Fantástico. Gustave Doré

by Alix Paré, Valérie Sueur-hermel, Llorenç Esteve de Udaeta (Primary Contributor)

* Una retrospectiva inédita de los grabados más bellos y los cuadros más destacados de Gustave Doré, elegidos entre su obra, constituida por más de 10 000 ilustraciones. * Gustave Doré es un artista completo: dibujante, grabador, pintor y escultor. Su genio en la ilustración literaria le valió haber pasado al inconsciente colectivo, haber influido en el cine, la animación, el cómic y la publicidad. * Uno de los dibujantes con mayor talento, y de los más prolíficos del siglo xix, Doré abarcó todos los temas: desde la caricatura de los hombres de su época hasta el reportaje de guerra, pasando por la fábula, la poesía, la novela y también la alegoría y el paisaje. La selección de las obras que se reproducen y comentan se basa en un conjunto de criterios cronológicos, temáticos y estéticos. Doré realizó caricaturas cómicas e imágenes serias, visiones épicas y vistas contemplativas, observando la realidad y comportándose de manera virtuosa en la fantasía. Los encuentros temáticos, estilísticos y formales hacen surgir con fuerza la personalidad artística de Gustave Doré. Además de su virtuosismo, su gusto trasluce otro tanto. Sus temas predilectos son variados: le gustan las noches estrelladas, los bosques de altos pinos negros, los paisajes escarpados, los combates de espada, los castillos mágicos, las criaturas voladoras, los monstruos marinos... En otras palabras, a Doré le gusta soñar y hacer soñar. Cultiva lo maravilloso.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Collections, France, Art History, Coffee Table Books

480 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2021

About the author

Alix Paré, diplômée de l’École du Louvre, est conférencière spécialisée en peinture occidentale des XVIIe, XVIIIe et XXe siècles. Elle a travaillé pendant huit ans au musée du Louvre et au château de Versailles. Elle donne des cours d’histoire de l’art et intervient dans les grandes expositions parisiennes.

Alix Paré, a graduate of the Ecole du Louvre, is a lecturer specializing in Western painting of the 17th, 18th, and 20th centuries. After an eight-year tenure at both the Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles, she now gives art history lessons and takes part in major Parisian exhibitions.

Reviews

[Joshua Pickett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been looking for a comprehensive Doré book for years, so was thrilled to discover the English version, instantly pre-ordered for release May 9th 23, and to my surprise the release date had been moved forward! Not only is the book gorgeous inside and out, but I can think of no other publication which does such justice to the life and works of Doré. He wanted to be known for his paintings too, not just his printmaking, and this book allocates a large section on just that. To summarise, FANTASTIC!

[Reinbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro semplicemente meraviglioso, che non soltanto presenta un'ampissima selezione di illustrazioni del Doré, ma va persino oltre, illustrando per sommi capi la vita del celeberrimo artista, le differenze tra litografia, xilografia e acquaforte e molte altre piccole, interessanti curiosità. Le magistrali illustrazioni presenti in questo volume sono tratte da una moltitudine di opere diverse, ciascuna doverosamente introdotta con brevi testi che ne descrivono il contenuto, l'autore originale e il coinvolgimento che vi ebbe il Doré. Opere che spaziano dalla Divina Commedia, al Don Chisciotte, alle fiabe, ai racconti di Edgar Allan Poe, a quelli di guerra, giusto per citarne alcuni. Ciliegina sulla torta, le ultime pagine sono dedicate al Doré pittore, con una ventina di opere per cui egli è indubbiamente meno noto al vasto pubblico e che ci permettono di apprezzarne l'incredibile talento anche attraverso i volumi dati a figure e spazi dal colore.
Se questo genere di illustrazioni vi riempiono di fascino, questo è un libro imprescindibile, la summa dell'iconografia del più grande incisore di tutti i tempi e non solo.

[Paulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

La mejor compra que he hecho

[Nicolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful and stunning book! While Dorés paintings and illustrations are incredible themselves, the authors managed to let us experience the life of the 19th century artist and his contemporarys through his interests in literature, traveling, current events and western culture. Small and well thought out summaries as well as biographys of the authors of the literature Doré illustrated and his interest in them, let us appreciate his talents even more. I would've loved for them to include more technical information about the illustrations, while it might be easy for some to differentiate between etchings, lithography and wood-engraving by looking at the illustration, I felt hopelessly lost. I'm also sure it would've been possible to find some more engaging and interesting quotes from the novels and poems Doré has illustrated, than the ones chosen (As it is a book about Doré and not his favorite books, I think this shouldn't be seen too seriously though).

[Cristina Di Matteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pazzesco!

[ejerciendoentrelibros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Se merece 15 estrellas. No tengo palabras. Es una obra para disfrutar, al menos una vez al año.

[Raquel Comden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine the rating this book would have gotten if it hadn't been entirely in French...
Ignoring the fact that I understood zero of the probably very interesting biographical information and background of the artwork, this was super cool anthology, with the added bonus of it being an absolutely beautiful book. Plenty of beautiful illustrations of the classics in this anthology, but my favorites were Atala, Idylls of the King, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and "The Raven." I didn't think Poe's works could be improved on, but the illustrations for "The Raven" were awesome.

[j k · Rating 4 out of 5]

they could never make me hate you doré

(bisschen mehr Infos auf den Seiten hätten schon geholfen)

[handsfeetlegs · Rating 5 out of 5]

hands down, unequivocally, without a doubt, the most BEAUTIFUL book I have ever laid eyes on, let alone have the privilege to hold, flip through, and own.
aesthetically: the hardcover has raised texture on it, as well as shiny gold accents that makes it POP. the white strip with the name of the book and everything is removable, so that you can have the cover be purely just that beautiful illustration. (idk what it's called but) the edges of the pages (when closed) are painted black with white text that reads GUSTAVE DORÉ | THE FANTASTIC | GUSTAVE DORÉ. and it's beautiful.
the book: it's a curated selection of his works, not a complete collection, as I don't think a single book would be able to fit them all, but there's still SO MANY works here. it's a THICK book. pages have a really nice high quality paper feel to them, and the book is able to open quite well despite its thickness. they have some really cool but general information on his life and his career and stuff, which only takes up a small portion of the book, as the illustrations are the main focus, obviously. unlike many other art books, this truly is mostly illustrations, and the information they provide on the context of his works are brief yet informative.
overalls it's just designed beautifully. page layouts, divider pages, spreads, text, everything. even if you're not a superfan, or haven't even heard of his name before, I would 100% recommend this art book. (I literally didn't recognize him name in the past, only his style of work.)
a perfect 10/10 book that everyone should get

[E. G.]

Preface
Gustave Doré's List
Biography

--Gustave Doré and Printmaking
--Gustave Doré the Illustrator
--Gustave Doré the Caricaturist
--Gustave Doré the Painter

Contents
The Authors
Picture Credits

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not exactly a complete biography but the book furnishes a rough outline of Doré's life that informs the phases of his art. They selected some absolutely outstanding pieces for this book and they end with the paintings which is a great choice. The last painting just reinforced my belief that I need to travel to see his art in person. Anyway this is a great book for those new to Doré or established fans. Very high quality printing.

[ClubKamui]

I came for the Paradise Lost and Divine Comedy illustrations and got much more than I was anticipating. A great book on the history of Gustave Dore's art through his work on poems, novels, paintings, etc. It was really enlightening to learn more about him and his process for creating such amazing illustrations for some of my favorite stories. If you're a fan of his artwork this a must-read to get a real insight into who he was.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best art book I have ever read.
For me the content and the style of writing mixed perfectly. The writing never overpowered the content and the pieces it was presenting, it only complemented Doré’s work.

The history of printmaking and Dorés work was interesting and helped to put into perspective how he created the pieces that were exhibited in the book. The sheer volume of his output—spanning printmaking, paintings, caricatures, and illustrations (estimated to be around 1,100 works)—demonstrates the evolution of his work.

This book has furthered my belief that Doré is the most underrated and underappreciated artist. For the work’s he did and the stories attached to them, he should be so much more renown then he is today. The fact that he illustrated the divine comedy, paradise lost and the crow is crazy to me. Having read all these books, I found his illustrations to be perfect visual representations of what I imagined while reading.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you’re at all interested in art or the illustrations connected to classical literature, I would definitely pick this up.

[Travis Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considering a career output of over 10,000 illustrations, a book that samples 200ish of those prints, may be about as comprehensive as you’ll get in any manageable volume. Because he illustrated so many classics, from Dante to Milton to the Bible itself, Doré is a book-lover’s artist. Not only is this collection pleasing in form and content, but the full sampling of his career gives a nice window into less-known literary classics that I need to get after (e.g. Orlando Furioso and Pantagruel, among others).

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the bees knees. Sublime.

An absolute favourite for this year. The feature of this book is the art. Full page illustrations with excerpts from the work that it was created for.

This is a comprehensive collection of Gustave Dore work and goes into immense detail about how he created his art and in which volumes it featured.

This is definitely a collectors piece and much thought has been put into the creation of the book. Thick paper with full page illustrations, thoughtful details, gorgeous cover and sprayed edges. The only improvement (which is so minor) is that it should have had a ribbon bookmark attached.

A five star book that has inspired me to seek out some of the work that I have not read that features Gustave Dore illustrations.

[Lai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you know Gustave Doré? Whatever your interests and tastes, if you find this book on a shelf you can't help but pick it up and hold it in your hands. It will grab you carefully and unwittingly engrave itself directly into your heart because of the exquisite taste with which it is made.
 
The first thing that will capture your attention will be the cover with its relief engravings and gilt tracings; but the danger is not exclusively in its luxurious and exquisite binding, because if you have the good sense to open it, the illustrations inside will hypnotise you; they may be static images, but if you get closer, you will see that something is always happening in them, even in the quietest scenes there is a drama, that of the tension between what exists and what Doré wants us to believe that it exists. If you continue browsing, you will find the engravings he made for The Divine Comedy with its monsters, its spectres and its hallucinatory circles of angels creating a unique fantasy world that so many others have tried to imitate and have been inspired by, his influence even reaching into comics. It is then that you will discover that it doesn't matter if the answer to the question at the beginning is yes or no, because you will already be lost, you will want to continue, you will want to see it on your bookshelf and you will want to learn.
 
Among its pages you will find everything from an extensive collection of his illustrations to a master class in art, explaining, for example, the differences between lithography, woodcut and etching. Considering that his career spanned more than 10,000 illustrations, a book containing some 200 of them may be as complete as you can find in a manageable volume. Because he illustrated so many classics, from Dante to Milton to the Bible itself, Doré is the bibliophile's artist.
 
The book is divided into four main sections:
- Printmaking (with three engraving techniques: lithography, etching and wood engraving).
- Illustration (of novels, poems, fables, tales, war and travel stories as unique as illustrations of Gargantua and Pantagruel, Don Quixote, Captain Fracasa, Paradise Lost, Orlando Furioso, without forgetting the Divine Comedy, the tales of Perrault or Sinbad the Sailor).
- Caricature and painting (mountain landscapes, historical scenes and magical universes, a delight for the senses. In this section you will find the magic of the mythological Andromeda or The Oceanides.
- Paintings such as The Circus of Gavarnie, so luminous that it seems to have been painted by Van Gogh; the blue of Roland at Roncesvalles, the dark of The Enigma, the dreamlike Fairyland or Mountain Landscape).
 
Gustave Doré is undoubtedly one of the world's most famous illustrators, loved by the literati, the bourgeoisie, readers and observers, but ignored by his professional colleagues. Discover a complete artist who filled the world with fantasy with his works: draughtsman, engraver, painter and sculptor. His genius in literary illustration earned him a place in the collective unconscious, influencing cinema, animation, comics and advertising.
 
In short, I could use the easy phrase and say that the book is simply as its title indicates: FANTASTIC, but whatever I say, it will be impossible for me to do this dream any justice.
 
A book that is a treasure trove of mesmerising images that I could spend hours contemplating, of pages that I feel like tearing out to frame and hang on the walls of my home. A bound jewel to enjoy as many times as you like. And a must on your bookshelves.

[Vera LPP Lettrice_per_passione · Rating 5 out of 5]

🖤 𝔽𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕠 𝔾𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝔻𝕠𝕣é 🤍
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Non ci sono parole per definire questo capolavoro, edito da Ippocampo e scritto da Alix Paré e Valérie Sueur-Hermel.
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#fantastico è proprio il termine ideale per descrivere un genio come #gustavedoré
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📚 In questo libro, che è un piacere da sfogliare, in cui ci si perde nella lettura di curiosità legate all'artista - perché Doré non era soltanto un mirabile incisore, era anche un pittore - ritroviamo la vita di Doré, l'attività in un arco cronologico che parte da un ragazzo di appena undici anni, che disegna le prime caricature per la 𝕯𝖎𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖆 di Dante Alighieri, fino alla morte.
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🖌️ Doré illustra ventisei opere letterarie tra romanzi, poesie, favole e fiabe, racconti, reportage di guerra e di viaggio; si è dimostrato essere un abile caricaturista e anche un pittore (sebbene sia famoso per lo più per le sue incisioni).
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✒️ Tutti avranno visto passare davanti agli occhi le incisioni della Divina Commedia, di Don Chisciotte, dell'Orlando Furioso. Si potrebbe andare avanti all'infinito, ma la verità è che vi potete perdere nei particolari di ogni incisione che si trova in questo libro, con le ombre, le espressioni dei volti, i particolari del paesaggio.
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Se volete un pezzo da collezione, che parla dell'incisore per eccellenza, questo libro fa per voi.
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Io mi perdo a sfogliare tuttora, dopo averlo aperto, chiuso, riaperto, dopo essermi persa nel mio amato Orlando Furioso, o nel Paradiso Perduto, o nelle Fiabe di Perrault, o in Atala ❤️
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A voi piacciono le incisioni? Vi piace Doré?

[Gabriel Gonçalves de Oliveira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realmente Fantástico
Com toda certeza o livro mais belo de minha coleção! The Fantastic Gustave Doré traz para nós o mundo deste tão aclamado artista, que teve seu talento reconhecido bem novo, com seus 15 anos, onde foi chamado para trabalhar na imprensa, fazendo ilustrações para um jornal. O livro nos traz um pouco de sua vida, como eram feitas suas obras, além de mostrar suas principais ilustrações e pinturas, desde a Divina Comédia de Dante, até os contos de fada de La Fontaine, trazendo sempre uma contextualização das histórias e da época em que foram ilustradas e escritas.

Doré tinha uma lista que considerava os maiores clássicos da humanidade, mostrada no inicio do livro, a qual tinha a intenção de ilustrar todos, porém não conseguiu completar esta façanha, mesmo assim seu legado é mais do que estupendo e influencia muitos artistas até os dias de hoje.

Particularmente, gostei muito das ilustrações de Idílios do Rei, The Rime of The Ancient Mariner, e de todas as pinturas (mesmo que ele não tenha sido tão reconhecido por elas como por suas ilustrações) principalmente as religiosas e da natureza.

Sobre a qualidade do livro, não há nada a reclamar, a lombada é em tecido, capa com relevo e detalhes em dourado, páginas grossas e ilustrações de qualidade muito boa, simplesmente perfeito. Se você gosta das obras do Doré, não se acanhe, esse livro é um prato cheio (talvez só esperar melhorar o preço já que é importado).

[Blake Milton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My parents didn't have many books at home back then. I only ever came across one art book: a collection of Gustave Doré's engravings for the Bible. As a child, I could spend hours flipping through that book, captivated by the beautiful and sometimes gruesome scenes. That one book made me a lifelong admirer of Doré's work. I now possess a large number of volumes featuring his illustrations, though my collection remains far from complete. Doré produced more than 10,000 illustrations during his relatively short life.

Now, however, there is this impressively designed overview. “The Fantastic Gustave Doré” offers a very beautiful anthology of his work. Clearly, most of the attention is focused on the illustrations he created for major literary works, but there is also room for his caricatures, war scenes, travel reports, and paintings. All of this is accompanied by enlightening explanations.

This is an essential volume for Doré enthusiasts.

blakemilton.co.uk

[Blair Hoyle]

The Fantastic Gustave Doré is a massive, gorgeous, borderline overwhelming book collecting some of the finest pieces from one of my favorite artists of all time. Doré's shading is incredibly impressive.

I much prefer his "sharper" illustrations, with his Paradise Lost and the Divine Comedy pieces being my favorites, though the scale of his illustrations of the Bible are nothing short of incredible. His paintings are wonderful as well, and I'm glad this book exposed me to his work as a painter.

[Greg L Goldstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic is definitely an appropriate adjetive. Finally, a comprehensive beautiful well-produced overview of Gustave Dore's works. (Minor quibble is that some of the works could have been cleaned up a bit more from the scans, but that, in my personal AND professional experience, is a slippery slope.)

[JN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbe livre qui permet aux curieux de découvrir l'œuvre magistral du maitre romantique. Bien sûr, vous retrouverez ses dessins, mais aussi ses toiles et ses caricatures. Le seul bémol réside en l'utilisation de l'anglais pour décrire le travail d'un français (malheureusement, je n'ai pas trouvé de livre équivalent à celui-ci dans la langue de l'illustrateur).

[RICCARDO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aura.
Ho letto questa meraviglia qualche pagina ogni sera perché, divorarlo, sarebbe stato uno spreco. Così ho avuto modo di godermi ogni singola illustrazione che non può far altro che lasciare incantati ogni volta, fino all'ultima pagina.
Analisi completa della carriera e del percorso di Doré ed esposta in maniera coincisa, molto accurata ed esaustiva, senza pesare nella fruizione delle opere.

[Yoru Tsuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je cherchais depuis quelques temps plus d’informations sur l’œuvre de Gustave Doré et je suis absolument ravie d’avoir trouvé ce livre. Il magnifique et abondamment illustré et aborde tous les aspects de l’artiste fantastique qu’était Doré, de ses gravures à ses peintures.

[Riccardo Pallotta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro da avere per la sua bellezza e che mi ha sorpreso per il suo contenuto comunque interessante. Inoltre lo si può anche consultare per delle letture classiche, ma il suo must sono le illustrazioni di Dorè che fanno impazzire. Meraviglioso.

[Mila Bozhkova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so beautifully crafted that it's waay underpriced in my opinion. Beautiful cover, excellent paper thickness and high resolution reproductions accompanied by a short and informative narrative. I would give it 10 stars if I could. Well done!

[🧛🏻‍♀️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

informative and beautifully designed,I would have liked it more if it included other certain paintings and illustrations but the provided historical backgrounds and analyses of the paintings were very insightful

[Aaron Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art is absolutely stunning, particularly the divine comedy. Wish I could put in samples to show how beautiful it is. Everything from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner to Gulliver’s Travels is in this. Mesmerising gorgeous art

[Julien Samotyj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un superbe ouvrage, très peu de textes analytique, le premier chapitre explique les différentes techniques utilisées par Doré puis le lecteur est projeté devant ces œuvres extraordinaires. Quel voyage incroyable au sein de ces beautés !

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un travail incroyable à la fois d’édition et de rédaction, ce livre en plus d’être un objet magnifique permet de comprendre méthodiquement la vie et l’art de Gustave Doré