Since its publication, Cervantes's Don Quixote has fascinated many famous artists, including Daumier, Picasso and Chagall, among others. Artists have been drawn to the fantastic plot and especially to the character of Don Quixote, with whom they easily identify. As artists they can relate to the character of a consummate dreamer unrelentingly pursuing a vision despite setbacks and ridicule.
The Attack on the Windmill |
The website you are reading is richly decorated with the some of the most memorable artistic depictions of the novel that have been created. They are the work of the French artist Gustave Doré (1832-1883), who drew more than 190 illustrations for an edition of the novel that was printed in 1862. Doré's works go beyond the norm of typical illustration; the individual plates, while still faithful to the text, are truly unique compositions of art. He successfully blends the realistic with the whimsical so that accurate Spanish costumes and identifiable landscapes (based on his trips to Spain) coexist with caricatured faces, bodies and settings. Doré also uses various viewpoints to dramatize the scenes and enliven the experiences of Don Quixote. For instance, the plate titled "attack on the windmill" looks, at first impression, like a soldier being thrown by the wing of a giant bird. The rows of windmills in the back reveal the true situation, making the scene comical. A close-up view of Don Quixote in his library displays realistic details of the setting, out of which emerge ghostly images of Don Quixote's imagination.
The drawings of Doré, as well as those of others artists such as Hogarth and Picasso, invite us into the mind of Don Quixote.
Dr. Soo Y. Kang
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