New-York tribune., 1885-09-18
GUsTAvE DoRE.
THE STORY OF A STRENUOUS ARTISTIC
CAREER

tions. CasseI Co.
rho ns. Of Gustave Dor6 is interesting for its
.hrormalities. No artist has possessed 80 ama@'ns
a fecnndlty. 80 Unsuitable an appetite LOT "orA' VI
a.nhho,n a contempt for the dlsciI line and STUDY
tn,onoh which alone even the hrghest genius oA"
attain to excellence. The story OF such caree, 40
that of the great illustrator could hardy iaii "
interest however poorly told, Tor IL Is sti""e'
narrative of exceptional abilities aud equa'iy oA-
centlonal vital energy resulting in successes WI -"
while brilliant beyond all reasonable an'icipa''pn
failed to satisfy the artist, and ieie MN 90 Wv
srmmit of his career deeply disappointed man
Y,orS was a horn artist He began to draw without
onv instruction. and as by instinct. When SIX or
.sven wears old he lad done work when aireauy
showed marked talent. at the very beginning u
his career he displayed that prediection ior 'iie
h;zarre and erotesuue which characterlZeo so n"on
of his mature work.
The SON of a civil engineer at strasburg born III
sbo sbadov Of the great cathedral, made familiar oy
,.ataa iournevs In his fathers company Wild tne
Wild scenery of the Vosees all the atural tendency
,f the how toward the imaginative was htehs'"ou
nv his early surroundings. His father was io"s
adverse to Young Gustave's artistic leanlnes' ou'
nature proved too strong for the paternal wishes
and a Paris publisher having seen some vi Vn0
bov's satirica sketches was SO struck oy tnein
.ha+ bo rronosed a contract for two years for the
,rnnlv of similar work to the Journal pour Rtre
srh,s waa the beginning of Dor6s Paris career ana
tbenceforward for more than twenty years he con
timed to pour out sketches, illustrations water
colors oil paintings In profusion ana VIII "
rapiditv which continually amazed even those VINO
were most familiar with his methods OF WORK. ne
had scarcely any instruction. lie always reluS0u
to make studies from the living model and in effect
A.
true sense The astonishing fertility of his fancy
and the not less wonderful facility of his hand no
Aoubt encouraged in him the belief that snch
ar,aoerv was needless in his case. So far as his
success n, an illustrator concerned, perhaps IL
was needless for much of his work III this Kihd Is
so exonisite that it seems impossible TO better IT,
Rnt IN his obstinate rejection of advice In regard
to studv he certainly owed the great disapDoint-
ment of his life, namely. his failure TO achleVe
national reputation as q painter. II was justly
observed that he had II all in him. but he lacked
schooln and that deficiency fatally handicapped
him. There is power, talent, originality IN MS
paintings Many Of them are SO good tDat they
narrowly miss being great. But they do tali snort
of greatness and because OF the want OF study
which they betray. Miss Roosevelt makes an heroic
effort TO prove that the French critics ana the
French public were preiudced against Dores paint
ings. but this theory will not hold good Dore palu
the inevitable penalty of his own refusal to submit
10 training He thought he could forego the educa-
ton which every great artist before him underwent
and the world refused to admit that his WORK Justl
fed this arrogant position.
It is true that he was man of genius, and that
his WAYS were not the worlds ways. but even
genius cannot afford to ignore all the gathered
wisdom of the past especially in art 1t is possible
-lralu hard daaI nFA nj
forth so much but it is obvious that II he had done
very much less he might have held up all his work
TO his highest standard whereas, 1T is very uneven
and much of it is impaired by bad drawing and by
fantasy which is beneath true art. list of the
books illustrate by him during the period between
1850 and 1870 would FIJI a column of The
TRIBUNE In that time he earned 81 100000. and
probably before his death his earnings had risen to
S2.OOO,COO But for his modesty and want of busi-
ness capacity he could doubtless have made half as
much again, but he always put a modest estimate
on his own work, and the extent OF his income was
due to the magnitude of the output and not TO the
height of his charges. AS worker he was inde-
fatigable For several years he seems to have
denied himself more than three or four hours sleep
in the twenty-four He always had a number of
engagements ahead as we'll as those In hand, aDd be
had laid out work for some years shortly before
his death
His character was amiable, and his temperament
naturally cheerful and sanguine He was full of
accomplishments. being a good musician, fair
singer with talent for private theatricals like
Charles Dickens and fondness for acrobatics and
leeerdermain which made him amusing company.
He was good talker quick in intellect, generous
and open-handed, spending lavIshly and saving
little, and he a devoted son 20 a mother whose
affection for him engrossnt that she seems
10 have thwarted his purpose of marrying because
she could not bear to abdicate her position the
head of his household All his success and pros
perty however, could not compensate Dore for the
refusal of his conntrymen TO recognize him as a
painter London did accord him that recognition,
but this did not console him for the attitude OF
Paris In vain his devoted friend Theophile GauticI
declared his paintings magnificent. In vain I'd
mond About Landed them The public would not
showed the artist many kndnesses, but Dor6 was
an Orleanist, and the Imperial Government wa;
slow to recognize his services He died suddenly o
apoplexy while still young man. his vitality hav
ing no doubt been exhausted by the tremendous
rate at which he worked for so many years. Con
sidering the amount of work he accomplished, and
the rapidity with which it was executed lfor hi
would often fill twenty good-sized blocks In
morning) il must be admitted that the average
excellence of his drawing is high. 1t Is, however
apparent that with all his native inspiration b.
would have been better artist if he had been les
impatient of study, and had he trained himsel
patiently he might have been matchless draughts
man, and perhaps even q great painter.
1t remains to say something of the manner il
which the task of the biographer has been done
Miss Roosevelt appears to have been moved b!
enthusiasm to the work. for which she possessed NJ
al ffnoas In ofbar wa Har N
acquaintance with Dore seems TO have been YER
slight but she has labOred diligently to gather IN
formation from his friends, and has thus brough
together much really interesting matter. Tn
"reminiscences of the veteran bibliopoe, Pau
Lacroix, are perhaps the most readable. He bad