Laurence Brogniez (review)

Abstract

214 Reviews conjecture aside, an interesting and persuasive addition to scholarship on naturalist spatial poetics. University of Queensland Larry Duffy Preraphaelismeet symbolisme:peinture litteraireet imagepoetique. By Laurence Brogniez . (Romantismeetmodernites, 63) Paris: Champion. 2003. 403 pp.; 30plates. ?70. ISBN 2-7453-0729-0. This authoritative study offersus a richly suggestive exploration of one of the most fruitfulperiods of artistic exchange between Great Britain and the Continent, with its lucid analysis of the ways in which the themes of the Pre-Raphaelite painters came to influence writers in France and Belgium. Laurence Brogniez charts the course of this invasive British presence from its inception towards the end of the 1840s until its decline with the death of Burne-Jones at the end of the century. The early days are arguably the most interesting, as we see a number of often unacknowledged?and at times unwitting?catalysts at work helping to create a favourable reception for the movement. These included artists who often crossed the Channel or entertained French colleagues, such as Alphonse Legros and Whistler, who both trained in France in the 1850s and then settled in London, but still retained strong connections abroad. Equally influential were the Anglophile critics and writers flourishing in the 1880s and 1890s, such as Theodore Duret, Gustave Geffroy,Olivier-Georges Destree, and Robert de Montesquiou, who paid frequent visits to the English capital and reviewed the British art scene in the major continental newspapers. Their crucial writings and those of many other lesser lights are carefully evaluated as the author demonstrates conclusively that while the works of the Brotherhood were undoubtedly a welcome revelation which contributed enormously to the development of the Symbolist aes? thetic, not all of the outstanding art critics of the time were favourable or indeed consistent in their appraisal. While Gabriel Sarrazin, Edouard Rod, and William Rit? ter were so enthusiastic that they transposed themes and images culled directly from the Pre-Raphaelites into descriptive sequences in their own novels, Camille Mauclair could be dismissive and Octave Mirbeau was invariably scathing. Yet the fictional works of both these writers also contain allusive evocations of the paintings they affected to despise, so they too paid homage of a kind. Due credit for helping the work of these artists to gain acceptance outside Britain is also given to their indefatigable Belgian supporters such as Rodenbach, Maeterlinck, and Verhaeren, all of whom discovered in this movement vital new sources of inspiration and creative enrichment fortheir own work. The relevance of word and image interaction has gained considerable ground in recent years, both as a basis for undergraduate courses and as a subject for critical evaluation in scholarly publications. This substantial illustrated volume should be required reading at every level for all who wish to study the affinitiesbetween the literature and art of the second half of the nineteenth century. It is an elegant work of impeccable scholarship which provides a masterly overview, and the abundant fine details include sensitive and original interpretations of the texts and paintings analysed, a wealth of new information, extensive footnotes, and a comprehensive bib? liography. University of Glasgow Joy Newton ...