Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré (UK: /ˈdɔːr/ DOR-ay, US: /dɔːˈr/ dor-AY, French: [ɡystav dɔʁe]; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 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.[1]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Gustave Doré
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Photograph by Nadar, between 1856 and 1858
Born
Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré

(1832-01-06)6 January 1832
Strasbourg, France
Died23 January 1883(1883-01-23) (aged 51)
Paris, France
Known forPainting, etching, illustrations
MovementRomanticism, symbolism
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He created over 10,000 illustrations, 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.[2]

Biography

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Doré by Carolus-Duran (1877)

Doré was born in Strasbourg on 6 January 1832. At the age of 15, Doré began his career working as a caricaturist for the French paper Le journal pour rire.[3] The illustrations of J. J. Grandville have been noted as an influence on his work.[4] Wood-engraving was his primary method at this time.[5] 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. He also illustrated "Gargantua et Pantagruel" in 1854.

In 1853 Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron.[6] This commission was followed by additional work for British publishers, including a new illustrated Bible. In 1856 he produced 12 folio-size illustrations of The Legend of The Wandering Jew, which propagated longstanding antisemitic views of the time,[7] for a short poem which Pierre-Jean de Béranger had derived from a novel of Eugène Sue of 1845.[8][9][10]

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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.[11] Doré also illustrated an oversized edition of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", an endeavor that earned him 30,000 francs from publisher Harper & Brothers in 1883.[12]

The government of France made him a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1861.[13]

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Doré in 1867 by Nadar

Doré's illustrations for the Bible (1866) were 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 Bond Street, London.[14] 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).[15] 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.[citation needed]

The completed book London: A Pilgrimage, with 180 wood 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."[16] The Westminster Review claimed that "Doré gives us sketches in which the commonest, the vulgarest external features are set down."[17] 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.[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.[citation needed]

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 January 23, 1883, following a short illness.[18] At the time of his death Doré was working on illustrations for an edition of Shakespeare's plays.[19]

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:

More information Date, Author ...
DateAuthorWorkVolumes / FormatIllustrationsPublisherRef
1854Gustave DoréHistoire pittoresque dramatique et caricaturale de la Sainte Russie, d'après les chroniqueurs et historiens Nestor Nikan Sylvestre Karamsin Ségur etc.1 vol.500Paris: de Bry[20][21]
1854RabelaisOeuvres contenant la vie de Gargantua et celle de Pantagruel ...1 vol. 4to.Frontis. & 15J.Bry Ainé, Paris[22]
1855Honoré de BalzacLes Contes Drôlatiques425Société Générale de la Libraire, and in Le Journal pour Tous[23]
1855Jules GérardLa Chasse au Lion1 vol. 12mo.11Librairie Nouvelle[24]
1856Fierabras d'Alexandrie, Légende Nationale traduite par Mary Lafon1 vol in 8vo123Librairie Nouvelle[25]
1856Victor PercivalMémoires d'un Jeune Cadet, par Victor Percival48[25]
1856La Légende du Juif Errant1 vol. grand in folio12 Image:Wandering jew title page.jpgMichel Lévy[25]
1857[26]Dante AlighieriL'Enfer75[27][28]
1857 autumnEd. de La BédollièreNouveau Paris, Histoire de ses 20 Arrondissements1 vol in 4to150Barba[29]
1857 autumnValéry VernierAline, Journal d'un Jeune Hommeone large pageDentu[29]
1860–1862Thomas Mayne ReidL'Habitation du Désert1 vol. in 16mo60Hachette[29]
1860–1862Ann S. StevensLa Fille du Grand Chieftain1 vol.15[29]
1860–1862M. V. VictorFlêche d'Or1 vol.13[29]
1860–1862E. S. EllisL'Ange des Frontières1 vol.10[29]
1860–1862N. W. BuxtedLes Vierges de la Forêt1 vol.10[29]
1860William ShakespeareThe Tempest1 vol. in 4to(London)[29]
1861Les Figures du Temps1 vol. in 12mo(Paris)[29]
1861Plouvier and VincentLes Chansons d'Autrefoisin 12moCoulon and Pineau, Paris[29]
1861Edmond About[30]Le Roi des Montagnes1 vol. in 8vo157Hachette and Co., Paris[29]
1862SaintineLes Mythologies du Rhin1 vol. in 8vo165Hachette and Co., Paris[29]
1862L'Abbé Léon GodardL'Espagne, Mœurs et Paysages2 vols in 8vo4 Image:Moeurs et paysages title page.jpgAlfred Mame et Fils, Tours Image:Moeurs et paysages title page.jpg or Paris[29][29]
1862Malte-Brun[31]Les États Unis et le Mexique1 vol. in 4toBrun, Paris[29]
1862Histoire aussi intéressante qu'invraisemblable de l'intrépide Capitaine Castagnette, neveu de l'Homme à la Tête de Bois1 vol. in 4to43Hachette[29]
1862Charles PerraultLes Contes de Perrault11[32]
1862Aventures du Baron de Münchausen, traduction nouvelle par Théophile Gautier fils1 vol.(Paris, Charles Furne)[29]
1863M. ÉpinéLégende de Croquemitaine1 vol. in 4to177Hachette[29]
1863GastineauLa Chasse au Lion et à la Panthère1 vol. in 8voHachette and Co.[29]
1863Miguel de CervantesDon Quixote de la Mancha translation by Louis Viardot2 vols. folio370Hachette and Co., Paris, and Cassell and Co., London[29]
1863Charles PerraultLes Contes de Perrault or in Spanish Los Cuentos de Perrault100+Hetzels. in Spanish by Ledouse[29]
1865GastineauDe Paris en Afrique1 vol. in 12mo(Paris)[29]
1865A. MasseL'Histoire d'un Minute1 vol., 12mo(Paris)[29]
1866Victor HugoTravailleurs de la MerSampson Low and Co., London[29][33]
1865E. EdgarCressy and Poictiers1 vol. in 8vo50+(London)[29]
1865Thomas MooreL'Épicurien (French translation)in 8vo(Paris)[29]
1865Tom HoodFairy Realmin folio(London: Ward, Lock, and Tyler)[29]
1865QuatrellesLe Chevalier Beautempsgrand in 8vo(Paris)[34]
1865ChateaubriandAtala2 vols, grand folio80Hachette Edition[29]
1866Théophile GautierLe Capitaine Fracasse1 vol. grand in 8vo60Charpentier[29]
1866G. La BédollièreHistoire de la Guerre en Mexiquein 4to(Paris)[29]
1866Dante AlighieriThe Vision of HellLondon, Cassell, Petter, and Galpin[29]
1867Dante AlighieriIl Purgatorio ed il ParadisoHachette and Co.[29]
1866[35]X. B. SaintineLe Chemin des Écoliers1 vol. in 8vo450 Image:Le chemin des ecoliers title page.jpg (not all by Doré)Hachette and Co.[29]
1866La Grande Bible de Tours, according to the Vulgate, new translation2 vols. grand in folio241Mame, Tours; Cassell and Co., England[29]
1866John MiltonParadise Lost50 PlatesCassell and Co.[29]
1867La BédollièreLa France et la Russie(Paris)[29]
1867Les Fables de Lafontaine2 vols. in folio8 large and 250 small platesHachette and Co.[29]
1867Les Pays-bas et la Belgiquein 8vo(Paris)[29]
1870Thomas Hood(Poems)2 vols. in folio9 PlatesWard and Lock, London[29]
1873RabelaisNew edition of Rabelais2 vols. in folioParis : Garnier; London: Chatto and Windus[29]
1876Louis ÉnaultLondon1 vol. in 4to174 wood-engravingsHachette and Co.[29]
1874Baron Ch. DavilliersL'Espagnein 4to309 wood-engravingsHachette and Co.; London: Sampson Low and Co.[29]
1875Samuel Taylor ColeridgeThe Rime of the Ancient Marinerin folio39 engraved plates and 3 vignettesLondon: Doré Gallery[36]
1875MichaudHistoire des Croisades2 vol. medium folio100 grand compositionsParis: Hachette and Co.[29]
Alfred TennysonIdylls of the King[29]
1877AriostoOrlando Furioso36 drawingsHachette and Co. (London: Ward and Lock)[29]
1884Edgar Allan PoeThe Raven26 steel engravings[citation needed]London: Sampson Low and Co., New York: Harper and Co.[37]
1890Gustave DoréThe Doré Bible GalleryIllustrated by Gustave DoréPhiladelphia[18]
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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".[38] 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."[38] H.P. Lovecraft drew inspiration from Doré's Rime of the Ancient Mariner illustrations in his formative years.[39]

References

Further reading

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