Gustave Doré before 1876

This portrait of Paul Gustave Doré was captured by Lock & Whitfield, part of a series of photographic portraits of eminent men of the time. Doré's identity as a 19th-century artist was interwoven with the cultural and political currents of his time. The son of an engineer, he began his artistic career as a caricaturist, which later led him to book illustration. Doré's illustrations weren't mere visual accompaniments but were interpretations that often shaped the viewer's understanding. In this portrait, Doré is presented in profile, his gaze directed off into the distance, almost dreamily, and he is smartly dressed in a suit and tie. This aesthetic carefully constructs an image of a man of importance, of intellectual depth. Through the lens of history, the portrait serves as a marker of the artist’s identity, capturing the nuances of his cultural and social milieu.