Table of contents:
- Illustration technique
- Christ leaves the praetorium
- Flower sellers in London
- Interesting facts from the biography of Gustave Dore
Video: Poverty and mercy in the paintings of Gustave Dore, who illustrated Byron and the Bible
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Gustave Dore (1832-1883) is an illustrator, one of the most prolific and successful bookmakers of the late 19th century, whose wild imagination created huge fairy-tale scenes that widely imitated academics. Art connoisseurs consider Dore a romantic representative of the 19th century, whose work is devoid of artistic value, but whose great importance lies in his contribution to the development of book illustration. He subsequently worked as a literary illustrator in Paris, receiving commissions for illustrations of scenes from books by Rabelais, Balzac, Milton and Dante. Dore is especially known for his illustrations of The Divine Comedy, the Bible and classics.
In 1853, Dore was asked to illustrate Lord Byron's work and the new English Bible. In 1865, the publisher Cassell invited Dora to prepare an illustrated edition of Milton's Paradise Lost. Dora's illustrations for the English Bible (1866) were so successful that they allowed Dora to open her own exhibition in the center of London in 1868, which displayed large-scale canvases with illustrations "The Triumph of Christianity over Paganism" and "Christ Leaves the Praetorium." Thus, Dore's Illustrated Bible has been a sensation since its publication in 1865, and Dore has also shown some ability as a sculptor. He exhibited a colossal vase decorated with figures at the Universselle exhibition in Paris in 1878 and also worked on the Dumas monument.
Illustration technique
Dore's illustrations featured fine detail, technical prowess, and realistic depictions of the human form, as well as fantastic creatures such as dragons, angels, and demons. His black and white drawings showcase a minimalist style with relatively few lines and shades, but the result is a powerful image that evokes vivid movement and deep emotion.
Christ leaves the praetorium
In Dora's illustration, Jesus, after his condemnation, leaves the Praetorium to climb Calvary. The praetorium was the building of the Roman rulers in Jerusalem. It is difficult for the soldiers to control the order in the crowd; the man on the left is holding a cross, which he literally blocked off for Jesus. The latter is illuminated by divine light and a halo, skillfully conveyed to Dora. Also in the crowd, a woman in a white headscarf is highlighted with light, perhaps this is Mary. Her eyes are downcast, her face is sad, and she already predicts the approaching crucifixion of Christ on Calvary.
Flower sellers in London
Many of Gustave Dore's works were created to evoke feelings of Christian charity in the viewer, combining extreme poverty with human feelings. This series of illustrations highlighted the chasm between high society and the bleak life of the poor, and it was very relevant: in the 19th century, the French realism movement of the 1850s recognized ordinary, ordinary people as a suitable subject for high art, as, for example, in the revolutionary painting by Gustave Courbet “Stone Crushers.”More conservative artists such as Bouguereau portrayed the poor in very formal academic paintings (“Charity”).
Gustave Dore also liked a similar plot. The proof of this is the painting "Flower sellers in London" The heroes of the painting appeal to pity, to kindness, but at the same time they are far from helpless. A woman is ready to fight for the future of her children, despite the difficulties and fatigue. Since there is no male figure in the image, and the typical viewer of art in the Victorian period was a man, Dore invites his viewer to become an accomplice in the plot and provide support to these weak and poor people. Perhaps this is why the wealthy Henry Thompson bought the painting and donated it to the Walker Art Gallery in 1880, believing it would instill in Liverpool residents a sense of compassion for the poor and strengthen the city's morale.
The children themselves in the picture call on the viewers to mercy. Their eyes speak about it. What does the viewer see in them? Hunger, cold, exhaustion. The little girl on the left is trying to warm her legs together. The baby in the woman's arms looks directly at the viewer with his already grown-up eyes. It seems that this kid already understands much more than his years. This view also contains a reproach: the gap between high society and the gloomy life of the poor is too wide. The baby and the mother resemble a well-known type in icon painting - "tenderness" or "eleusa" (when the Mother and the Child press their cheeks to their cheeks and are full of tenderness and kindness). The basket of flowers is still quite full, which means they still have to stand for many hours in the cold. This picture is written so heartfelt that the viewer just wants to quickly redeem all the flowers in order to finally see the joy and smiles on these faces of ordinary people. The main character presses her children and they are, as it were, detached, in their own little world, separate from the woman with baby on the left. The latter seem to be another family on the edge of poverty.
Interesting facts from the biography of Gustave Dore
1. Gustave Dore is the most prolific illustrator of his time (during his life he created 220 illustrated books with over 10,000 individual drawings). 2. Self-taught (he was completely self-taught, but at the same time was considered a major artist and achieved great skill without having a formal education).3. He created his first masterpiece at the age of 15 (Gustave Dore was a child prodigy from an early age, having released his first illustrated book "The Exploits of Hercules" at the age of 15).4. He made a huge fortune thanks to his talent (Dore claimed that between 1850 and 1870 he earned £ 280,000 from his illustrations - a fantastic amount in that era).5. Gustave Dore went down in art history before as an unsurpassed interpreter of Rabelais 'Gargantua and Pantagruel, Dante's Divine Comedy, Cervantes' Don Quixote (the images of Don Quixote by Dore were later used by filmmakers, directors and artists in their own projects).
Recommended:
How words from the Bible served as a subject for many paintings of the Renaissance: "Do not touch Me"
When choosing a theme for a new work, Renaissance artists often turned to this subject. It was not one of the most widespread, like, for example, the Annunciation, and did not open up opportunities for such a popular image of the naked body in that era as the Old Testament story about Susanna and the elders, and yet paintings called "Do not touch me" were written by many outstanding painters. The emotional richness of the scene, the complex poses of the characters, their facial expressions - all this presented a certain challenge
Famous artists tell Bible stories in their paintings
To create a masterpiece, many of the artists used a time-tested method: take one of the biblical subjects and present it on canvas in accordance with their own skills and their own philosophy. And how much it was interesting for viewers of all times to make such excursions into the Old and New Testaments, can be judged by the fact that many such picturesque illustrations of the Bible represent the best in the world of fine arts
Urban landscapes of the Belarusian artist, whose paintings are illustrated in school textbooks
Minskers often see a young man with an easel on the streets of their city, writing various parts of the capital in a sketchy manner. This is the famous Belarusian painter Vasily Peshkun, who paints all his paintings only from nature, considering this approach to work as the main principle of his work. The master is simply on the streets virtuoso, like a magician, with a wave of the brush creates his own canvases, giving considerable pleasure to passers-by, and especially to children who most love to see
At the mercy of demons: the famous paintings by Mikhail Vrubel, created one step away from madness
The paintings of Mikhail Vrubel, the first Russian symbolist artist of the late 19th century, are hard not to recognize: his creative manner is so original that it is impossible to confuse his works with others. The central image, to which he turned throughout almost his entire life, is the image of Lermontov's Demon. During his lifetime, there were many rumors about the artist - for example, that he sold his soul to the devil, and he revealed his true face to him. What he saw led to blindness and insanity, and the last years of his life were thin
How a clown decided to joke, became a politician and saved the capital of Iceland from devastation and poverty
When the famous Icelandic stand-up comedian Jon Gnarr ran for mayor of Reykjavik in 2009, it was clear to everyone that this was just a performance. Moreover, the comedian's party was called "The Best Party" and its election program included such things as free towels in the pools, Disneyland at the airport and a fundamental failure to fulfill election promises. When Gnarr was elected mayor, it is difficult to say who in Iceland was not surprised. He himself was very surprised