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University of California Press

About the Book

Henri Dorra, in his comprehensive new book, presents the development and the aesthetic theories of the symbolist movement in art and literature. Included are writings (many never before translated or reprinted) by artists, designers, architects, and critics, along with Dorra's learned commentary. Fifty photographs of symbolist works complement his encyclopedic coverage.

Dorra traces symbolism and its roots from artist to artist and critic to critic from the 1860s to the early twentieth century. The decorative arts and architecture are examined as well as painting and sculpture. The Arts and Crafts movement, art nouveau, the work of Eiffel in France and Sullivan in the United States are all well represented.

The close relations between symbolist poets and artists are reflected in the chapter on literary developments. Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, and Mallarmé are here, but so, too, are writers less well-known. A section on the Post-Impressionists and the "Artists of the Soul" rounds out Dorra's rich and varied text, and his epilogue lays the groundwork for what was to follow symbolism.

Dorra beautifully integrates the different aesthetic branches of symbolism, the different media and national variations, without ever losing sight of the whole. The historical context provided makes this a particularly appealing collection for students and scholars of art history and literature, as well as for anyone interested in the evolution of symbolism.

About the Author

Henri Dorra is Professor Emeritus of Art History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of numerous books and articles on art and art criticism.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction

PROLOGUE: BAUDELAIRE, DELACROIX, AND THE
PREMISES OF SYMBOLIST AESTHETICS
Charles Baudelaire Correspondences (c.1852-56?)

ROMANTIC SYMBOLISTS
Dante Gabriel Rossetti Hand and Soul (I850)
On His Beata Beatrix (I87I)
Edward Burne-]ones Letters to His Family (I854)
Walter Pater Poems by William Morris (I868)
Fernand Khnop if Memories of Burne-Jones (I898)
Theophile Gautier An Early Appraisal ofPuvis de Chavannes (I86I)
Jules Lafargue Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (I886)
Loris-Karl Huysmans Gustave Moreau (I889)
Emile Hennequin Fine Arts: Odilon Redon (I882)
Odilon Redon Excerpts from To Oneseif(I898-I909)
Andre Mellerio Odilon Redon (I894)
Emile Verhaeren A Symbolist Painter: Fernand Khnopff (I887)
James McNeill Whistler The Ten O'Clock Lecture (I885)
William Ritter Bocklin's Villas by the Sea (I895)
Auguste Rodin Conversations with Paul Gsell (I9II)

2 DECORATIVE ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE
Owen jones Gleanings from the Great Exhibition (1851)
William Morris The Decorative Arts in Modern Life (I877)
Arthur H. Mackmurdo The Spiritual in Art (I884)
Gustave Eiffel In Defense of the Tower (I887)
Paul Gauguin At the Universal Exhibition (I889)
Louis H. Sullivan Ornament in Architecture (I892)
Henry van de Velde A Clean Sweep for the Future of Art (I894)

3 LITERARY SYMBOLISM
Paul Bourget Baudelaire and the Decadent Movement (I88I)
Paul Verlaine The Art ofPoetry (I874)
Arthur Rimbaud The Unsettling of All the Senses (I87I)
Jules Huret Interview with Stephane Mallarme (I89I)
Maurice Maeterlinck Small Talk-the Theater (I89o)
Teodor de Wyzewa Notes on Wagnerian Painting (I886)
jean Moreas A Literary Manifesto-Symbolism (I886)

4 THE POST-IMPRESSIONISTS
Felix Feneon Neo-Impressionism (I887)
Georges Seurat Aesthetic and Technical Note (I890)
Charles Henry Introduction to a Scientific Aesthetics (1885)
Gustave Kahn Seurat (I89I)
Paul Signac Anarchist Sympathies (I894)
Edouard Dujardin Cloisonism (I888)
Emile Verhaeren Ensor's Vision (I908)
Paul Gauguin Letters to Emile Schuffenecker (I885, I888)
G.-Albert Aurier Symbolism in Painting: Paul Gauguin (I89I)
Paul Gauguin Letter to Andre Fontainas (I899)
Vincent van Gogh Letters on The Night Cafe (I888)
G.-Albert Aurier The Lonely Ones-Vincent van Gogh (I890)
]oris-Karl Huysmans Cezanne (I888)
Paul Cezanne Excerpts from His Letters (I904, I906)
Paul Serusier Nabi Principles (I889)
Maurice Denis The Nabis in I890
Edvard Munch The "Saint-Cloud" Manifesto (I889-90?)
Ferdinand Hodler The Mission of the Artist (1897)

5 THE ARTISTS OF THE SOUL
Roger Marx The Salons of 1895
]osephin Feladan Materialism in Art (I88I)
In Search of the Holy Grail (I888)
Armand Point Florence, Botticelli, La Primavera (I896)
Octave Mirbeau The Artists of the Soul (I896)

EPILOGUE: FORMALIST CRITICISM AND
HARBINGERS OF SURREALISM
Roger Fry Post Impressionism (1911)
The French Post-Impressionists (1912)
Clive Bell Cezanne's Pure Form (1914)
Remy de Gourmont The Funeral of Style (1902)
The Dissociation ofldeas (1900)
Alfred ]arry Barnum (1902)
Guillaume Apollinaire The New Spirit and the Poets (1917-18)

Notes
Index

Reviews

"In the misty domain of Symbolism, Dorra's anthology of source material offers the student the most lucid of guidebooks. Spanning more than half a century, from 1850 to 1918, its broad vista puts into fresh perspective the ambitions of the most diverse artists, architects, poets, and theorists, from Rossetti to Fry, Verlaine to Munch, Eiffel to Apollinaire."—Robert Rosenblum, New York University

"This long-awaited anthology expands the parameters of Symbolist discourse. The carefully selected and annotated texts provide clear insight into a Symbolist vocabulary that had considerable impact on future generations. Symbolist Art Theories has deep resonance for an age transfixed by textual interpretation."—Gabriel P. Weisberg, author of Beyond Impressionism

"Dorra's impeccable scholarship is matched by the insight that relates the fragments. The book is of great value not only for students of symbolism, but for all those interested in the early history of modern art and art theory."—George Mauner, Pennsylvania State University