Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Dore*(French, 1832-1883)

Andromeda

Details

Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Dore*(French, 1832-1883)
Andromeda
signed and dated 'Gve Doré/1869' lower right--oil on canvas
100½ x 67½in. (255.2 x 171.5cm.)

Provenance

With The Doré Gallery, London, 1870-92
U.S. Art Import Company, 1899-1927
Anon. sale; Manhattan Storage & Warehouse Co., New York, September 9, 1947, lot 22
Eugene Leone, New York

Literature

F.R. Conder, Descriptive Catalogue of the Picutres by M. Gustave Doré on View at 35, New Bond Street, London, London, 1883, pp. 59-60, no. 27
B. Jerrold, Life of Gutave Doré, London, 1891, pp. 261, 408
L. Dézé, Gustave Doré: Bibliographie et Catalogue Complet de l'Oeuvre, Paris, 1930, p. 123
H. Leblanc, Catalogue de l'Oeuvre Complet de Gustave Doré, Paris, 1931, p. 541
S. Lieber, New York Herald Tribune Sunday Magazine, May 18, 1947 (illustrated)
Gustave Doré 1832-1883, Musée d'Art Moderne, Strasbourg, 1983, p. 52

Exhibited

The Doré Gallery, London, 1870-92
Carnegie Music Hall, The Doré Collection, New York, 1892, pp. 43-44
The Art Institute of Chicago, Illustrative Catalogue of the Doré Gallery, Chicago, circa 1894, pp. 25-26

Lot Essay

Andromeda was painted at the height of Doré's career between 1868-69 and was most likely a pendant to Paolo and Francesca (see lot 82) painted in 1863 and exhibited in the Paris Salon that year. Blanche Roosevelt in her book Life and Reminisences of G. Doré discusses the artist during these years. "He need not have feared any rivals, for no draughtsman of his epoch could come anywhere near him, and even had any other artist displayed special talent he could never have attained any notice in the realm over which Doré reigned supreme."

The Architect describes how "...the picture forms a worthy pendant to the well-known Francesca de Rimini, by the same artist. Not withstanding the number of times this subject has been painted, M. Doré's conception is marked by originality." (The Architect, Descriptive Catalogue of Pictures by M. Gustave Doré on Exhibition at the Doré Gallery, 35, New Bond Street, London, 1874, p. 18)

The myth records how the Queen of Ethiopia, Casiopea, had insulted the sea-god Posidon by boasting that her daughter was more beautiful than the sea-nymphs. As a result of this insult Posidon demanded that Andromeda be sacrificed to the sea serpent or all in Ethiopia would perish. In our painting Doré depicts the serpent attempting to devour her before her rescue by Perseus, son of Zeus.