Artist

Gustave Doré

French printmaker, Gustav Doré (1832–1883) is one of the most prolific and successful book illustrators of the late 19th century, whose exuberant and bizarre fantasy created vast dreamlike scenes widely emulated by Romantic academicians. In 1847 he went to Paris, where he produced weekly lithographic caricatures for the Journal pour Rire and several albums of lithographs. His later fame rested on his wood-engraved book illustrations. Employing more than 40 woodcutters, he produced over 90 illustrated books. Among his finest were an edition of the Oeuvres de Rabelais (1854), Les Contes drolatiques of Balzac (1855), the large folio Bible (1866), and Dante’s Inferno (1861).