Sketches for the Illustrations of the Novel Don Quixote de La Mancha in the Creation of Pavel Șillingovski and Ilie Bogdesco

Abstract

This article compares the preparatory drawings for the illustrations of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s novel Don Quixote de La Mancha by Pavel Șillingovski and Ilie Bogdesco, two famous artists, whose work represents the successive stages in the evolution of graphic during the 20th century. The series of drawings represents different attitudes towards the process of illustrating literary works. In order to achieve the proposed objective, we have resorted to theoretical concepts, present in the science of “art history” and described by the Viennese theorist Walter Koschatzky, as well as the published diary of I. Bogdesco, which complements the artistic creation inherited from the artist. In addition, has been described and analysed, the historiography, including very recent, in which the series of works, proposed for investigation, is published. The sketches for the illustrations allow us to see how the image of the famous hidalgo passes through 20th century art. In addition to this, we also make a brief incursion into the artistic context in which these two personalities worked. Through this modest theoretical approach, we wish to join the series of events and publications commemorating the centenary of the birth of the great graphic artist Ilie Bogdesco.