The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1872-01-20
Gustave Dore.

The Philadelphia BuUetin translate
from late Paris paper the following
concerning the works on which tn
great French artistic, Gustavc Dore, il
now engaged:
We are promised, in the year o
/ 1877, a resumption of the annual exhi
! bitions of paintings, and by good lucl
have seen, before it's completion,
work which will certainly be the grea,
one of the coming salon. Down in
| the Champs Elysees, in an old gyman
sium turned into Il studio, Gustavt
Dore is putting the finishing touches t.
his gigantic picture. The subject is
Christ leaving the Pertorium and de.
scending the stairs at the foot of which
! the cross is awaiting him. This can.
vas, which is certainly one of the lar
gest ever painted, will, we think, be
revelation even to those who have
rated Dore's talent the highest. The
composition has the nlagisteriai am
plitude Of the great masters, and espe-
cially of Paul Veronese.
With surrounding OF splendid
architecture the scene is developed
with Il verify that is majestic. From
the two sides the mob, kept back by
soldiers, arc eagerly trying to see the
condemned pass, While they load him
with imprecations. Clusters Of hu-
nanity hang from the columns, cling
to the porticos, and swarm on the
steps. Jesus Christ descends calmly:i
his long white robe shows halo like
reflections; his head is that of one illu-
minated, who looks above the reach
of human invective. In color as well
as in boldness of conception the pic
ture is an eXceptiOnab1e one, with
which there can be no comparison
made. Think, too, that in the face
of such tremendous work Dore con-
trives to manage twenty, thirty, u
hundred other things. In this very
studio ten other canvasses contest for
the use of his brush.
But this is not all. He takes up his
lodgings in the Rue st. Dominique,
where, as u designer, he prefers to
work. There he has advanced far
toward completing work which
alone would be enough for the life
time of one man. 1t is London COM
plete, with its strange scenes, it's UNI
soundlable miseries, its swarming ter
rors. An English publisher has dc
voted to this publication the trif1e
of six hundred thousand francs, and 1
assure you he will get his moneys
worth. Ifyour curiosity is not salts
fed, look on the table where there are
eight or nine hundred drawings al
really sketched.
Come now into the second room.
On all the easels are scenes from the
siege of Paris, in grayish Oil, which
will make thrilling history-a histo-
ry for the eye. Here we see hurried
moving from 4 bombarled house, with
the baby shivering in its little wagon,
and an old paralytic carried off on the
backs of others. There is street of
Villejnif, where people are massing
for fight. But it would take vol
ume to describe the scenes.
But, after having thus seen heaped
up a mass Of work enough to wear out
ten lives, the most confounding thing
of all is to look at the artist and find
him man fresh, rosy, hearty, and
CHEEKY; who seems not only to mis-
trust the prodigies he has Accomplish
ed, but when you venture to congratu-
late him, cuts you short in the midst
of your speech by playing an air on
the violin, or by performing a feat in
gymnastics.