Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
History
Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
Biography
Another thing for which Doré is praised is his wonderful memory. Mr.
Jerrold repeats more than once Doré's phrase, "I have lots of
collodion in my head," and recounts how he could scarcely be induced
to make sketches from nature, but relied upon his memory. He also
speaks of Doré's system of dividing and subdividing a subject, and
noting the details in their places, so that he could reproduce the
whole afterward. This question of work from memory is one of the most
vital for an understanding of Doré, and one of general interest in all
matters of art, and is worth attention. Of course, a man who made
hundreds of drawings every year could not work much from nature, and
came to rely upon his memory. But what is the nature of artistic
memory, and how does it perform its task? We think the truth is, that
the artist who habitually works from memory, fills in his details, not
from memory of the object, but from memory of the way he has formerly
drawn similar objects. He reverts to a series of formulæ that he has
gradually accumulated. This man must have a cloak. This is the way a
cloak is done. A hand? Nothing can be easier; the hand formula is
ready. The stock in trade of the professional illustrator and
caricaturist is made up of a thousand such formulæ--methods of
expression that convey the idea readily enough to the spectator, but
have little relation to fact. So it is that Doré never learned, in the
true sense, to draw. He had made for himself a sort of artistic
shorthand, which enabled him to convey his superabundant ideas quickly
and certainly to his public, but his drawing is what is called
mannered in the extreme. It is not representation of nature at all,
but pure formula and chic. He is said to be a master of drapery, but
he never drew a single fold correctly. He is said to show great
knowledge of Gothic architecture, but he never drew well a single
column or finial. In his later years he studied anatomy with great
perseverance, and advocated the necessity of dissection, saying, "Il
faut fourrer la main dedans" (You must stick your hand in it); but the
manner was formed, and he never drew a leg with a bone in it.
With this equipment he illustrated Don Quixote, Dante, the Bible. Is
it strange that he shows no sympathy with the grand simplicity of
Dante, or the subtle humor of Cervantes, and that we can only be
thankful that he never completed his projected illustrations to
Shakespeare? Doré, the illustrator, was fecund beyond precedent,
possessed a certain strange drollery, had a wonderful flow of ideas,
but was superficial, theatrical, and mannered, and as far from
expressing real horror as from expressing real fun. What shall we say
of Doré the painter and sculptor?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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