Aurier, Symbolism and the Visual Arts

This is the first fully comprehensive study on the 19th-century poet and art critic, Albert Aurier (1865-1892), in the context of his age. Focusing on Aurier's pivotal role in the development of French Symbolist art and aesthetics, the book explores his contribution to contemporary and subsequent perceptions of Symbolism in art during a period which saw the rise of art criticism as a genre in its own right. Taking Aurier's writings on lesser-known artists such as Henry de Groux, Eugène Carrière and Jean-Jacques Henner, as well as those on Impressionism, and Van Gogh and Gauguin, the study shows how Aurier laid the foundation for the interpretation of Modernist art.