Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , ; ; 6January 1832 – 23January 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.

He created over 10,000illustrations, 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.

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

thumb|left|Doré by [[Carolus-Duran (1877)]]

Doré was born in Strasbourg on 6January 1832. At the age of15, he began his career working as a caricaturist for the French paper Le journal pour rire. The illustrations of J. J. Grandville have been noted as an influence on his work. Wood-engraving was his primary method at this time. 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. 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 12folio-size illustrations of The Legend of The Wandering Jew, which propagated longstanding antisemitic views of the time, for a short poem which Pierre-Jean de Béranger had derived from a novel of Eugène Sue of 1845.

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

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

thumb|left|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. 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). 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.

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

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.

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.

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 January23, 1883, following a short illness. At the time of his death Doré was working on illustrations for an edition of Shakespeare's plays.

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:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

!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 ||

|-

|1854||Rabelais ||Oeuvres contenant la vie de Gargantua et celle de Pantagruel ...||1 vol. 4to. ||Frontis. & 15 ||J.Bry Ainé, Paris ||

|-

|1855||Honoré de Balzac||Les Contes Drôlatiques|| ||425||Société Générale de la Libraire, and in Le Journal pour Tous||

|-

|1855||Jules Gérard||La Chasse au Lion||1 vol. 12mo. ||11||Librairie Nouvelle||

|-

|1856|| ||Fierabras d'Alexandrie, Légende Nationale traduite par Mary Lafon||1 vol in 8vo||123||Librairie Nouvelle||

|-

|1856|| Victor Percival ||Mémoires d'un Jeune Cadet, par Victor Percival|| ||48|| ||||Dante Alighieri||L'Enfer|| ||75|| ||

|-

|1857 autumn||Ed. de La Bédollière||Nouveau Paris, Histoire de ses 20 Arrondissements||1 vol in 4to||150||Barba||

|-

|1857 autumn||Valéry Vernier||Aline, Journal d'un Jeune Homme|| ||one large page||Dentu ||||Le Roi des Montagnes||1 vol. in 8vo||157||Hachette and Co., Paris||||Les États Unis et le Mexique||1 vol. in 4to|| ||Brun, Paris||

|-

|1862|| ||Aventures du Baron de Münchausen, traduction nouvelle par Théophile Gautier fils||1 vol.|| ||(Paris, Charles Furne)||

|-

|1865||E. Edgar||Cressy and Poictiers||1 vol. in 8vo||50+||(London)||

|-

|1865||Chateaubriand||Atala||2 vols, grand folio||80||Hachette Edition||||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.||

|-

|1875||Michaud||Histoire des Croisades||2 vol. medium folio||100 grand compositions||Paris: Hachette and Co.||

|-

|1890||Gustave Doré||The Doré Bible Gallery|| || Illustrated by Gustave Doré || Philadelphia || 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."

<gallery widths="154" heights="200" caption="Illustrations">

File:Jacob Wrestles with the Angel (89394819).jpg|Jacob wrestling with the angel, 1855

File:Destruction of Leviathan.png|Destruction of Leviathan, 1865

File:The Vision of The Valley of The Dry Bones.jpg|The Vision of The Valley of The Dry Bones, 1866

File:Gustave Doré - The Holy Bible - Plate I, The Deluge.jpg|The Deluge, 1866

File:Confusion of Tongues (89393754).jpg|Engraving The Tower of Babel or the Confusion of Tongues, 1866

File:Dore-I had done a hellish thing.jpg|The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

File:Idylls of the King 3.jpg|Edyrn with His Lady and Dwarf Journey to Arthur's Court, in Idylls of the King by Lord Alfred Tennyson, illustrated by Gustave Doré

File:Little Red Riding Hood (136547615).jpg|Little Red Riding Hood

File:Cinderella by Gustav Dore (136548322).jpg|Doré illustrated several fairy tales: Cendrillon (or Cinderella)

File:La Belle au Bois Dormant (136548149).jpg|La Belle au Bois Dormant - third of six engravings by Gustave Doré

File:Gustave Doré, A Backstreet in London, 1868, NGA 141211.jpg|Drawing, A Backstreet in London (1868; National Gallery of Art, Washington)

File:YCBA London a Pilgrimage 06 (cropped).jpg|Over London by Rail Gustave Doré c 1870. From London: A Pilgrimage

File:Gustave Doré - Ludgate Hill.png|Ludgate Hill - A block in the Street, 1872. From London: A Pilgrimage

File:Gustave dore crusades troubadours singing the glories of the crusades.jpg|Crusades troubadours singing the glories of the crusades

File:Don Quijote illustrated by Gustav Dore II.jpg|Don Quixote illustrated by Gustave Doré

File:Don Quijote illustrated by Gustav Dore III.jpg|Don Quixote illustrated by Gustave Doré, another one of the 500 pieces Doré created for the work

File:Don Quijote illustrated by Gustav Dore IV.jpg|Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote illustrated by Gustave Doré

File:Don Quijote illustrated by Gustav Dore V.jpg|Another example of Don Quixote (Don Quijote in Spanish) illustrated by Gustave Doré

File:Gustave Dore illustration.jpg|Rabelais's Gargantua (English translation)

File:Gustave_Doré_-_St._John%27s_vision_of_death.jpg|St. John's vision - Sagrada Biblia T4

File:Gustave_Doré_-_Ark_of_the_Covenant.jpg|Ark of the Covenant - La Sagrada Biblia T4

File:Gustave_Doré_-_Roland,_Count_of_Mans.jpg|Roland, count of Mans, knight of Blaives - Days of Chivalry (Croquemitaine)

File:Gustave_Doré_-_Roland_the_Peerless.jpg|Roland the Peerless - Days of Chivalry (Croquemitaine)

File:Gustave_Doré_-_Houri_on_Camels.jpg|The Houris on Camels - Days of Chivalry (Croquemitaine)

</gallery>

<gallery widths="154" heights="200" caption="Sculptures">

File:Paris-dumas-monument02.jpg|The Dumas Monument in Paris

File:USA-San Francisco-Le Poème de la Vigne by Gustave Doré-3.jpg|Le Poème de la Vigne or The Vintage Vase, version in San Francisco

File:Доре Парка і божок кохання Ерот 1877.jpg|Cupid and Time, modello in terracotta

File:LeTemps fauchant les amours.jpg|A clock with Time defeating Loves, cast 1879

File:Maenads in a Wood, by Gustave Dore, 1879, plaster - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - 20180922 150837.jpg|Maenads in a Wood, 1879, plaster modello, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

</gallery>

<gallery widths="154" heights="200" caption="Paintings">

File:Gustave Doré - Roland à Roncevaux.jpg|Roland à Roncevaux, private collection, Paris

File:Dore, Gustave; La Sainte Trinite.jpg|La Sainte Trinité, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

File:Ecce Homo Gustave Doré.jpg|Ecce Homo, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

File:La folie.jpg|La folie, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

File:Les Oceanides Les Naiades de la mer.jpg|The Oceanids (The Naiads of the Sea), 1860s

File:Gustave Doré - Paolo and Francesca da Rimini.jpg|Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, 1863

File:Le Christ quittant le prétoire-Gustave Doré (3).jpg|Christ Leaving the Praetorium 1867–1872, Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

File:Le Christ quittant le prétoire-Gustave Doré (2).jpg|Christ Leaving the Praetorium in the room of the Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art where it hangs

File:Paul Gustave Dore Andromeda.jpg|Andromède, 1869, Chimei Museum, Tainan, Taiwan

File:Gustave Doré-Soir en Alsace.jpg|Soir en Alsace, 1869

File:Gustave Dore - La Siesta, Memory of Spain - Google Art Project.jpg|La Siesta, Memory of Spain,

File:Gustave Doré - Flower Sellers of London - Google Art Project.jpg|Flower Sellers of London,

File:Gustave Doré - Loch Lomond.jpg|Loch Lomond, 1875

File:Gustave Doré - Scottish Highlands - Google Art Project.jpg|Landscape in Scotland, ca. 1875, Toledo Museum of Art

File:Gustave Doré - Landscape in Scotland - Walters 372625.jpg|Landscape in Scotland, ca. 1878, Walters Art Museum

File:Gustave Doré-Mont Sainte-Odile avec mur païen.jpg|Mont Sainte-Odile avec mur païen, by 1883

File:Gustave Doré - La Vallée de larmes.jpg|The Valley of Tears, 1883

File:The Triumph Of Christianity Over Paganism.Gustave Doré.jpg|The Triumph Of Christianity Over Paganism (1868)

</gallery>

References

Further reading

  • (80 illustrations, earliest photogravures of Dore paintings)
  • (141 illustrations)
  • (138 illustrations)
  • (314 illustrations)
  • (103 illustrations)
  • (30 illustrations)
  • (521 illustrations, reprinting most of the Delorme photogravures)
  • (exhibition book: 591 illustrations)
  • (343 illustrations)
  • (500 illustrations)
  • (exhibition book: 250 illustrations, 40 in full-color, sometimes incorrectly listed as, "40 b/w, 120 color illustrations")
  • (catalog of the exhibition held at Musée d'Orsay and National Gallery of Canada, 335 pages)
  • (annual listing of the books published in France)
  • Gustave Doré Digital Collection of Illustrations from the University at Buffalo Libraries