Comments on: Gustave Doré’s East End

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 09:05:22 +0000

Gritty images brought alive so long after London looked like this. The song of 1899 wonderfully represented for me in Gus Elen’s ‘If it wasn’t for the houses in between’. Well worth looking for to listen on YouTube if you don’t already know it.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 22:49:25 +0000

Wow. Doré did love to portray the infernal. His take on life, I guess. The subjects in picture number two certainly resented his observation; he certainly didn’t mind recording their repugnance. How different from the visages in Brewer’s Men, fellows well-enough situated in life in a secure industry.

Dear god, how fascinating. Hay Boats On The Thames is amazing. They all are. Dore could portray both heaven and hell. Too bad he never illustrated Blake.

Not that Blake needs Doré; however, wouldn’t such productions be… fascinating.

By: Charr Skirvin

Charr Skirvin — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 12:05:02 +0000

I’m currently reading Peter Ackroyd’s “Dickens” (over 1 000 pages of which I’ve read about half.) These images go perfectly with this book, illustrating the horrific conditions of the poor in London during Dickens’ lifetime. Dickens was a keen observer of these conditions.

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 11:56:39 +0000

Astounding! I was especially moved by “A City Thoroughfare”. Notice the man at the very center of the throng. The artist INSISTS that we regard this man, and we are riveted. This image is so vivid, I almost feel that I can hear the roar of this churning, broiling crowd.
Humanity!

Thank you, GA. A glorious way to begin the day, as ever.

By: Richard Smith

Richard Smith — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 11:51:11 +0000

Just hugely impressed with the amount of detail in Dore’s engravings. He also captures so well the suffering and misery of some of the people he portrays. What a skilled engraver and artist he must have been.

By: David Walsh

David Walsh — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 10:10:02 +0000

I’d be fascinated to know exactly where Dore’s best known work – that of the curved row of terrace rookery housing below two towering railway viaducts – was sited. Can you help ?

By: Steve Hanscomb

Steve Hanscomb — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 08:49:49 +0000

Fantastic work. I’m torn between wishing I could walk into these images and being glad I’m not!
The first one, in Bishopsgate shows Paul Pindar’s house, which was demolished to make way for Liverpool St. Station. The facade is in the V&A museum now. It was inspiration for Jim Kay’s interpretation of one of the shops on Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter illustrated books.

By: Jennifer Blain

Jennifer Blain — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 08:14:08 +0000

I loved the contrast between Gustave Doré’s artistically piled up masses of humanity in today’s post and your choice for You may Also Like, ‘A room to let in old Aldgate’ – ethereal, unpopulated photographs of decaying buildings.

So many ways to see London. How can it ever become boring?

By: Alex Knisely

Alex Knisely — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 07:30:59 +0000

Piranesi’s CARCERI. Surprised at myself for not making the connection before. Thank you for presenting the images.

By: David

David — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 07:26:04 +0000

Incredible control of light in those engravings