Émile Bayard

Émile-Antoine Bayard (1837-1891) was born November 2, 1837, in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, France. A student of Léon Cogniet, he is best known by many for his illustration of Cosette from "Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo. He died in Cairo in December 1891. [cite web | url=http://www.ricochet-jeunes.org/eng/biblio/illus/bayard.html | title=ricochet-jeunes.org|accessdate=2007-03-12]

Career

Starting in 1853, Bayard was a student of Cogniet for five years, publishing his first cartoons at the age of fifteen, often using the pseudonym Abel De Miray. [cite web | url=http://www.emile-antoine-bayard.com/| title=emile-antoine-bayard.com|accessdate=2007-03-12]

Between 1857 and 1864, he worked in the mediums of charcoal drawings, paintings, water colors, woodcuts, engravings, and lithographs. In 1864 he began to work primarily for magazines, and illustrated , such as the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871.

At the end of the 19th century, with a growing interest in photography displacing documentary drawing, Bayard moved to illustrating novels, including "Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, "L'Immortel" by Alphonse Daudet, and "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne. His illustration of Cosette from "Les Misérables" was adapted for the logo from the Cameron Mackintosh musical.

Space Art

While there had been art depicting spaceflight and alien worlds prior to 1865, they were based heavily on mysticism as opposed to science. Bayard's artwork accompanying From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne is considered among the first Space Art of a scientific nature. [cite web | url=http://dreamsofspace.nfshost.com/spaceart.htm | title=dreamsofspace.nfshost.com|accessdate=2007-03-12]

Gallery

Illustration of Cosette from "Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo. This image was used on posters promoting the musical version of "Les Misérables".


Illustration of Gavroche from "Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo.


Illustration of scene from "As You Like It" by William Shakespeare.

References