Drawings by Gustave Doré in M.V. Dobuzhinsky’s Works

The relevance of the article is determined by the fact that drawings by Gustave Doré, one of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky’s favorite artists, reproduced in various publications, have never been the object of special research as artistic sources of this artist’s works.

The scientific novelty of this article lies in the fact that it is the first attempt to analyze the influence of Doré’s drawings on Dobuzhinsky’s works. The author applies a complex method that combines a source analysis of the artist’s memoirs and letters and a comparative formal analysis of his works with Doré’s works. The article compares the pictorial motifs in Dobuzhinsky’s drawings with similar motifs in Charles Dickens’ novels “The Old Curiosity Shop” and “Little Dorrit”. These works by Dickens, as well as the motifs that could have attracted Dobuzhinsky’s attention in them, were identified on the basis of an analysis of the artist’s letters. The article reveals that a significant influence on Dobuzhinsky’s works “Barbershop Window” (1906), “Vilna. Nocturnal Scene” (1910), “A Night in St. Petersburg” (1924) and the etching “Roofs” (1901) was rendered by Doré’s drawings “Whitechapel. A Hiding Place”, “Bluegate Fields in Shadwell” and “Over London — by Rail”, made for the book “London. A Pilgrimage” by W.B. Jerrold. The author also finds that Doré’s drawing “Inside the Docks” from this publication influenced Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva’s woodcut “Tackles” (1917). The article identifies the books with illustrations by Gustave Doré, based on which Mstislav Dobuzhinsky and Alexandre Benois became acquainted with this artist’s work.

1. Jerrold W.B. London: A Pilgrimage. London, Grant & Co. Publ., MDCCCLXXII, 191 p.

2. Dobuzhinsky M.V. Pis’ma [Letters]. St. Petersburg, Dmitrii Bulanin Publ., 2001, 444 p.

3. Benois A.N. Moi vospominaniya: v 5 kn. Kn. 1—3 [My Memoires: in 5 books. Book 1—3]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1993, 711 p.

4. Benois A.N. Khudozhestvennye pis’ma. 1930—1936. Gazeta “Poslednie novosti”, Parizh [Art Letters. 1930—1936. The Newspaper “Latest News”, Paris]. Moscow, Galart Publ., 1997, 404 p.

5. Dobuzhinsky M.V. Vospominaniya [Memoires]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1987, 477 p.

6. Librovich S.F. Na knizhnom postu: vospominaniya, zapiski, dokumenty [At the Book Post: Memoirs, Notes, Documents]. Petrograd, Moscow, Tovarishchestvo M.O. Vol’f Publ., 1916, 496 p.

7. Sidorov A.A. Russkaya grafika nachala XX veka [Russian Graphics of the Early 20th Century]. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1969, 249 p.

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9. Bessonova M.A., Georgievskaya E.B. GMII im. A.S. Pushkina. Sobranie zhivopisi. Frantsiya vtoroi poloviny XIX — XX veka [Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Collection of Paintings. France of the Second Half of the 19th — 20th Century]. Moscow, Krasnaya Ploshchad’ Publ., 2001, 399 p.

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12. Zavyalova A.E. To Know the Enemy by Sight. “The Spiders” by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Sobranie: illyustrirovannyi zhurnal po iskusstvu: nasledie i sovremennost’ [Collection: Illustrated Art Magazine: Heritage and Modernity], 2011, no. 1 (28), pp. 96—101 (in Russ.).

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15. Doré. L’imaginaire au pouvoir. Museé d’Orsay — Museé des beaux-arts du Canada, 2014, 336 p.

16. Vydrin I.I. (ed.) Aleksandr Nikolaevich Benua i Mstislav Valerianovich Dobuzhinskii: perepiska (1903—1957) [Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois and Mstislav Valerianovich Dobuzhinsky: Correspondence (1903—1957)]. St. Petersburg, Sad Iskusstv Publ., 2003, 301 p.

17. Dickens Ch. The Old Curiosity Shop, Sobranie sochinenii v 30 t. T. 7. [Collected Works in 30 Volumes. Volume 7]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya Literatura Publ., 1958, 647 p. (in Russ.).

18. Gustave Doré. 1832—1883: Catalogue de l’exposition. Strasbourg, Museé d’Art Modern Publ., 1983, 343 p.

19. Mir iskusstva [The World of Art], 1903, no. 1.

20. Simplicissimus, 1902, vol. 7 (2).

21. Mir iskusstva [The World of Art], 1902, no. 12.

22. Apollon [Apollo], 1910, no. 7.