Paul-Gustave Doré: Engraving the Dreamscape

 

From The Bible

     Paul-Gustave Doré, or simply Gustave Doré, was the premier printmaker and engraver of the mid-to-late 19th century. He is the most famous, if not the best engraver of the century. He is most well known for his illustrations in The Divine Comedy, The Inferno, and Don Quixote. Though Doré was also a
sculptor and later a painter, he is most well known for his vivid and imaginative woodcuts depicting gruesome and horrific scenes depicted in the books they represented.

      Gustave Doré was born in Strasbourg France in 1832 (died in Paris, 1883). Throughout his lifetime, Doré made a living through his art by printing in local journals and papers. But he would not see fame and recognition until he moved to Paris in 1847. Doré would work making weekly lithograph caricatures for the Journal pour Rire from 1848-51. From this platform, Doré would launch his life into the fame that take him.

From The Inferno

      In his lifetime, Doré would come to illustrate some 90 books (though some suggest the number of illustrated books could number up to 200 or more). Most of the work Doré would produce centered around historical and religious texts. His style and taste was a slight bit morbid, as he had a passion and interest in the macabre and grotesque. This style connected with the epic, dark, and dreamlike Romantic writers. Doré's art can be found in such works as The Divine Comedy, The Inferno, Paradise Lost, The Raven, The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Fables de La Fontaine, and even The Bible.

      Gustave Doré was giving visions to literature, bringing to life the books that he touched. Doré took the images set fourth by great writers and gave them wings on which to fly and mouths for which to breath. Doré's engravings give a new voice and a new depth to literature, setting free the dreamlike images within the pages.

From Fables de La Fontaine

From The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

From The Raven

From Paradise Lost