Gustave Doré

Paul Gustave Doré ( born January 6, 1832 in Strasbourg, † January 23, 1883 in Paris) was a French painter and graphic artist who made ​​a name for himself as an illustrator.

Biography

Doré's talent as a draftsman noticed already, when he was still a student. He also began the age of seven to play several instruments, including the violin, which he brilliantly mastered in the sequence. At age nine, he tried for the first time at the illustration of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. At thirteen, he came to Paris and was 15 years old in 1847 as an illustrator at the Journal pour rire active. In the same year was also his first work, The Adventures of Hercules, published in the Parisian publisher Aubert.

In 1853 he got the opportunity to contribute an illustration to the works of Lord Byron. Later orders followed for other publications, miteinbegriffen the imaging of the English Bible. Ten years later (1863 ) worried Doré illustration of the French edition of Miguel de Cervantes ' Don Quixote, to which he made 370 images. His work influenced henceforth artists of various genres. Also known is the large edition (1884 ) by Edgar Allan Poe's narrative poem The Raven, created for the Frenchman over 25 steel engravings.

Through the success of his Bible illustrations from 1866 Doré was in London to hold a year later, a major exhibition that led to the founding of the Doré Gallery in the Covelant Bond Street. 1869 was issued to Gustave Doré from the English journalist William Blanchard Jerrold the commission to design together with this a comprehensive portrait of London. Doré signed a five -year contract with the publishing house Grant & Co. During the duration of the project, such was the demand that had the illustrator per calendar year, three months in the capital of the Empire to spend, he received but in return every year the huge sum of £ 10,000.

1872 the book was published with the title London: A Pilgrimage. This includes 180 engravings, which were sold though commercially successful, but were also subjected to harsh criticism. Most critics accused Doré right to have the focus placed primarily on the slums and thus on the proletariat. Nevertheless, the artist received many follow-up orders in the UK.

Gustave Doré died on January 23, 1883 in Paris of a heart attack. The artist was only 51 years old and left behind an impressive oeuvre with several thousand individual pieces.

Showcase (selection) and influence

He was in 1854 with his woodcuts in François Rabelais Gargantua and Pantagruel and 1855 Honoré de Balzac Toll Bold stories known. In the following, he illustrated some 90 works of world literature, including:

Doré's Bible illustrations, still among the most famous ever, he is considered one of the greatest masters of this genre. The 230 Bible prints by Doré were stung, among others, the famous graphic artists Pisan, Pannemaker and Laplante.

He created bizarre depictions of mythical creatures, monsters, skeletons and mysterious mythological creatures. The stitches are executed Exceptional craftsmanship, the depth and the representation of light are masterful. His work influenced the surrealists Salvador Dalí crucial, which is also based his graphic work on the great themes of world literature. Also very impressed with Doré's work was Walter Moers, who designed his novel Wild 2001 journey through the night to 21 images Doré. The artist Valentine Hugo According to Max Ernst used for his collages series Une semaine de bonté - A week of kindness (1933 ) alongside contemporary illustrations and graphics Doré. His illustrations to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Doré's designated himself as his best.

Examples of work

Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, Canto V of The Divine Comedy, Inferno

Dante and Virgil in the ninth circle of Hell, Canto 32 of The Divine Comedy, Inferno

Divine Comedy, Purgatorio

Andromeda to the rock

A Dog's Life, 1872

The Styx

Caricature of Münchhausen

Confusion of Tongues, 1865

Paul in Ephesus, about 1866

The Children's Crusade