[Violinist] Doré, Gustave. (1832 - 1883)
Illustration of a Violinist - ORIGINAL DRAWING
Signed and dated "G Doré 1859" in charcoal l.r., annotated "Une Ideé!" in charcoal l.c. Charcoal and conte on paper, 16 5/16 x 11 3/4 in., framed. Condition: Toned, mounted on board, scattered foxing, small scattered areas of staining, mat adhesive to l.c. margin. Provenance: The estate of A. Margaret Bok, whose mother-in-law, Mary Louise Curtis Bok, founded the The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Margaret Bok served on the board of trustees and then later as the chair of the board from 1977 to 1988 and The Curtis School awarded her an honorary degree in 1983."Gustave Doré suffered rejection at the hands of the critics of his day, just like his exact contemporary Edouard Manet. Whereas Manet became the hero of the modern age, Doré has remained for many the most renowned of illustrators, and some of his illustrations for the Bible or Dante's Inferno dare permanently etched in the collective consciousness.
His work was disseminated to an unprecedented degree in Europe and the United States, both during his lifetime and posthumously, and he was one of the great purveyors of European culture with his illustrations for major classics (Dante, Rabelais, Cervantes, La Fontaine, Milton, etc.) as well as works by his contemporaries (Balzac, Gautier, Poe, Coleridge, Tennyson, etc.).
There seemed to be no limits to Doré's creative talents; a draughtsman, caricaturist, illustrator, watercolourist, painter and sculptor, he was a protean artist who worked in the main genres and formats of his era, ranging from satire to religion, and from sketches to monumental canvases.
He not only occupies a central position in the visual culture of the 19th century, but also made his mark on the 20th and early 21st century imagination, both in the comic strip medium - of which he is considered a founding father - and on the silver screen. Whatever his chosen technique, Doré stands alone among the artists of his century in revealing the rich and lively spectacle of the poetic worlds of his imagination through the prism of his "visionary eye", as if he were constantly seeking new boundaries to push back." (Musée d'Orsay Online)
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