Gustave Doré (French, 1832–1883) Velvet Lining (Illustration for Edgar Allan Poe's The Ra

Gustave Doré (French, 1832–1883) Velvet Lining (Illustration for Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven)

Signed 'G. Doré' bottom right, ink, wash and white gouache en grisaille on paper
Sheet size: 20 3/8 x 14 3/16 in. (51.8 x 36cm)

Provenance

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Marqusee, New York, New York (as L'Extase).
A gift from the above.
Private Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Note

A prodigy – he worked as a caricaturist for Le Journal pour Rire at the age of fifteen – Gustave Doré was one of the most prolific and highly revered illustrators of the second half of the 19th century. His vast output is said to be some 10,000 illustrations, with works in nearly 100 books in such notable titles as Don Quixote, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, The Idylls of the King, Fables de la Fontaine, and London: A Pilgrimage. The latter alone (1872) contained 180 engravings, and took the artist four years to execute. Created six years earlier, La Grande Bible contains 241 engravings.

In addition to working as printmaker – he favored wood and steel engravings – Doré was also an accomplished sculptor and painter. It is his skill as a draftsman that is on full display in the present work, wherein a young woman peers into the eyes of her distraught lover, each seated somewhat uncomfortably in an upholstered armchair. With his left hand, he clutches the chair arm as she clutches his shoulder with her left hand. The scene is rendered all the more poignant by the appearance of natural sunlight which streams through the window at right.

The present work is one of 26 illustrations which Doré completed for Poe's The Raven. Specifically, it illustrates the poem's thirteenth stanza, which goes:

"This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!"

This was Doré’s last project, completed weeks before his death on January 23, 1883 and showing his mastery at rendering a dark, romantic atmosphere. His drawings were turned over to Harper & Brothers in New York City, where fourteen master engravers were hired to rush the volume to press, which was published after Doré's passing.

In overall fine to good condition. The sheet is affixed to a flimsy, glossy sheet of paper at all four corners via brown paper tape. We sectionned the upper left corner to be able to review the verso of the sheet, which presents well. With even edges and strong coloring. 0 1/2 in. vertical tear at upper right, splitting from the top outer edge. Examination under UV light reveals that the top left and right corners have been mended and replaced. With a 4 1/2 in. long diagonal repair stretching across the ceiling at upper center. Another, about 1 1/2 in. long across the lamp, at center left. The figures are intact, with a nice texture to the gouache highlights. Some evidence of rubbing at bottom left corner.

Frame: 27 1/2 x 21 1/2 x 1 in.

To request additional images, or for any other information, please email Raphael Chatroux at rchatroux@freemansauction.com.