Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-02-28
LETTER FROM NEW YORK.
Paul Gustave DOre-First Among the
Designers Of the WOrId-A short
Biographical Sketeh-SOme Mention
OF his Works.
[correspondeHoo Cleveland LrADEn.l
NEW YORK. Februarr q. 1se

on the numerous failures, illuminate Il
latter until all art and all literature seem
success shining star leading ever o
its devotees and yet over in advance as ii
will of the wisp allures the traveller ovt
the bog.
How many followers of the ideal sin
to rise no more, and how few reach tn
safe, firm ground of success!
First among the designers of the world
living or dead, one who has astonishe
and caused to admire, by the fertility o
his genius, his rapidity and wonderful
mastery over light and shade, the az
lovers of France England and America
ssands Paul Gustave Dore.
Born in Strasburg in 1888, he went Il
Paris in ls45, and has since with his pen
ell illustrated so fully, with such apprecia
ton of subject and great versatility Bal
sac, Sue, PerVault, Montaigne, Dante
Cervantes and the Bible, that the labors O
other men seem poor and improbable
compared with his-whether we consider
the great range of his genius or the extra
ordinary number of drawings illustrating
the works enumerated-besides many
lesser ones.
What John Gilbert and Birket Foster
are in lesser way to English, Dore is tc
French art.
Dore's genius has cast aside many con.
ventionalities of art and marked out q
path of its own; he delights in represent
ing the grand and the terrible, he revels
in destruction, he enjoys the writings the
agonies of crowds Of fellow beings, strug-
Cling in arms with each other, or doomed
to dealth falling before the invisible power
of the tempest, whilo nature psrtakes OF
the passions of man and lends terrible
aspect to the scene.
Gilbert is conventional and his richness
of coloring alone assimilates him to Dore.
Birket Foster delights in quiet scenes,
while Dors rising in his might creates
landscapes in which Titans seem dwarfed
and chaos reigns supreme.
The three men walk hand in hand in
the path of expression and color, though
the objects each sees and represents are SO
different.
Dore is barbaric in spirit and thinks of
nature in its primeval forms, and man in
his Hndisciplined strength. He enjoys the
grotesque, and it is only the sense of the
beautiful and its occasional representation
that saves him from being great caricatu-
rist and many of his drawings monstrosi-
ties.
He has given full scope to his powers in
ths1egend of the Wandering
Jew, where in series of twelve grand
designs of which one or two are promi-
nently fine, he has depicted the scene of
the cursing of the jew: "Thou shalt
walk on earth till come again. and his
subsequent wanderings by land and sea,
till happy to die he stands at the judg-
ment. Ever present to him urging him
onward is the awful scene of the eruci-
fxion, reflected in the wave or towering
over him in the alps; stretching their
gnarled branches towards him the trees
of the forest picture to his imagination the
Savior and his prosecutors.
Dore loves the mysterious and illimita-
bic, and has in series of sublime designs
echoed the sublime visions of Dante. Dore
is humorous and grotesque, and perhaps
the two latter qualities are his most prom
inent ones. How admirable has he illus
trated Don QuiIote Besides Tony
Johannot no man has represented so we'll
the knight-errant-the strange and hu-
morous scenes in which he took part
withal so truthful that his study in Spain
is evident as in bis last great work are his
studies in Eastern lands.
With regard to the illustrations of
times, it seems as if his mind
we're filed with their grotesque architec-
.ure and men in,armor, who at his bidding
step out on the page.
The last work of this colossus has been to
depict the scenes Of sacred history and to
illustrate the sacred story from Genesis to
.he Revelations of St. John.
From this brief summary of Dore's line |
IF thought the reader will gather that his
powers are well displayed in the Old Tes-
lament From its wealth of imagery he |
presents to US series of grand designs:
'The Dawn of Light on Chaos" The
Resting of the Ark "Drowning of Pha-
roah and his host" ''The PRONUNCIATION of !
.he Law" Jeremiah Debating to the
Scribe" 1.-THE Vision of Isaiah, y "Passage
of the Jordan by the Hebrews" and |
Jonah Thrown on the Seasbore."
1 can not particularize any Of these, |
which are all so great and full of the feel
ng of the grand and supernatural that |
1ns locks at them in awe and retires into |
deeper insight and reverence for the Holy
Text. 3
Admitted as is his ability to grasp the
yrandeurs and terrors of the unknown,
bis versatility is admirably shown in sew
sral beautiful compositions which surprise
and delight by their freshness and beauty
of form and color. Speaking of color,
let me say no one expresses in black and
white on wood such purity of tone and
effect as Dore. In the
q Creation Of Eve" Isaac receiving Re
becca,n Ret6rn of the Ark of the Coven-
ant" and Susanna at the Bath" there is
A tremulousness of air and light rarely
seen in painting.
As to the peace and loVeliness Of the
summer day and the summer sky succeed |
.he blsckening clouds, the rage and fury
IF the tempest, so in strong contrast to |
.hese gentle scenes are the realizatiOns of |
.he "Plague of Darkness" "The Levia-
han in the troughs of the Sea-" an un-
wieldy and hideous monster; Samson |
uniting the Philistines withthe ASS jaw" |
Samson carrying off the Gates of Gaza;" |
fSamson's death" and the "Falling of the |
walls of Jericho" In the two last, the |
lrtists marvellous rendition of motion is |
'ully shown. The amazed spectator holds |
lis breath and watches anxiously the pom
lerous columns fall as the blind athlete in |
lis fury drags them down to the destruc-
ion of his prosecutors. The falling walls |
If Jericho tumble before the inspired |
olast, and with them carry their defend
srs.
Mar bf these designs in their gloom
md profundity attest Dore's great power
% express size, space and depth. De- |
9ending on NATURALIZATION of character, |
i portion of the compositions are common |
place; skillful in combining great masses
md expressing numbers we cannot expect |
he artist to be equally happy in repre-
enting the depth and sweetness of coun- |
,enance of our Savior This think to be |
he great lack in the illustrations to the |
New Testament.
Following the bent Of his genius, un-
successful in expressing the sweetness and |
ove of the single figure, depending for
mis- effect much on surrounding masses of |
light and shade and on nature, which he
molds to his purpose with mastery hand,
Dore has produced terrible and touching
pictures of the persecution, sutferings and |
final agony of our Lord.
GChrist Insulted," "Christ Crowned"
and "Chtist before the multitude are
The most satisfactory representations of she
Savior. IN. r. -
Bringing to his assistance the strong
expression Of nature, the artist has made
exceedingly fine compositions of the
Crucifxion and succeeding