Saturday, April 24, 2010

Illustrations of Gustave Doré


Le Chat Botté - Puss In Boots


Le Singe et le Dauphin - The Monkey and the Dolphin


Sleeping Beauty


Little Red Riding Hood

Gustave Doré

Gustave Doré (January 6, 1832 – January 23, 1883) was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.

Doré was born in Strasbourg and his first illustrated story was published at the age of fifteen. At age five he was a prodigy artist already creating drawings. When he turned 12 he began to carve his art in stone.

Doré began work as a literary illustrator in Paris. Doré commissions include works by 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 English Bible.

In 1863, Doré illustrated a French edition of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and his illustrations of the knight and his squire Sancho Panza have become so famous that they have influenced subsequent readers, artists, and stage and film directors' ideas of the physical "look" of the two characters.


Many more examples of his work here.

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7 comments:

  1. I love Doré’s work, excellent choice for the weekend. Diane

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  2. Great work and awesome/scary imagination.

    Little Red Riding Hood was beautiful, That was quite an imagination of the dolphin and I realised I have forgotten the story of Sleeping Beauty. What was the cause of the curse? Who cast it? Who was the old lady? (I'll google the story now).

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  3. Thanks Diane and Fazlisa ...

    ... my Mom tells me that as a child I could recite any nursery rhyme (one of my brothers could name any car on the road) but, sadly, most of my childhood memories of fairy tales, fables and rhymes have faded ...

    If I recall correctly, Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on the needle used by a jealous (or vengeful) witch and slept until she was revived by the kiss of a Prince ...

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  4. Very talented work, although not illustrations I'd show my 5 year old whilst reading her a bedtime story ;)

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  5. Indeed Lynda ... a softer type of image would be more suitable to welcome her to dreamland ...

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  6. did you see Shrek? good cartoon movie with some almost adult humor. Anyway the puss n boots is very well done in the movie.

    Red Riding Hood - going to bed with a wolf is not a good idea.

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  7. Howzit lisleman ... yeah, I saw Shrek - one of the few animated movies I like ...

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