary art critics. His work has been more widely celebrated in the centuries following his death. Among his admirers were writers H. P. Lovecraft and Théophile Gautier.

Biography

File:Carolus-Duran, Portrait de Gustave Doré, StrasbourgMAMCS (2).JPG
Doré by Carolus-Duran (1877)

Doré was born in Strasbourg on 6Template:SpacesJanuary 1832. At the age ofTemplate:Spaces15, he began his career working as a caricaturist for the French paper Le journal pour rire.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The illustrations of J. J. Grandville have been noted as an influence on his work.<ref name="Rose (2020)">Rose, Cynthia. 2020. J. J. Grandvill: A Matter of Line and Death. The Comics Journal. (accessed 19 July 2022)</ref> Wood-engraving was his primary method at this time.<ref>"Books: A Living History" by Martin Lyons</ref> In the late 1840s and early 1850s, he made several text comics, like Les Travaux d'Hercule (1847), Trois artistes incompris et mécontents (1851), Les Dés-agréments d'un voyage d'agrément (1851) and L'Histoire de la Sainte Russie (1854). Doré subsequently went on to win commissions to depict scenes from books by Cervantes, Rabelais, Balzac, Milton, and Dante.

In 1853 Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron.<ref>Complete Works of Lord Byron illustrated by Ch. Mettais, Bocourt, G. Doré. Published by J. Bry, Paris, 1853. The version at archive.org is in French. The illustrations are not attributed to any one of the three named on the title-page. A handwritten note at pageTemplate:Spaces5 remarks that another edition of 1856 made no mention of Doré among the illustrators, but his designs still appeared in the book.</ref> This commission was followed by additional work for British publishers, including a new illustrated Bible. In 1854 he illustrated Gargantua et Pantagruel. In 1856 he produced 12Template:Spacesfolio-size illustrations of The Legend of The Wandering Jew, which propagated longstanding antisemitic views of the time,<ref>Richard S. Levy, Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution, Volume 1, Oxford 2005, p 186</ref> for a short poem which Pierre-Jean de Béranger had derived from a novel of Eugène Sue of 1845.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Paris-dumas-monument01.jpg
d'Artagnan on Doré's monument to Alexandre Dumas, père in Paris

In the 1860s he illustrated a French edition of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and his depictions of the knight and his squire, Sancho Panza, became so famous that they influenced subsequent readers, artists, and stage and film directors' ideas of the physical "look" of the two characters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Doré also illustrated an oversized edition of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", an endeavor that earned him 30,000Template:Spacesfrancs from publisher Harper & Brothers in 1883.<ref>Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. p. 252. Template:ISBN</ref>

The government of France made him a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1861.<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>

File:Doré by Nadar 1867 cropped.jpg
Doré in 1867 by Nadar

Doré's illustrations for the Bible (1866) were a great success, and in 1867 he had a major exhibition of his work in London. This exhibition led to the foundation of the Doré Gallery in Bond Street, London.<ref>McQueen, A. "Gustave Doré," in Nineteenth-Century Art, Highlights from the Tanenbaum Collection, London: 2015, p. 54.</ref> In 1869, Blanchard Jerrold, the son of Douglas William Jerrold, suggested that they work together to produce a comprehensive portrait of London. Jerrold had obtained the idea from The Microcosm of London produced by Rudolph Ackermann, William Pyne, and Thomas Rowlandson (published in three volumes from 1808 to 1810).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Doré signed a five-year contract with the publishers Grant & Co that involved his staying in London for three months a year, and he received the vast sum of £10,000 a year for the project. Doré was celebrated for his paintings in his day, but his wood-engravings, like those he did for Jerrold, are where he excelled as an artist with an individual vision.Template:Citation needed

The completed book London: A Pilgrimage, with 180Template:Spaceswood engravings, was published in 1872. It enjoyed commercial and popular success, but the work was disliked by some contemporary British critics, as it appeared to focus on the poverty that existed in parts of London. Doré was accused by The Art Journal of "inventing rather than copying."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Westminster Review claimed that "Doré gives us sketches in which the commonest, the vulgarest external features are set down."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> But they impressed Vincent van Gogh, who painted a version of the Prisoners' Round in 1890, the year of his death. The book was a financial success, however, and Doré received commissions from other British publishers.Template:Citation needed

Doré's later work included illustrations for new editions of Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Milton's Paradise Lost, Tennyson's Idylls of the King, The Works of Thomas Hood, and The Divine Comedy. Doré's work also appeared in the weekly newspaper The Illustrated London News.Template:Citation needed

The medical doctor Jean-Baptiste Fuzier, who was a specialist in yellow fever and other tropical diseases, bequeathed watercolor paintings by Doré to the museum of Grenoble in 1880. According to the Musée de Grenoble, Doré developed his expertise as a watercolorist during a trip to Scotland in 1873.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Death

Doré never married and, following the death of his father in 1849, he continued to live with his mother, illustrating books until his death of a heart attack in Paris on JanuaryTemplate:Spaces23, 1883, following a short illness.<ref name="Doré 1890 vii">Template:Cite book</ref> At the time of his death Doré was working on illustrations for an edition of Shakespeare's plays.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Works

Doré was a prolific artist; thus the following list of works is not complete and it does not include his paintings, sculptures, and many of his journal illustrations:

Date Author Work Volumes / Format Illustrations Publisher Ref
1854 Gustave Doré Histoire pittoresque dramatique et caricaturale de la Sainte Russie, d'après les chroniqueurs et historiens Nestor Nikan Sylvestre Karamsin Ségur etc. 1 vol. 500 Paris: de Bry <ref>indyworld.com Template:Webarchive Gustave Doré's «Holy Russia» by Bill Kartalopoulos. INDY Magazine, Summer 2004</ref><ref name="rr">Template:Cite journal</ref>
1854 Rabelais Oeuvres contenant la vie de Gargantua et celle de Pantagruel ... 1 vol. 4to. Frontis. & 15 J.Bry Ainé, Paris <ref>Eleanor Garvey, A Catalogue of an Exhibition of the Philip Hofer Bequest, 1988.</ref>
1855 Honoré de Balzac Les Contes Drôlatiques 425 Société Générale de la Libraire, and in Le Journal pour Tous <ref>Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 183. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885.</ref>
1855 Jules Gérard La Chasse au Lion 1 vol. 12mo. 11 Librairie Nouvelle <ref>Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 179. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885.</ref>
1856 Fierabras d'Alexandrie, Légende Nationale traduite par Mary Lafon 1 vol in 8vo 123 Librairie Nouvelle <ref name="roos207">Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 207. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885.</ref>
1856 Victor Percival Mémoires d'un Jeune Cadet, par Victor Percival 48 <ref name="roos207" />
1856 La Légende du Juif Errant 1 vol. grand in folio 12 Image:Wandering jew title page.jpg Michel Lévy <ref name="roos207" />
1857<ref>Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré", pages 215. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Roosevelt states that "In Doré's catalogue 'L'Inferno' figures amongst the works of 1857, and I shall therefore speak of it as belonging to that year's collection, although it was not brought out until 1860."</ref> Dante Alighieri L'Enfer 75<ref name="danteinferno">Template:Cite book</ref> <ref name="roos212">Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré", pages 212-227. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885.</ref>
1857 autumn Ed. de La Bédollière Nouveau Paris, Histoire de ses 20 Arrondissements 1 vol in 4to 150 Barba <ref name="roos241">Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré", pages 241-243. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885.</ref>
1857 autumn Valéry Vernier Aline, Journal d'un Jeune Homme one large page Dentu <ref name="roos241" />
1860–1862 Thomas Mayne Reid L'Habitation du Désert 1 vol. in 16mo 60 Hachette <ref name="roos241" />
1860–1862 Ann S. Stevens La Fille du Grand Chieftain 1 vol. 15 <ref name="roos241" />
1860–1862 M. V. Victor Flêche d'Or 1 vol. 13 <ref name="roos241" />
1860–1862 E. S. Ellis L'Ange des Frontières 1 vol. 10 <ref name="roos241" />
1860–1862 N. W. Buxted Les Vierges de la Forêt 1 vol. 10 <ref name="roos241" />
1860 William Shakespeare The Tempest 1 vol. in 4to (London) <ref name="roos241" />
1861 Les Figures du Temps 1 vol. in 12mo (Paris) <ref name="roos241" />
1861 Plouvier and Vincent Les Chansons d'Autrefois in 12mo Coulon and Pineau, Paris <ref name="roos241" />
1861 Edmond About<ref name="roos63">Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré", pages 63. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Gustave Doré, Edmond About, and H. Taine were more than contemporaries: they knew each other from college. Roosevelt quotes Doré, "...from that date [1847] until 1850, I occupied myself—sometimes well and sometimes badly—in finishing my studies at the Lycée Charlemagne. It was there that I was so fortunate as to have Edmond About and H. Taine for fellow-collegians."</ref> Le Roi des Montagnes 1 vol. in 8vo 157 Hachette and Co., Paris <ref name="roos241" />
1862 Saintine Les Mythologies du Rhin 1 vol. in 8vo 165 Hachette and Co., Paris <ref name="roos241" />
1862 L'Abbé Léon Godard L'Espagne, Mœurs et Paysages 2 vols in 8vo 4 Image:Moeurs et paysages title page.jpg Alfred Mame et Fils, Tours Image:Moeurs et paysages title page.jpg or Paris<ref name="roos241" /> <ref name="roos241" />
1862 Malte-Brun<ref>Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré", pages 241. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Roosevelt attributes authorship to "Malted": "'Les États Unis et la Mexique,' by Malted (sic) (Brun, Paris, 1862), 1 vol. in 4to." She is most likely referring to either Conrad Malte-Brun or his son, Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun, both noted French Geographers.</ref> Les États Unis et le Mexique 1 vol. in 4to Brun, Paris <ref name="roos241" />
1862 Histoire aussi intéressante qu'invraisemblable de l'intrépide Capitaine Castagnette, neveu de l'Homme à la Tête de Bois 1 vol. in 4to 43 Hachette <ref name="roos241" />
1862 Charles Perrault Les Contes de Perrault 11 <ref>Opie, Iona and Peter. The Classic Fairy Tales. 1974. Oxford University Press. p. 134.</ref>
1862 Aventures du Baron de Münchausen, traduction nouvelle par Théophile Gautier fils 1 vol. (Paris, Charles Furne) <ref name="roos241" />
1863 M. Épiné Légende de Croquemitaine 1 vol. in 4to 177 Hachette <ref name="roos241" />
1863 Gastineau La Chasse au Lion et à la Panthère 1 vol. in 8vo Hachette and Co. <ref name="roos241" />
1863 Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote de la Mancha translation by Louis Viardot 2 vols. folio 370 Hachette and Co., Paris, and Cassell and Co., London <ref name="roos241" />
1863 Charles Perrault Les Contes de Perrault or in Spanish Los Cuentos de Perrault 100+ Hetzels. in Spanish by Ledouse <ref name="roos241" />
1865 Gastineau De Paris en Afrique 1 vol. in 12mo (Paris) <ref name="roos241" />
1865 A. Masse L'Histoire d'un Minute 1 vol., 12mo (Paris) <ref name="roos241" />
1866 Victor Hugo Travailleurs de la Mer Sampson Low and Co., London <ref name="roos241" /><ref>Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré", page 242. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Roosevelt implies, though does not specifically state, that a French publisher published this volume in 1865. For one, she places this reference with the other books published in 1865, for another, she uses the word also when mentioning that Sampson Low brought out a copy in London in 1866. Additionally, an English publication would most likely be translated and have a title of Toilers of the Sea. Roosevelt's line reads thus: "Victor Hugo's 'Travailleurs de la Mer', also in 1866, brought out by Sampson Low and Co., in London."</ref>
1865 E. Edgar Cressy and Poictiers 1 vol. in 8vo 50+ (London) <ref name="roos241" />
1865 Thomas Moore L'Épicurien (French translation) in 8vo (Paris) <ref name="roos241" />
1865 Tom Hood Fairy Realm in folio (London: Ward, Lock, and Tyler) <ref name="roos241" />
1865 Quatrelles Le Chevalier Beautemps grand in 8vo (Paris) <ref>Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 242. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885. Roosevelt states that the preface was written by Alex. Dumas fils</ref>
1865 Chateaubriand Atala 2 vols, grand folio 80 Hachette Edition <ref name="roos241" />
1866 Théophile Gautier Le Capitaine Fracasse 1 vol. grand in 8vo 60 Charpentier <ref name="roos241" />
1866 G. La Bédollière Histoire de la Guerre en Mexique in 4to (Paris) <ref name="roos241" />
1866 Dante Alighieri The Vision of Hell London, Cassell, Petter, and Galpin <ref name="roos241" />
1867 Dante Alighieri Il Purgatorio ed il Paradiso Hachette and Co. <ref name="roos241" />
1866<ref>Although Blanche Roosevelt lists this book as being published in 1866, here Image:Le chemin des ecoliers title page.jpg is the title-page of an edition published five years earlier, with Gustave Doré drawings. Roosevelt is most likely mistaken.</ref> X. B. Saintine Le Chemin des Écoliers 1 vol. in 8vo 450 Image:Le chemin des ecoliers title page.jpg (not all by Doré) Hachette and Co. <ref name="roos241" />
1866 La Grande Bible de Tours, according to the Vulgate, new translation 2 vols. grand in folio 241 Mame, Tours; Cassell and Co., England <ref name="roos241" />
1866 John Milton Paradise Lost 50 Plates Cassell and Co. <ref name="roos241" />
1867 La Bédollière La France et la Russie (Paris) <ref name="roos241" />
1867 Les Fables de Lafontaine 2 vols. in folio 8 large and 250 small plates Hachette and Co. <ref name="roos241" />
1867 Les Pays-bas et la Belgique in 8vo (Paris) <ref name="roos241" />
1870 Thomas Hood (Poems) 2 vols. in folio 9 Plates Ward and Lock, London <ref name="roos241" />
1873 Rabelais New edition of Rabelais 2 vols. in folio Paris : Garnier; London: Chatto and Windus <ref name="roos241" />
1876 Louis Énault London 1 vol. in 4to 174 wood-engravings Hachette and Co. <ref name="roos241" />
1874 Baron Ch. Davilliers L'Espagne in 4to 309 wood-engravings Hachette and Co.; London: Sampson Low and Co. <ref name="roos241" />
1875 Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in folio 39 engraved plates and 3 vignettes London: Doré Gallery <ref>Leblanc, Henri (1931). Catalogue de l'oeuvre complet de Gustave Doré, Paris: Ch. Bosse, p. 74.</ref>
1875 Michaud Histoire des Croisades 2 vol. medium folio 100 grand compositions Paris: Hachette and Co. <ref name="roos241" />
Alfred Tennyson Idylls of the King <ref name="roos241" />
1877 Ariosto Orlando Furioso 36 drawings Hachette and Co. (London: Ward and Lock) <ref name="roos241" />
1884 Edgar Allan Poe The Raven 26 steel engravingsTemplate:Citation needed London: Sampson Low and Co., New York: Harper and Co. <ref>Roosevelt, Blanche: "Life and Reminiscences of Gustave Doré.", page 488. Cassell & Company, Limited, New York, 1885.</ref>
1890 Gustave Doré The Doré Bible Gallery Illustrated by Gustave Doré Philadelphia <ref name="Doré 1890 vii"/>

Reception and legacy

Doré's work received mixed reviews from contemporary art critics, but he was widely acclaimed by the general public. He was adored by many writers and poets, who felt he "brought their wildest dreams and fantasies to life".<ref name = "Paradise">Template:Cite book</ref> Théophile Gautier for example stated "Nobody better than this artist can give a mysterious and deep vitality to chimeras, dreams, nightmares, intangible shapes bathed in light and shade, weirdly caricatured silhouettes and all the monsters of fantasy."<ref name = "Paradise"/> H.P. Lovecraft drew inspiration from Doré's Rime of the Ancient Mariner illustrations in his formative years.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

References

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Further reading

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