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“His
sharp mind, bright and forecasting, troubled people. The self-insurance with
which he related his ideas, shocking in their originality, exasperated his
listeners and gave birth to vague, disturbing, anxious feeling of their own
incompetence and inferiority.”
-Henri Purrchot (Olga’s Gallery)
Félix
Fénéon was born in Turin, Italy but became one of the most important figures of
fin de siècle France. As an art critic, Fénéon represented the end of impressionism
and the beginning of “Neo-Impressionism” a term he coined himself. He promoted
new techniques in art, such as Pointillism, a painting style created by Georges
Seurat and maintained by Paul Signac. According to Hajo Duchting, “Fénéon was
the only art critic who proved capable of articulating an appreciation for
Seurat’s pictures, and the new method of painting it exemplified, in words
notable for their objective tone.”(Dutching) Fénéon had no problem expressing
his distaste of the French bourgeois and their inability to identify real art.
He promoted the anarchist propaganda floating around Montmarte, France and
believed that Parisian society’s ignorance of real artistry was justification
enough for anarchical action.
Fénéon
is often referred to as a “cultural terrorist”, one who promoted wild
innovation in the form art. He was the quintessential master of disguise. By
day he worked in France’s Department of War, translated Austen and Poe into
French, “edited Rimbaud’s Illuminations,
founded and edited literary magazines including Revue Blanche, worked as a journalist for Le Figaro and interviewed elite cultural figures such as Jules
Verne.” (Mr. Whiskets) In the light of the sun Fénéon was a typical Frenchman,
but at night when he retired to his home in Montmarte, he became the bohemian
dandy who exuded innovation and desired to conquer the social norms of his era.
Fénéon is the perfect model of fin de siècle psychology; he represented what
many cultures feared the most in this changing time, hidden threats. Much like
Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” Félix Fénéon blended into Parisian life and culture,
but his ideas were infectious, inspiring new modes of art and thought.
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| Mugshot of Fénéon,1894
“In the summer
of 1894, Félix Fénéon was put on trial with thirty ill-assorted men accused of
anarchist leanings and treasonable acts.” (Tyler) Fénéon was charged and tried
due to evidence found in his office. “Part of the evidence against him was that
a police search of his office had turned up a vial of mercury and a matchbox
containing 11 detonators.”(Tyler) During the trial Fénéon gave one of the
greatest testimonies in history, staying cool, collected and rather sarcastic.
Only three men were convicted of anarchist activity.
|
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| Paul Signac, Opus 217. Against the
Enamel of a Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angles, Tones, and Tints,
Portrait of M. Félix Fénéon in 1890
“In this painting Signac depicts this unconventional and
enigmatic personality with his characteristic goatee, holding a top hat and a
walking stick in one hand and a flower in the other. Combining figuration and
abstraction, he sets Fénéon's static profile against a swirling background—a
kaleidoscopic depiction of optical theorist Charles Henry's recently published
color wheel. A similar playfulness underlies the exceedingly long title,
possibly a spoof on scientific terminology.” (from the MoMA website)
Novels in Three Lines – Compiled by Luc Sante |
This book is a compilation of the writing Fénéon did for Le Matin newspaper after his own periodical folded.
According to the New York Review
Books, “Luc Sante has selected the best Fénéons vignettes of the darker
side of life- adultery, murder, revenge, labor unrest and suicide- in early 20th
century France.”
Websites for Further Exploration
Bibliography for Further
Exploration
1) Explosive Acts: Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Félix Fénéon, and the Art & Anarchy of the Fin de Siecle – David Sweetman
2) Novels in Three Lines (New York Book Reviews Classics) – Félix Fénéon (Author) Luc Sante (Introduction)
3)
The Life of the City: Aesthetics of Existence in Fin- de-Siècle
Montmartre- Julian
John Alasdair Brigstocke
4) Félix
Fénéon and the Language of Art Criticism- Joan U. Halperin
5) Félix Fénéon: Aesthete & Anarchist in
Fin-de-Siecle Paris- Joan
U. Halperin
Works Cited
"Olga's Gallery - Online Art
Museum." Olga's Gallery. 1 Aug. 2002. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.abcgallery.com/>.
Whiskets. "Novels in Three Lines: Félix Fénéon." 5B4.
Blogspot, 26 Feb. 2009. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.
<http://5b4.blogspot.com/2009/02/novels-in-three-lines-by-Félix-Fénéon.html>.
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