The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-18
The TintOrrettO of the Nineteenth Century.


said journal.
How ioyfully bear1ed his deep black eyes
when the editor, after reading the letter,
accepted the sketch, although he was not able
to conceal a slight shrug aud caused twenty
Ave franor to be paid to him.
81 wonder if this youth has breaktasted
to-day" said an acquaintances OF the edltor
who happened to be present, after the youth
had left the room.
UTbere are. unfortunately, plenty OF such
unknown and unappreolated genluses, repheu
Huart. who, although himself newspaper
writer, since he had become publisher, had
assumed the manners with which great many
French publishers think they must treat artists
as yet unknown to fame.
Five wears afterwards the same young man
informed the editor of the ChariUdrt that he
could no longer furnish any drawings to that
paper unless twelve, instead of ten, Louis
d'ors were paid him for each of them. The
wonderful skill and productivity Of the artist
had meanwhile become so generally known
that he was the most popular newspaper
illustrator of France.
Many of my respected readers, | am sure
have already OWNED of whom l am speaking.
The artist is, of course, no other than Gustave
Dore. Already in his earliest youth there were
unmistakable manifestations of his wonderful
talents, and from his fifth year forward draw
ing was his favorite occupation. Born at
Strasburg as the son of poor engineer, who
was infatuated enough to deplore the wonder
full talents of his son, and pronounced the
pains he bestowed on drawing and painting
foolish waste of time, Gustave Dore came to
Paris in 1916, in his thirteenth year; and al
ready from the following year date his first
newspaper illustrations which were published
in a manuscript journal edited by the pupils of
Charlemagne College. The poverty of his
family compelled him to abandon his project
of attending the lectures of the Polytechnic
School, and when the revolutionary storms of
lS4S added to the distress of his family he
found himself penniless on the much-abuse
pare de Paris, which, for all that, has given
birth to so many great men.
Dore's lead pencil now became the only
source by which he earned living. But
while he used it principally in drawing
sketches for the humorous papers in Paris, he
also devoted great deal of attention and
labor to the study of his art. Only it must
not be believed that he followed the old,
beaten track, and chose a certain master to
guide his steps. His entirely original and in
dependent nature did not admit of anything
of the kind. His studies, on the contrary,
consisted exclusively of independent observa-
tions; and, hence, his manner of representing
nature and men belongs to him alone.
1t is difficult task to describe Dore's
talent. At an age when many others just
enter upon their artistic career, he has ar
rived at degree of perfection, for which
many great master might envy him. His
landscapes are bold, fantastic, and yet not un-
real his sombre forests have mysterious
depths, his gorges in the rocks excite terror,
his moon-lit deserts with their dense thicllets
of thorns and creepers, fill us with awe, and
his representations of grand natural scenes
with profound admiration. In his paintings
and drawings, containing human figures, he
exhibits, on one hand, so much grotesque and
often biting humor, that we never look at
Them 1iEoOvpriny frash lrdi faa
lures in them; and, on the other hand, so
much sweetness and loveiness that nothing
could surpass them in this respect; and
finally, so chaste and dgnifed style that we
are almost at loss to understand how the
pencil can have been welded by the same
hand which furnished so many laughable illus
tratiOns to "JournaL pour rire."
Thus we do not know what we are to admire
more warmly in this wonderful wizard; the
originality and perfection of his creations, or
his unparalleled productiveness.
The first great work which DOre Published
were his illustrations to the writings OF Rabe-
lais, the first step leading to the pinnacle of
the fame which he now enjoys; they were pub
lished in 1858, and the number of productions
which the great artist has issued since then,
drawings, sketches, wood-cuts, and oil-paint-
ings, is almost incredible. He himself does
not know the total number of his works. In
1864 an enthusiastic English connoisseur ad-
FoItlsou Ill Ille dTlS papers IndL ue WlSu6u 10
obtain complete catalogue of all of Gustave
Dore's works. This wish was of course imme-
diately brought to the artists notice; but he
at that time declared with shrug that he was
nnaule to fulfil it, for he himself knew only
that he had made from fifteen to twenty thou
sand drawings, but he was utterly unable to
furnish further details. Truly, productive
ness which renders all myths concerning
Rubens more than probable.
For all that, Dore, although he has amassed
greater wealth than the greatest German
painters ever were able to do, has remained
the most modest and uuassuming man in the
world. Here is a striking example of this
trait of hist
A few years ago there suddenly arose in
Paris the rumor that Dore, despite the fabulous
number of works which he had finished, had
IN his desk still another large work, consisting
of several hundred sheets. Nobody thought
that this could be true for although it was
generally known that the young artist was
almost necessarily at work in his studio, it
seemed utterly impossible that what with in
Vulnerable sketches, drawings, paintings, etc.,
which he had already given to the public his
pencil should have been able to create such an
extensive production. lie himself strenuously
denied the existence of such a work. And yet
the voices, which, even in his presence in
sisted on it, could not be silenced, and some
one must have committed an indiscretion, for
one morning Name, the great Tours publisher,
rushed into his studio, eXclaiming:-
"You have illustrated the Bible-the illus
trations are mine-ask for them whatever you
please !"
The scene now ensuing seems to have been
taken from a comedy-denials on one side,