On the Wings of Gustave Doré

French born artist "Paul" Gustave Doré (1832-1883)
 lived just 51 years on this earth, but his contribution to the art world is impossible to quantify.

Perhaps most known for his epic etchings, Doré was also 
an illustrator, painter, sculptor, and all-around prodigy.  
He began sculpting in cement at the age of 12, at 15 he was working as a caricature artist for a prominent French publication, and by his 21st year he had been commissioned to illustrate the works of Lord Byron.

Monsieur Doré would later win the right to illustrate books by Balzac, Dante, Poe, Rabelais, Milton, and even the bible. 

{ Doré's illustration for the cover of Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven'; 1883 } 
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Personally, I'm smitten.  No one captures the structure of a wing and a wave like Gustave!
His works are striking, emotional, intense and just plain incredible.
Enjoy!

{ 'Andromeda'; 1869 } 
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{ 'Jacob Wrestling with the Angel'; 1855 } 

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{ 'La Famille Du Saltimbanque L'Enfant Blesse' ("Family of Acrobats"); 1837 } 

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{ 'Two Owls'; 1879 } 

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tags: antique, art, biblical, dante, dore, engraving, etching, gustav, illustration, literature, lithograph, print, wings

Lovely Ladies

As promised, here's version 2.0 of "Hot Tintypes":
The fairer sex.

Pretty photos of pretty people.
Tintypes, Daguerrotypes, Ambrotypes, and some other types, 
I'm sure...

 { This first picture is my new favorite favorite thing.  Witches? Witches!  What's with the dead bird? Doesn't matter.  It's all amazing, and an alluring mystery. }

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{ Gorgeous.  }

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{ This lady is the great or great-great grandmother of Drew Barrymore.  Fox! }

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{ A gypsy; taken after arriving on Ellis Island. }

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{ So haunting. }

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{ So young! }

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{ A straight-up Texas lass.  She'll cut a bitch. }

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{ I would wear allll of this. }

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And rounding out the "Hot Hair" category:

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Because I missed a few fellers last time:

{ Who is he? Who cares! He's a gentleman and a scholar... I can tell. }

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{ Artist Paul Gustave Dore.  Check out his amazing engravings. }

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{ ... }

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{ Could go either way.. }

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{ Haha... these are dudes. }

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tags: ambrotype, antique, daguerrotype. first drag queens, ladies, men, photograph, picture, tintype, victorian, women, 1800s