Édouard Riou (; 2 December 1833 – 27 January 1900) was a French

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

who illustrated six novels by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

, as well as several other well-known works.

Life

Riou was born in 1833 in

Saint-Servan Saint-Servan (; often abbreviated as St. Servan; ) is a town of western France, in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of Saint-Malo. It is renowned for its shops and restaurants. History In June 1758, ...

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Ill-e-Vilaenn'', ) is a departments of France, department of France, located in the regions of France, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named a ...

, and studied under

Charles-François Daubigny Charles-François Daubigny ( , , ; 15 February 181719 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of impressionism. He was also a prolific printmaker, mostly in etching ...

and

Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6January 1832 – 23January 1883) was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravings illustrati ...

, graduating in 1859. Apart from supplying designs for

wood-engraving Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and prints using relatively lo ...

s, his artistic specialties included

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

and commemorative art (including works for the opening of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

and the marriage of a daughter of the

Czar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

).Arthur B. Evans: ''The Illustrators of Jules Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires''. In Science-Fiction Studies, XXV:2 (July 1998), p. 250. His collaboration with Jules Verne started in 1865 with the publication of Verne's novel ''

Five Weeks in a Balloon ''Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, A Journey of Discovery by Three Englishmen in Africa'' () is an adventure novel by Jules Verne, published in 1863. It is the first novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his later work, skillfully mixing ...

'', and continued for a run of six novels in all: *''

'' (1865): 51 illustrations by Riou (40) and Henri de Montaut (5), unsigned (6), wood-engravings by Coste, Delaville, Dumont, Fournier, Hildibrand, Pannemaker, Prunaire *''

The Adventures of Captain Hatteras ''The Adventures of Captain Hatteras'' () is an 1866 adventure novel by Jules Verne in two parts: ''The English at the North Pole'' () and ''The Desert of Ice'' (). The novel was published for the first time in 1864 as a serial in the French maga ...

'' (1866): 259 illustrations by Riou (190) and Henri de Montaut (69), wood-engravings by Barbant, Cazat, Delaville, Dumont, Hildibrand, Joliet, Linton, Pannemaker, Pierdon, Pisan, Prunaire *''

Journey to the Center of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel written by French novelist Jules Ve ...

'' (1867): 56 illustrations, wood-engravings by Pannemaker, Gauchard, Charles Maurand *'' The Children of Captain Grant'' (1868): 175 illustrations, wood-engravings by Delaville, Gauchard, Maurand, Pannemaker, Prunaire *''

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' () is a science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may inclu ...

'' (1871): 111 illustrations by Riou (24, the first eleven chapters) and Alphonse de Neuville (86), wood-engravings by Hildibrand *'' The Survivors of the Chancellor'' (1875): 45 illustrations by Riou (45) and Jules Férat (13), wood-engravings by

Charles Barbant Charles Barbant (15 July 1844, Paris – 10 May 1921, Paris) was a French wood-engraver and illustrator. Biography His father was the engraver, Nicolas Barbant (1806–1879), from whom he received his first lessons. After having worke ...

, Crosbie, Dumont, Hildibrand, Louis, Méaulle, Pannemaker Regarding Riou's work for ''

'', Verne wrote in 1868: "I have received the drawings from Riou. I have several suggestions to make which I'll mention to him by return mail. I think he needs to make the people much smaller and the rooms much larger. And he needs to add much more detail... By the way, it was an excellent idea to use Colonel Charras as the model for Captain Nemo. I should've thought of that." The illustrator and Verne scholar Ron Miller has said: "I believe his work stylistically spans the transition between the illustrators of the early 19th century and those of the latter half—when the profession of professional illustrators became established. Some of the qualities that Riou carried over were the often cartoon-like depiction of characters and the use of numerous 'spot' illustrations." Edmondo Marcucci wrote: "Riou's drawings are rich with light, and the traits of his characters have a vigorous expression. Riou succeeds in adapting himself artistically to the realistic reproduction of the many fantastic locales of the Vernian fictional geography: the mists and the glacial icepacks, the shadows inside the Earth's crust, the deserted and expansive beaches, and the many bodies of water and their movement... Everything is both ordered and evocative in Riou's work—his style might be called 'romantic realism.'"Edmondo Marcucci: ''Les Illustrations des Voyages Extraordinaires de Jules Verne'' (Bordeaux: Ed. Société Jules Verne, 1956), pp. 18–19. Riou also illustrated

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

's ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'' (1880) and '' Waverley'', Victor Hugo's ''

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

'',

Louis Figuier Louis Figuier (; 15 February 1819 in Montpellier – 8 November 1894 in 9th arrondissement of Paris) was a French scientist and writer. He was the nephew of Pierre-Oscar Figuier and became Professor of chemistry at L'Ecole de pharmacie of Mon ...

's ''La terre avant le deluge'' (1863),

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

' ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

'' (1887). He became a member of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. Riou died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on January 27, 1900.

Footnotes

References

* Arthur B. Evans: ''The Illustrators of Jules Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires''. In Science-Fiction Studies, XXV:2 (July 1998): 241-70. * Charles-Noël Martin: ''La Vie et l'oeuvre de Jules Verne'' (Paris: Michel de l'Ormeraie, 1978). * André Bottin: ''Bibliographie des éditions illustrées des Voyages Extraordinaires de Jules Verne'' (Contes: Chez l'auteur, 1978). * Edmondo Marcucci: ''Les Illustrations des Voyages Extraordinaires de Jules Verne'' (Bordeaux: Ed. Société Jules Verne, 1956).

External links

* * * * *
Zvi Har'El's Jules Verne Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riou, Edouard 1833 births 1900 deaths People from Ille-et-Vilaine 19th-century French painters French male painters French illustrators Jules Verne

Life

See also

Footnotes

References

External links