Théophile Gautier
Encyclopedia
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier (August 30, 1811 – October 23, 1872) was a French poet
, dramatist, novelist, journalist
, art critic
and literary critic.
While Gautier was an ardent defender of Romanticism
, his work is difficult to classify and remains a point of reference for many subsequent literary traditions such as Parnassianism, Symbolism, Decadence
and Modernism
. He was widely esteemed by writers as diverse as Balzac, Baudelaire, the Goncourt brothers
, Flaubert, Proust and Oscar Wilde
.
, capital of Hautes-Pyrénées
département in southwestern France
. His father, Pierre Gautier, was a fairly cultured minor government official and his mother was Antoinette-Adelaïde Concarde. The family moved to Paris in 1814, taking up residence in the ancient Marais
district.
Gautier's education commenced at the prestigious Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris
(fellow alumni include Voltaire
and Charles Baudelaire
), which he attended for three months before being brought home due to illness. Although he completed the remainder of his education at Collège Charlemagne
(alumni include Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
), Gautier's most significant instruction came from his father, who prompted him to become a Latin
scholar by age 18.
While at school, Gautier befriended Gérard de Nerval
and the two became lifelong friends. It is through Nerval that Gautier was introduced to Victor Hugo
, by then already a well-known, established leading dramatist and author of Hernani. Hugo became a major influence on Gautier and is credited for giving him, an aspiring painter at the time, an appetite for literature. It was at the legendary premier of Hernani that Gautier is remembered for wearing his anachronistic red doublet
.
In the aftermath of the 1830 Revolution
, Gautier's family experienced hardship and was forced to move to the outskirts of Paris
. Deciding to experiment with his own independence and freedom, Gautier chose to stay with friends in the Doyenné district of Paris, living a rather pleasant bohemian life.
Towards the end of 1830, Gautier began to frequent meetings of Le Petit Cénacle, a group of artists who met in the studio of Jehan Du Seigneur. The group was a more irresponsible version of Hugo's Cénacle. The group counted among its members the artists Gérard de Nerval
, Alexandre Dumas, père
, Petrus Borel
, Alphonse Brot, Joseph Bouchardy and Philothée O’Neddy
(real name Théophile Dondey). Le Petit Cénacle soon gained a reputation for extravagance and eccentricity, but also for being a unique refuge from society.
Gautier began writing poetry as early as 1826 but the majority of his life was spent as a contributor to various journals, mainly La Presse, which also gave him the opportunity for foreign travel and for meeting many influential contacts in high society and in the world of the arts. Throughout his life, Gautier was well-traveled, taking trips to Spain
, Italy
, Russia
, Egypt
and Algeria
. Gautier's many travels inspired many of his writings including Voyage en Espagne (1843), Trésors d’Art de la Russie (1858), and Voyage en Russie (1867). Gautier's travel literature
is considered by many as being some of the best from the nineteenth century, often written in a more personal style, it provides a window into Gautier's own tastes in art and culture.
Gautier was a celebrated abandonnée of the Romantic Ballet, writing several scenarios, the most famous of which is Giselle, whose first interpreter, the ballerina Carlotta Grisi
, was the great love of his life. She could not return his affection, so he married her sister Ernestina, a singer. He was also a great lover of cats.
Absorbed by the 1848 Revolution, Gautier wrote almost one hundred articles, equivalent to four large books, within nine months in 1848. Gautier experienced a prominent time in his life when the original romantics such as Hugo, François-René de Chateaubriand
, Alphonse de Lamartine
, Alfred de Vigny
and Alfred de Musset
were no longer actively participating in the literary world. His prestige was confirmed by his role as director of Revue de Paris from 1851-1856. During this time, Gautier left La Presse and became a journalist for Le Moniteur universel, finding the burden of regular journalism quite unbearable and "humiliating." Nevertheless, Gautier acquired the editorship of the influential review L’Artiste in 1856. It is through this review that Gautier publicized Art for art's sake
doctrines through many editorials.
The 1860s were years of assured literary fame for Gautier. Although he was rejected by the French Academy three times (1867, 1868, 1869), Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, the most influential critic of the day, set the seal of approval on the poet by devoting no less than three major articles in 1863 to reviews of Gautier's entire published works. In 1865, Gautier was admitted into the prestigious salon of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte
, cousin of Napoleon III and niece to Bonaparte
. The Princess offered Gautier a sinecure as her librarian in 1868, a position that gave him access to the court of Napoleon III.
Elected in 1862 as chairman of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, he was surrounded by a committee of important painters: Eugène Delacroix
, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
, Édouard Manet
, Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
and Gustave Doré
.
During the Franco-Prussian war
, Gautier made his way back to Paris upon hearing of the Prussian advance on the capital. He remained with his family throughout the invasion and the aftermath of the Commune, eventually dying on October 23, 1872 due to a long-standing cardiac disease. Gautier was sixty-one years old. He is interred at the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris.
, who influenced him greatly in his earlier poetry and also through whom he was introduced to Victor Hugo
. He shared in Hugo's dissatisfaction with the theatrical outputs of the time and the use of the word "tragedy." Gautier admired Honoré de Balzac
for his contributions to the development of French Literature
.
As Gautier started off as a painter before he was a writer, he found many artists to be influential in his view of art itself. Painters such as the French artist, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, who chose only to paint when inspired, and Spanish
painters such as Murillo
, Velázquez
and Ribera significantly informed his work and views.
Gautier was influenced greatly by his friends as well, paying tribute to them in his writings. In fact, he dedicated his collection of Dernières Poésies to his many friends, including Hérbert, Madame de la Grangerie, Maxime du Camp
and of course, Princess Mathilde Bonaparte
.
Gautier spent the majority of his career as a journalist at La Presse and later on at Le Moniteur universel. He saw journalistic criticism as a means to a middle-class standard of living. The income was adequate and he had ample opportunities to travel. Gautier began contributing art criticisms to obscure journals as early as 1831. It was not until 1836 that he experienced a jump in his career when he was hired by Emile de Girardin
as an art and theatre columnist for La Presse. During his time at La Presse, however, Gautier also contributed nearly 70 articles to Le Figaro. After leaving La Presse to work for Le Moniteur universel, the official newspaper of the Second Empire
, Gautier wrote both to inform the public and to influence its choices. His role at the newspaper was equivalent to the modern book or theatre reviewer.
Gautier's literary criticism was more reflective in nature, criticism which had no immediate commercial function but simply appealed to his own taste and interests. Later in his life, he wrote extensive monographs on such giants as Gérard de Nerval
, Balzac, and Baudelaire, who were also his friends.
's idea that the critic should have the ability to describe the art so as the reader can "see" the art through his description. Many other critics of the generation of 1830 took on this theory of the transposition of art – the belief that one can express one art medium in terms of another. Although today Gautier is less well known as an art critic than his great contemporary, Baudelaire, he was more highly regarded by the painters of his time. In 1862 he was elected chairman of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (National Society of Fine Arts) with a board which included Eugène Delacroix
, Édouard Manet
, Gustave Doré
and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
.
was more reflective in nature; his literary analysis was free from the pressure of his art and theatre columns and therefore, he was able to express his ideas without restriction. He made a clear distinction between prose and poetry, stating that prose should never be considered the equal of poetry. The bulk of Gautier's criticism, however, was journalistic. He raised the level of journalistic criticism of his day.
, a complication, and a dénouement. Having abandoned the idea that tragedy
is the superior genre, Gautier was willing to accept comedy
as the equal of tragedy
. Taking it a step further, he suggested that the nature of the theatrical effect should be in favour of creating fantasy
rather than portraying reality because realistic theatre was undesirable.
, widely considered the most significant writer about dance in the 20th century, called him "by common consent the greatest of ballet critics." Gautier, Denby says, "seems to report wholly from the point of view of a civilized entertainment seeker." He founds his judgments not on theoretical principles but in sensuous perception, starting from the physical form and vital energy of the individual dancer. This emphasis has remained a tacit touchstone of dance writing ever since.
Through his authorship of the scenario of the ballet Giselle
, one of the foundation works of the dance repertoire, his influence remains as great among choreographers and dancers as among critics and balletomanes.
In 2011, Pacific Northwest Ballet
presented a reconstruction of the work as close to its narrative and choreographic sources as possible, based on archival materials dating back to 1842, the year after its premiere.
In many of Gautier's works, the subject is less important than the pleasure of telling the story. He favored a provocative yet refined style. This list links each year of publication with its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article, for poetry, or "[year] in literature" article for other works):
, many theatres were closed down and therefore plays were scarce. Most of the plays that dominated the mid-century were written by playwrights who insisted on conformity and conventional formulas and catered to cautious middle-class audiences. As a result, most of Gautier's plays were never published or reluctantly accepted.
Between the years 1839 and 1850, Gautier wrote all or part of nine different plays:
. Dorian reads them out of the book shortly after Basil Hallward's murder.
Ernest Fanelli
's Tableaux Symphoniques are based on Gautier's novel Le Roman de la Momie.
In the steampunk
1990 novel The Difference Engine
by William Gibson
and Bruce Sterling
, a character named Gautier is a clacker
, a "hacker" of steam-powered computers capable of forging identities and sabotaging the Imperial Engines.
In Peter Whiffle by Carl Van Vechten
, the main character Peter Whiffle cites Gautier as a great influence and writer, among others.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, dramatist, novelist, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
and literary critic.
While Gautier was an ardent defender of Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
, his work is difficult to classify and remains a point of reference for many subsequent literary traditions such as Parnassianism, Symbolism, Decadence
Decadent movement
The Decadent movement was a late 19th century artistic and literary movement of Western Europe. It flourished in France, but also had devotees in England and throughout Europe, as well as in the United States.-Overview:...
and Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
. He was widely esteemed by writers as diverse as Balzac, Baudelaire, the Goncourt brothers
Goncourt brothers
The Goncourt brothers were Edmond de Goncourt and Jules de Goncourt , both French naturalist writers. They formed a partnership that "is possibly unique in literary history...
, Flaubert, Proust and Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
.
Life and times
Gautier was born on August 30, 1811, in TarbesTarbes
Tarbes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.It is part of the historical region of Gascony. It is the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, with 110,000 inhabitants....
, capital of Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées
Hautes-Pyrénées is a department in southwestern France. It is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region.-History:...
département in southwestern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. His father, Pierre Gautier, was a fairly cultured minor government official and his mother was Antoinette-Adelaïde Concarde. The family moved to Paris in 1814, taking up residence in the ancient Marais
Le Marais
Le Marais is a historic district in Paris, France. Long the aristocratic district of Paris, it hosts many outstanding buildings of historic and architectural importance...
district.
Gautier's education commenced at the prestigious Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(fellow alumni include Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
), which he attended for three months before being brought home due to illness. Although he completed the remainder of his education at Collège Charlemagne
Lycée Charlemagne
The Lycée Charlemagne is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France.Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Jesuits...
(alumni include Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history.-Early years:...
), Gautier's most significant instruction came from his father, who prompted him to become a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
scholar by age 18.
While at school, Gautier befriended Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.- Biography :...
and the two became lifelong friends. It is through Nerval that Gautier was introduced to Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
, by then already a well-known, established leading dramatist and author of Hernani. Hugo became a major influence on Gautier and is credited for giving him, an aspiring painter at the time, an appetite for literature. It was at the legendary premier of Hernani that Gautier is remembered for wearing his anachronistic red doublet
Doublet (clothing)
A doublet is a man's snug-fitting buttoned jacket that is fitted and shaped to the man's body which was worn in Western Europe from the Middle Ages through to the mid-17th century. The doublet was hip length or waist length and worn over the shirt or drawers. Until the end of the 15th century the...
.
In the aftermath of the 1830 Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
, Gautier's family experienced hardship and was forced to move to the outskirts of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Deciding to experiment with his own independence and freedom, Gautier chose to stay with friends in the Doyenné district of Paris, living a rather pleasant bohemian life.
Towards the end of 1830, Gautier began to frequent meetings of Le Petit Cénacle, a group of artists who met in the studio of Jehan Du Seigneur. The group was a more irresponsible version of Hugo's Cénacle. The group counted among its members the artists Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.- Biography :...
, Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
, Petrus Borel
Petrus Borel
Petrus Borel was a French writer of the Romantic movement.Born Joseph-Pierre Borel dHauterive at Lyon, the 12 of 14 children of an ironmonger, he studied architecture in Paris but abandoned it for literature...
, Alphonse Brot, Joseph Bouchardy and Philothée O’Neddy
Philothée O'Neddy
Philothée O'Neddy , real name Théophile Dondey de Santeny, was a French poet. He was an associate of the Romantic movement, and one of the original 'Bohemians'. He is known for his 1833 collection Feu et flammes. He also wrote fiction, such as Histoire d' un anneau enchanté .-External links:*...
(real name Théophile Dondey). Le Petit Cénacle soon gained a reputation for extravagance and eccentricity, but also for being a unique refuge from society.
Gautier began writing poetry as early as 1826 but the majority of his life was spent as a contributor to various journals, mainly La Presse, which also gave him the opportunity for foreign travel and for meeting many influential contacts in high society and in the world of the arts. Throughout his life, Gautier was well-traveled, taking trips to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. Gautier's many travels inspired many of his writings including Voyage en Espagne (1843), Trésors d’Art de la Russie (1858), and Voyage en Russie (1867). Gautier's travel literature
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
is considered by many as being some of the best from the nineteenth century, often written in a more personal style, it provides a window into Gautier's own tastes in art and culture.
Gautier was a celebrated abandonnée of the Romantic Ballet, writing several scenarios, the most famous of which is Giselle, whose first interpreter, the ballerina Carlotta Grisi
Carlotta Grisi
Carlotta Grisi, real name Caronne Adele Josephine Marie Grisi was an Italian ballet dancer born in Visinada, Istria . She was trained at the ballet school of Teatro alla Scala in Milan and later with dancer/balletmaster Jules Perrot...
, was the great love of his life. She could not return his affection, so he married her sister Ernestina, a singer. He was also a great lover of cats.
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
, Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic.-Career:...
, Alfred de Vigny
Alfred de Vigny
Alfred Victor de Vigny was a French poet, playwright, and novelist.-Life:Alfred de Vigny was born in Loches into an aristocratic family...
and Alfred de Musset
Alfred de Musset
Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.Along with his poetry, he is known for writing La Confession d'un enfant du siècle from 1836.-Biography:Musset was born on 11 December 1810 in Paris...
were no longer actively participating in the literary world. His prestige was confirmed by his role as director of Revue de Paris from 1851-1856. During this time, Gautier left La Presse and became a journalist for Le Moniteur universel, finding the burden of regular journalism quite unbearable and "humiliating." Nevertheless, Gautier acquired the editorship of the influential review L’Artiste in 1856. It is through this review that Gautier publicized Art for art's sake
Art for art's sake
"Art for art's sake" is the usual English rendering of a French slogan, from the early 19th century, l'art pour l'art, and expresses a philosophy that the intrinsic value of art, and the only "true" art, is divorced from any didactic, moral or utilitarian function...
doctrines through many editorials.
The 1860s were years of assured literary fame for Gautier. Although he was rejected by the French Academy three times (1867, 1868, 1869), Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, the most influential critic of the day, set the seal of approval on the poet by devoting no less than three major articles in 1863 to reviews of Gautier's entire published works. In 1865, Gautier was admitted into the prestigious salon of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte
Mathilde Bonaparte
Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte, Princesse Française , was a French princess and Salon holder. She was a daughter of Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte and his second wife, Catharina of Württemberg, daughter of King Frederick I of Württemberg.- Biography :Born in Trieste, Mathilde Bonaparte...
, cousin of Napoleon III and niece to Bonaparte
Bonaparte
The House of Bonaparte is an imperial and royal European dynasty founded by Napoleon I of France in 1804, a French military leader who rose to notability out of the French Revolution and transformed the French Republic into the First French Empire within five years of his coup d'état...
. The Princess offered Gautier a sinecure as her librarian in 1868, a position that gave him access to the court of Napoleon III.
Elected in 1862 as chairman of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, he was surrounded by a committee of important painters: Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was a French painter, who became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and whose work influenced many other artists.-Life:...
, Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
, Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse was a French sculptor and painter.- Life :Carrier-Belleuse was a student of David d'Angers and briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts...
and Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Doré was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.-Biography:...
.
During the Franco-Prussian war
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
, Gautier made his way back to Paris upon hearing of the Prussian advance on the capital. He remained with his family throughout the invasion and the aftermath of the Commune, eventually dying on October 23, 1872 due to a long-standing cardiac disease. Gautier was sixty-one years old. He is interred at the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris.
Influences
Early in his life, Gautier befriended Gérard de NervalGérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.- Biography :...
, who influenced him greatly in his earlier poetry and also through whom he was introduced to Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
. He shared in Hugo's dissatisfaction with the theatrical outputs of the time and the use of the word "tragedy." Gautier admired Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
for his contributions to the development of French Literature
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
.
As Gautier started off as a painter before he was a writer, he found many artists to be influential in his view of art itself. Painters such as the French artist, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, who chose only to paint when inspired, and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
painters such as Murillo
Bartolomé Estéban Murillo
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children...
, Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
and Ribera significantly informed his work and views.
Gautier was influenced greatly by his friends as well, paying tribute to them in his writings. In fact, he dedicated his collection of Dernières Poésies to his many friends, including Hérbert, Madame de la Grangerie, Maxime du Camp
Maxime Du Camp
Maxime Du Camp was a French writer and photographer.-Life:Born in Paris, Du Camp was the son of a successful surgeon. After finishing college, he indulged in his strong desire for travel, thanks to his father's assets...
and of course, Princess Mathilde Bonaparte
Mathilde Bonaparte
Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte, Princesse Française , was a French princess and Salon holder. She was a daughter of Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte and his second wife, Catharina of Württemberg, daughter of King Frederick I of Württemberg.- Biography :Born in Trieste, Mathilde Bonaparte...
.
Criticism
Émile de Girardin
Émile de Girardin , was a French journalist, publicist, and politician. He was born in Paris in 1802, the son of General Alexandre de Girardin and of Madame Dupuy , wife of a Parisian advocate....
as an art and theatre columnist for La Presse. During his time at La Presse, however, Gautier also contributed nearly 70 articles to Le Figaro. After leaving La Presse to work for Le Moniteur universel, the official newspaper of the Second Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
, Gautier wrote both to inform the public and to influence its choices. His role at the newspaper was equivalent to the modern book or theatre reviewer.
Gautier's literary criticism was more reflective in nature, criticism which had no immediate commercial function but simply appealed to his own taste and interests. Later in his life, he wrote extensive monographs on such giants as Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.- Biography :...
, Balzac, and Baudelaire, who were also his friends.
Art criticism
Gautier, who started off as a painter, contributed much to the world of art criticism. Instead of taking on the classical criticism of art that involved knowledge of color, composition and line, Gautier was strongly influenced by Denis DiderotDenis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
's idea that the critic should have the ability to describe the art so as the reader can "see" the art through his description. Many other critics of the generation of 1830 took on this theory of the transposition of art – the belief that one can express one art medium in terms of another. Although today Gautier is less well known as an art critic than his great contemporary, Baudelaire, he was more highly regarded by the painters of his time. In 1862 he was elected chairman of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (National Society of Fine Arts) with a board which included Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
, Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Doré was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.-Biography:...
and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was a French painter, who became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and whose work influenced many other artists.-Life:...
.
Literary criticism
Gautier's literary criticismLiterary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
was more reflective in nature; his literary analysis was free from the pressure of his art and theatre columns and therefore, he was able to express his ideas without restriction. He made a clear distinction between prose and poetry, stating that prose should never be considered the equal of poetry. The bulk of Gautier's criticism, however, was journalistic. He raised the level of journalistic criticism of his day.
Theatre criticism
The majority of Gautier's career was spent writing a weekly column of theatrical criticism. Because Gautier wrote so frequently on plays, he began to consider the nature of the plays and developed the criteria by which they should be judged. He suggested that the normal five acts of a play could be reduced to three: an expositionExposition (literary technique)
At the beginning of a narrative, the exposition is the author's providing of some background information to the audience about the plot, characters' histories, setting, and theme. Exposition is considered one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration...
, a complication, and a dénouement. Having abandoned the idea that tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
is the superior genre, Gautier was willing to accept comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
as the equal of tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
. Taking it a step further, he suggested that the nature of the theatrical effect should be in favour of creating fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
rather than portraying reality because realistic theatre was undesirable.
Dance criticism
From a 21st century standpoint Gautier's writings about dance are the most significant of his writings. The American writer Edwin DenbyEdwin Denby
Edwin Denby may refer to:* Edwin Denby , U.S. poet, novelist, dance critic* Edwin Denby , U.S. politician, Secretary of Navy, noted in the Teapot Dome Scandal...
, widely considered the most significant writer about dance in the 20th century, called him "by common consent the greatest of ballet critics." Gautier, Denby says, "seems to report wholly from the point of view of a civilized entertainment seeker." He founds his judgments not on theoretical principles but in sensuous perception, starting from the physical form and vital energy of the individual dancer. This emphasis has remained a tacit touchstone of dance writing ever since.
Through his authorship of the scenario of the ballet Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
, one of the foundation works of the dance repertoire, his influence remains as great among choreographers and dancers as among critics and balletomanes.
In 2011, Pacific Northwest Ballet
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Pacific Northwest Ballet is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington in the United States. Founded in 1972 as part of the Seattle Opera and named the Pacific Northwest Dance Association, it broke away from the Opera in 1977 and took its current name in 1978. It is said to have the highest per...
presented a reconstruction of the work as close to its narrative and choreographic sources as possible, based on archival materials dating back to 1842, the year after its premiere.
Works
In many of Gautier's works, the subject is less important than the pleasure of telling the story. He favored a provocative yet refined style. This list links each year of publication with its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article, for poetry, or "[year] in literature" article for other works):
Poetry
- Poésies, published in 18301830 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Godey's Lady's Book, the most popular women's magazine of the 19th century in the United States, is founded in Philadelphia by Louise Antoine Godey. Its circulation would reach 150,000...
, is a collection of 42 poems that Gautier composed at the age of 18. However, as the publication took place during the July RevolutionJuly RevolutionThe French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
, no copies were sold and it was eventually withdrawn. In 18321832 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Weimar Classicism period in Germany is commonly considered to have begun in 1788) and to have ended either in 1805, with the death of Schiller, or this year, with the death of Goethe* Thomas...
, the collection was reissued with 20 additional poems under the name Albertus. Another edition in 18451845 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 10—Robert Browning, 32, and Elizabeth Barrett, 38, begin their correspondence when she receives a note declaring "I love you" from Browning, a little-known poet whose verses she had...
included revisions of some of the poems. The poems are written in a wide variety of verse forms and show that Gautier attempts to imitate other, more established Romantic poets such as Sainte-Beuve, Alphonse de LamartineAlphonse de LamartineAlphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic.-Career:...
, and Hugo, before Gautier eventually found his own way by becoming a critic of Romantic excesses. - Albertus, written in 1831 and published in 18321832 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Weimar Classicism period in Germany is commonly considered to have begun in 1788) and to have ended either in 1805, with the death of Schiller, or this year, with the death of Goethe* Thomas...
, is a long narrative poem of 122 stanzas, each consisting of 12 lines of alexandrineAlexandrineAn alexandrine is a line of poetic meter comprising 12 syllables. Alexandrines are common in the German literature of the Baroque period and in French poetry of the early modern and modern periods. Drama in English often used alexandrines before Marlowe and Shakespeare, by whom it was supplanted...
(12-syllable) verse, except for the last line of each stanza, which is octosyllabic. Albertus is a parody of Romantic literature, especially of tales of the macabre and the supernatural. The poem tells a story of an ugly witch who magically transforms at midnight into an alluring young woman. Albertus, the hero, falls deeply in love and agrees to sell his soul. - Les Jeunes-France ("The Jeunes-France: Tales Told with Tongue in Cheek"), published in 18331833 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Arthur Henry Hallam, a friend of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, dies suddenly of a stroke in Vienna...
, was a satire of Romanticism. In 1831, the newspaper Le Figaro featured a number of works by the young generation of Romantic artists and published them in the Jeunes-France. - La Comédie de la Mort, published in 18381838 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* William Wordsworth granted an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree by Durham University.-United Kingdom:...
, is a period piece much like Albertus. In this work, Gautier focuses on the theme of death, which for Gautier is a terrifying, stifling and irreversible finality. Unlike many Romantics before him, Gautier's vision of death is solemn and portentous, proclaiming death as the definitive escape from life's torture. During the time he wrote the work, Gautier was frequenting many cemeteries, which were then expanding rapidly to accommodate the many deaths from epidemics that swept the country. Gautier translates death into a curiously heady, voluptuous, almost exhilarating experience which diverts him momentarily from the gruesome reality and conveys his urgent plea for light over darkness, life over death. - España (18451845 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 10—Robert Browning, 32, and Elizabeth Barrett, 38, begin their correspondence when she receives a note declaring "I love you" from Browning, a little-known poet whose verses she had...
) is usually considered the transitional volume between the two phases of Gautier's poetic career. Inspired by the author's summer 1840 visit to Spain, the 43 miscellaneous poems in the collection cover topics including the Spanish language and aspects of Spanish culture and traditions such as music and dance. - Émaux et CaméesÉmaux et CaméesÉmaux et Camées is a collection of poetry by French poet Théophile Gautier. Originally published in 1852 with 18 poems, Émaux et camées grew to include 37 poems in later editions...
(18521852 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-United Kingdom:* Matthew Arnold, Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems* Alfred Tennyson, Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington...
), published when Gautier was touring the Middle East, is considered his supreme poetic achievement. The title reflects Gautier's abandonment of the romantic ambition to create a kind of "total" art involving the emotional participation of the reader, in favour of a more modern approach focusing more on the poetic composition's form instead of its content. Originally a collection of 18 poems in 1852, its later editions contained up to 37 poems. - Dernières Poésies (18721872 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-United Kingdom:* Alfred Austin, Interludes* Robert Browning, Fifine at the Fair...
) is a collection of poems that range from earlier pieces to unfinished fragments composed shortly before Gautier's death. This collection is dominated by numerous sonnets dedicated to many of his friends.
Plays
Gautier did not consider himself to be dramatist but more of a poet and storyteller. His plays were limited because of the time in which he lived. During the Revolution of 1848French Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...
, many theatres were closed down and therefore plays were scarce. Most of the plays that dominated the mid-century were written by playwrights who insisted on conformity and conventional formulas and catered to cautious middle-class audiences. As a result, most of Gautier's plays were never published or reluctantly accepted.
Between the years 1839 and 1850, Gautier wrote all or part of nine different plays:
- Un Voyage en Espagne (18431843 in literatureThe year 1843 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*William Harrison Ainsworth - Windsor Castle*Edward George Bulwer-Lytton - The Last of the Barons*James Fenimore Cooper - Le Mouchoir; an Autobiographical Romance...
) - La Juive de Constantine (18461846 in literatureThe year 1846 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*First publication of the Daily News, edited by Charles Dickens....
) — text unavailable - Regardez mais ne touchez pas (18471847 in literatureThe year 1847 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Honoré de Balzac - Le Cousin Pons*Anne Brontë - Agnes Grey*Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre*Emily Brontë - Wuthering Heights*Catherine Gore - Castles in The Air...
) — written less by Gautier than his collaborators - Pierrot en Espagne (18471847 in literatureThe year 1847 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Honoré de Balzac - Le Cousin Pons*Anne Brontë - Agnes Grey*Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre*Emily Brontë - Wuthering Heights*Catherine Gore - Castles in The Air...
) — Gautier's authorship is uncertain - L’Amour souffle où il veut (18501850 in literatureThe year 1850 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Alfred Lord Tennyson named Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, succeeding William Wordsworth.*Periodical Household Words begins publication...
) — not completed - Une Larme du diable (18391839 in literatureThe year 1839 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Washington Irving begins contributing regularly to The Knickerbocker, and will publish thirty new pieces in the magazine — including "The Creole Village," in which he will coin the phrase "the almighty dollar" — through March...
) ("The Devil's Tear") was written shortly after Gautier's trip to BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
in 1836. The work is considered an imitation of a Medieval mystery playMystery playMystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
, a type of drama popular in the 14th century. These plays were usually performed in churches because they were religious in nature. In Gautier's play God cheats a bit to win a bet with Satan. The play is humorous and preaches both in favour and against human love. - Le Tricorne enchanté (18451846 in literatureThe year 1846 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*First publication of the Daily News, edited by Charles Dickens....
; "The Magic Hat") is a play set in the 17th century. The plot involves an old man named Géronte who wishes to marry a beautiful woman who is in love with another man. After much scheming, the old man is duped and the lovers are married. - La Fausse Conversion (18461846 in literatureThe year 1846 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*First publication of the Daily News, edited by Charles Dickens....
) ("The False Conversion") is a satirical play written in prose. It was published in the Revue Des Deux Mondes on March 1. As with many other Gautier plays, the drama was not performed in his lifetime. It takes place in the 18th Century, before the social misery that preceded the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. La Fausse Conversion is highly anti-feministFeminismFeminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and expresses Gautier's opinion that a woman must be a source of pleasure for man or frozen into art. - Pierrot Posthume (18471847 in literatureThe year 1847 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Honoré de Balzac - Le Cousin Pons*Anne Brontë - Agnes Grey*Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre*Emily Brontë - Wuthering Heights*Catherine Gore - Castles in The Air...
) is a brief comedic fantasyFantasyFantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
inspired by the Italian Commedia dell'arteCommedia dell'arteCommedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
, popular in France since the 16th century. It involved a typical triangle and ends happily ever after.
Novels
- Mademoiselle de Maupin (18351835 in literatureThe year 1835 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* Alexis de Tocqueville publishes the first volume of Democracy in America....
) In September 1833, Gautier was solicited to write a historical romance based on the life of French opera star Mlle MaupinJulie d'AubignyJulie d'Aubigny , better known as Mademoiselle Maupin or La Maupin, was a 17th-century swordswoman and opera singer. Her tumultuous career and flamboyant life were the subject of gossip and colorful stories in her own time, and inspired romances and novels afterwards...
, who was a first-rate swordswoman and often went about disguised as a man. Originally, the story was to be about the historical la Maupin, who set fire to a convent for the love of another woman, but later retired to a convent herself, shortly before dying in her thirties. Gautier instead turned the plot into a simple love triangle between a man, d'Albert, and his mistress, Rosette, who both fall in love with Madelaine de Maupin, who is disguised as a man named Théodore. The message behind Gautier's version of the infamous legend is the fundamental pessimism about the human identity, and perhaps the entire Romantic age. The novel consists of seventeen chapters, most in the form of letters written by d'Albert or Madelaine. Most critics focus on the preface of the novel, which preached about Art for art's sakeArt for art's sake"Art for art's sake" is the usual English rendering of a French slogan, from the early 19th century, l'art pour l'art, and expresses a philosophy that the intrinsic value of art, and the only "true" art, is divorced from any didactic, moral or utilitarian function...
through its dictum that "everything useful is ugly." - Le Roman de La Momie (18581858 in literatureThe year 1858 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Henrik Ibsen marries and becomes creative director of Oslo's National Theater.*Charles Baudelaire's study on Théophile Gautier is published in Revue contemporaine....
) - Le Capitaine Fracasse (18631863 in literatureThe year 1863 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*First reunions of the Romanian Junimea literary society, a group which was to exercise a major influence on Romanian culture until the 1910s.-New books:*Mary Elizabeth Braddon...
) This book was promised to the public in 1836 but finally published in 1863. The novel represents a different era and is a project that Gautier had wanted to complete earlier in this youth. It is centered on a soldier named Fracasse whose adventures portray bouts of chivalry, courage and a sense of adventure. Gautier places the story in his favourite historical era, that of Louis XIIILouis XIII of FranceLouis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
. It is best described as a typical cloak-and-dagger fairy tale where everyone lives happily ever after. - One of Cleopatra's nights
Short stories
- La Morte AmoureuseLa Morte Amoureuse"La Morte Amoureuse" is a short story written by Théophile Gautier and was published in La Chronique de Paris in 1836. It tells the story of a priest named Romuald who falls in love with Clarimonde, a beautiful woman who turns out to be a vampire....
(18361836 in literatureThe year 1836 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, or, The Hidden Secrets of a Nun's Life in a Convent Exposed *Hans Christian Andersen - The Little Mermaid...
) - a classic tale of the supernatural in which a priest receives nocturnal visitations from a female vampireVampireVampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
.
Gautier in fiction
Two poems from "Émaux et camées" -- "Sur les lagunes" and the second of two titled "Études de Mains" -- are featured in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian GrayThe Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only published novel by Oscar Wilde, appearing as the lead story in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890, printed as the July 1890 issue of this magazine...
. Dorian reads them out of the book shortly after Basil Hallward's murder.
Ernest Fanelli
Ernest Fanelli
Ernest Fanelli was a French composer of Italian descent who is best known for sparking a controversy about the origins of Impressionist music when his composition Tableaux Symphoniques was first performed in 1912...
's Tableaux Symphoniques are based on Gautier's novel Le Roman de la Momie.
In the steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
1990 novel The Difference Engine
The Difference Engine
The Difference Engine is an alternate history novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.It posits a Victorian Britain in which great technological and social change has occurred after entrepreneurial inventor Charles Babbage succeeded in his ambition to build a mechanical computer .The novel was...
by William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
and Bruce Sterling
Bruce Sterling
Michael Bruce Sterling is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre.-Writings:...
, a character named Gautier is a clacker
Clackers (disambiguation)
Clackers may refer to:* Clackers, a 1970s toy* A term for editorial staff at the fictional fashion magazine in the novel The Devil Wears Prada* A term for computer operators in the novel The Difference Engine....
, a "hacker" of steam-powered computers capable of forging identities and sabotaging the Imperial Engines.
In Peter Whiffle by Carl Van Vechten
Carl van Vechten
Carl Van Vechten was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein.-Biography:...
, the main character Peter Whiffle cites Gautier as a great influence and writer, among others.
Chronology of works
- 1830: Poésies(Volume I)
- 1831: First article in Le Mercure de France au XIXe siècle
- 1832: Albertus
- 1833: Les Jeunes France, romans goguenards
- 1834-5: Published articles which will later form Les Grotesques
- 1835-6: Mademoiselle de Maupin
- 1836: Published "Fortunio" under the title "El Dorado"
- 1838: La Comédie de la mort
- 1839: Une Larme du diable
- 1841: Premiere of the ballet, GiselleGiselleGiselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
- 1843: Voyage en Espagne | Premiere of ballet, La Péri
- 1845: Poésies(complete) | First performance of comedy "Le Tricorne enchanté"
- 1847: First performance of comedy "Pierrot posthume"
- 1851: Premiere of the ballet, PâquerettePâquerettePâquerette is a ballet in 4 Acts-7 Scenes, with choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon, and music by François Benoist.The ballet was first presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique on January 15, 1881 in Paris, France...
- 1852: Un Trio de romans | Caprices et zigzag | Emaux et camées | Italia
- 1853: Constantinople
- 1851: Premiere of the ballet, Gemma
- 1855: Les Beaux-Arts en Europe
- 1856: L’Art moderne
- 1858: Le Roman de la momie | Honoré de Balzac
- 1858-9: Histoire de l’art dramatique en France depuis vingt-cinq ans
- 1861: Trésors d’art de la Russie ancienne et moderne
- 1863: Le Captaine Fracasse | Romans et contes
- 1863: De profundis morpionibus | Théophile Gaultier preferred to keep that satyrical work anonymous
- 1865: Loin de Paris
- 1867: Voyage en Russie
- 1871: Tableaux de siège: Paris 1870-1871
- 1872: Emaux et camées | Théâtre | Histoire du romantisme
External links
- http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=mediatype%3A(texts)%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20(subject%3A%22Gautier%2C%20Theophile%201811-1872%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Gautier%2C%20Theophile%2C%201811-1872%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Theophile%20Gautier%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Theophile%20Gautier%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Theophile%20Gautier%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Gautier%2C%20The%CC%81ophile%2C%201811-1872%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Gautier%2C%20The%CC%81ophile%2C%201811-1872%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22The%CC%81ophile%20Gautier%22%20OR%20title%3A%22The%CC%81ophile%20Gautier%22%20OR%20description%3A%22The%CC%81ophile%20Gautier%22)Works by or about Theophile Gautier] at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions color illustrated) (plain text and HTML) - Baudelaire's Paris - an illustrated literary guide to the landmarks of cult French poet Charles Baudelaire and other members of the infamous Hashish ClubClub des HashischinsThe Club des Hashischins , was a Parisian group dedicated to the exploration of drug-induced experiences, notably with hashish....
, available in several ebook formats. Suggested poems, in French with English translations, at each location.