Théophile Gautier, Orator to the Artists: Art Journalism of the Second Republic (review)

In this first ever study of all of Théophile Gautier’s art criticism produced during the Second Republic, James Kearns brings us a much-needed reassessment of the art critic’s role in the history of French art. Kearns sets out to rectify scholarship’s tendency to pigeonhole Gautier as merely the proponent of l’art pour l’art, and to win his writing the recognition it deserves. As an intermediary between the artist and the buyer, Gautier had the power to make or break an artist’s career, and Kearns reveals how Gautier used his criticism both to educate his reader and to influence the course French art would take. The study opens with an examination of Gautier’s relationship with the sculptor Pradier and analyses the significance of the critic’s laudatory review of the sculptor’s Nyssia in 1848, a time when funds in the arts were limited. This chapter provides a valuable introduction to Gautier’s writing style, which Kearns shows to be characterized by its versatility and wide appeal. The second chapter concentrates on Gautier’s involvement with the heavily criticized Salon of 1848. Kearns shows how Gautier supported the Second Republic’s aims in the area of the visual arts and encouraged artists’ participation. Particularly revealing is the author’s observation that we find Gautier arguing against form for its own sake at this time. Gautier’s involvement with competitions, commissions, and the return of Ingres form the subject of the third chapter, while in the following chapter the author discusses Gautier’s engagement with (and ultimate disappointment in) the Salon of 1849. The backdrop of financial precariousness to which the arts was then subject and the uncertainty that hung over the very future of the Salon itself give Gautier’s articles here added poignancy. Chapter 5 examines the articles Gautier wrote encouraging the reform and development of museums and the decoration of public buildings. In the final chapter Kearns analyses Gautier’s response to the pivotal Salon of 1850–51 and admirably attempts to negotiate the critic’s fluctuating response to Courbet. Above all, this study illustrates the multifaceted nature of Gautier’s art journalism and reminds us of the impressive cultural omnipresence of its author. Kearns reveals how, through his writing, the critic went beyond merely lending his support to artists and sculptors; he shared subjects with them and provided a source of information to which they would frequently turn. As regards Gautier’s relationship with the public, what emerges most prominently is the art critic’s self-acknowledged role as educator of the masses. Kearns shows how each of Gautier’s articles was carefully structured to cater for a particular audience and set of circumstances, and in this respect his writing tells us as much about contemporary bourgeois culture as it does about the Paris art world. In short, this is a highly accomplished study, which should be essential reading both for the scholar researching the Salon during this period and for the Gautier specialist. The material is well structured and the writing style engaging, making it equally accessible to the student or more seasoned researcher.