Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

Gustave Paul Louis Doré (French, 1832-1883)
Lake Landscape
Signed Gve Doré (lower left)
Watercolour over traces of pencil
39.7 x 72.7cm; 15¾ x 28½in

Provenance:
Mrs Aked, from c.1940;
Given to Colonel Brake c.1990 and thence by descent

Doré is associated principally with dramatic book illustrations but his landscapes show a more personal and atmospheric interpretation of the natural world. He travelled widely through the Alps, Scotland and rural France and focused upon the sublime power of nature, with towering peaks, deep valleys, rugged cliffs and expansive skies. The watercolours show a sensitivity to weather, light and mood with atmosphere used to enhance emotional intensity. Freer brushwork and the use of transparent washes are employed with care to capture fleeting moments. Doré's fondness for including deer in such subjects, as here, was intended to reflect both the enormity of the scene and the idyllically Edenesque mood. By exploring themes of awe, isolation, spirituality and the connection between humanity and nature, Doré's landscapes align the artist with the purest aspects of the Romantic tradition.