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Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2014.
The Neophyte
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2014.
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2014.

The Neophyte

Artist Gustave Doré (French, 1832-1883)
CultureFrench
Dateca. 1869
MediumPen | Ink | Pencil | Laid Paper
DimensionsOverall: 7 1/4 x 4 1/2 in. (18.4 x 11.4 cm)
InscribedLL: "G Doré"
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number83.358
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a pen and brown ink over traces of pencil on laid paper drawing which is a study for the painting THE NEOPHYTE (TCM 71.2061). THE NEOPHYTE features a young Carthusian novice (a newly admitted monk) who has taken his vows somewhat hastily and is beset with misgiving. Seated in chapel among his fossilized elders, he stares out at the viewer, his eyes full of loneliness and alienation.

Label TextGustave Doré French, 1832-1883 The Neophyte, ca. 1869 Pen and brown ink over traces of pencil on laid paper, 7 1/4 x 4 1/2 in. (18.4 x 11.4 cm) Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA Museum purchase 83.358 ProvenanceGift of the artist to Amy Maclachlan, 1876; Mr. David Daniels, New York; Shepherd Gallery, New York; Mrs. Leslie Enders Lee, New York; Chrysler Museum Purchase, 1983. Exhibition History"One Century: Wellesley Families Collect", Wellesley College Museum, Wellesley, MA, April 15 - May 30, 1978. (Exhib. cat. no. 20). "Master Drawings from the Chrysler Museum," Small Changing Gallery, The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, February 26 - April 23, 1989. "France Delineated: French Works on Paper, 1650 to 1920", The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, July 13 - September 19, 1993. "Grand Designs: Preliminary Drawings and Oil Sketches from The Chrysler Museum", Prints and Drawings Gallery, The Chrysler Museum, April 2 - June 22, 1994. Published ReferencesAnn Gabhart, Judith Hoos Fox, and Elisabeth Thresher Scharlack. _One Century: Wellesley Families Collect_. Wellesley, MA: 1978, Cat. No. 20, ill. Eric Zafran, editor with Robert Rosenblum and Lisa Small, _Fantasy and Faith: The Art of Gustave Doré_ (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2007) pp. 84-89 fig. 110. ISBN: 0-300-10737-4 ISBN13: 978-0-300-10737-1 Thomas W. Sokolowski, "New Accession: The Neophyte," _The Chrysler Museum Bulletin_, Vol. 13, No. 11 (November 1983), p. 6, b/w illustration. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 98, p. 123; Color Plate No. 98, p. 123.