[An illustration of a ship, symbolizing the symbol of Paris]

Histoire de Paris

Gustave Doré
Né à Strasbourg le 6 janvier 1832, Gustave Doré s’intéresse à la musique et au dessin dès son plus jeune âge: en 1841, il a déja illustré la Divine Comédie! Pensionnaire au Iycée Charlemagne, son premier contrat est signé par son père: à seize ans, il fournit au "Journal pour rire" un dessin par semaine, en exclusivité pour trois ans. Dès 1849, sa mère devenue veuve vient s’installer avec ses trois fils dans cet hôtel de Tavannes, dont le jardin s’étend jusqu’à la rue de Bellechasse. S’il loue parfois des ateliers ailleurs, pour peindre et scuipter, et voyage souvent à l’étranger, Doré habite, dessine et reçoit ici le vaste cercle de ses amis; parmi eux figurent Théophile Gautier, Alexandre Dumas, Nadar ou Sarah Bernhardt. Un article de "la Vie parisienne", daté de 1869, décrit ainsi son installation: "Rien de plus étrange que ce salon-atelier, aux voûtes peintes comme celles d’une chapelle. Aux murs, sur les chevalets, artout, des paysages de la Forêt noire, des bůrgs ruinés, des lacs déserts, des colonnades de sapins frêles, gigantesques, qui trouent les murailles et font croire à des fenêtres ouvertes sur les bords’ du Rhin." Deux ans après sa mère, il meurt dans cette maison de famille, le 23 janvier 1883.

One of the series of signs describing historical places in Paris. The signs were placed starting in 1992 and are also called sucettes Starck (Starck’s Lollipops) after Philippe Starck who designed them.

The sign is located next to the house where the famous French painter Gustave Dore (1832-1883) lived, best known for the engravings in which he depicted the stories of the Bible.

The house was photographed that day by Eli Zvuluny Click for a larger image

Translation of the text on the sign:

[An illustration of a ship, symbolizing the symbol of Paris]

History of Paris

Gustave Doré
Born in Strasbourg on January 6, 1832, Gustave Doré was interested in music and drawing from a very young age: in 1841, he already illustrated the Divine Comedy! A resident at the Iycée Charlemagne, his first contract was signed by his father: at sixteen, he provided the "Journal pour Rire" with one drawing per week, exclusively for three years. In 1849, his widowed mother came to settle with her three sons in this hotel in Tavannes, whose garden extends to rue de Bellechasse. If he sometimes rents studios elsewhere, to paint and sculpt, and often travels abroad, Doré lives, draws and receives the vast circle of his friends here; among them are Théophile Gautier, Alexandre Dumas, Nadar and Sarah Bernhardt. An article in "La Vie parisienne", dated 1869, describes his installation as follows: "Nothing stranger than this living room-workshop, with vaults painted like those of a chapel. On the walls, on the easels, artout, landscapes of the Black Forest, ruined burgs, deserted lakes, colonnades of frail, gigantic fir trees, which puncture the walls and make us believe in windows open on the banks of the Rhine." Two years after his mother, he died in this family home on January 23, 1883.