Soldiers under a Tree
n.d.
Medium
Pen and black ink, with brush and gray wash and touches of scraping, heightened with touches of white gouache, on lunette-shaped tan card, laid down on tan board
Dimensions
50.5 × 39 cm (19 15/16 × 15 3/8 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
30905
Art Historical Context
**Soldiers under a Tree** Gustave Doré captures a moment of quiet drama amid military life, showcasing the artist's mastery of intricate line work and atmospheric depth. Doré (1832–1883), a prolific French illustrator and engraver of the Romantic, was renowned for his vivid depictions in literary classics like Dante's *Inferno*, the Bible, and Rabelais. This undated drawing likely served as a preparatory study, reflecting his theatrical style where everyday scenes gain epic intensity through dynamic composition and expressive figures. Executed in pen and black ink with brush and gray wash, th...
About the Artist
Gustave Doré · 1832–1883
Gustave Doré (1832–1883) was a French artist who became the most celebrated and prolific illustrator of the nineteenth century, creating iconic visual interpretations of world literature that remain definitive to this day. Born in Strasbourg, he showed extraordinary precocious talent, publishing his first lithographs at age fifteen and securing a contract with a Paris publisher while still a teena...