Dreamers of Decadence

by Philippe Jullian

There have been few movements in the history of Western art as strange as that of the Decadents of the last quarter of the 19th Century. While public attention was preoccupied with the Impressionists, many painters were reacting in a totally different...and more imaginative way...to the grim horrors of the new industrial society around them. The roots of the Decadents, as these artists came to call themselves, were to be found in the poetic visions of the English Pre-Raphaelites of the 1850s. Their first great Continental exponent was a brilliant and neglected painter of the fantastic, Gustave Moreau; their most obvious expression was 'Art Nouveau,' a style closely interwoven with sinuous and half-unconscious eroticism.

Philippe Julian takes the reader on a conducted tour through the bizarre symbolism of this half-forgotten world, introducing him to a large number of writers and artists. Many of these artists...Moreau; Toorop, the brilliant half-Balinese, half-Dutch painter and draftsman; the French Odilon Redon, the great master of Symbolist art; the Viennese Klimt; and the Belgian Khnopff...have been known for some time to a few enthusiasts; In this lively study their inventiveness and skill are explored afresh, and their fantastic imaginings and weird symbolism exposed to a sometimes ironic light.

Proud of their romantic appearance, extravagant habits, and outrageous conduct, the artists of the 'mauve nineties' drew on a wide range of writers for their ideas, including not only Poe, Baudelaire, Swinburne, and Wilde, but also less well-known and stranger poets. The book ends with a short anthology of Symbolist themes taken from these writers, and 149 pictures drawn from museums and collection in the Europe and the U.S.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, France, Art History, Art and Photography

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Philippe Jullian né Philippe Simounet, est un écrivain, dessinateur et graveur, chroniqueur mondain et artistique de son époque.

Reviews

[GD · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you were ever a goth kid but hated sexy vampires, eyeliner, and electronic dance goth clubs, and you didn't know what you really liked, well then this book will tell you everything you liked. If you're into death/black metal or Christian Death, you will find many album covers in this book. Including the very cover. Great introduction to the decadent artists in all mediums, but mostly painting. Gustave Moreau is your GOD!

[Lynelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely central to my development as an artist and as a human. I've been rereading this every few years since I was 12, to remind me where I came from, and where I still want to go...

[Bill Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, entertaining, and frustrating 101 guide to the French painters of the 1880s and 90s who were influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and reactive against Impressionism and realism. Among the familiar artists are many discussed in a paragraph or two, often teasingly and incompletely. The author does a fine job of recreating the era through contemporary quotes from Huysmans, Wilde, Verlaine, and other litterateurs and Jullian's history and critical appraisal set the art in brilliant context.

The most frustrating element of this book though is a paucity of color plates and the apparent disconnection between the placement of line illustrations and the surrounding text. A picture described in loving detail may be, apparently randomly, inserted -- in grainy black and white -- 30 pages away from its description or may not be included at all. An index of artists and works helps a little but, for a book primarily concerned with visionary, colorful art, the presentation is sorely lacking. Fortunately the elusive paintings can be found with a few clicks online and the book makes an excellent guide for an afternoon of online gallery hopping.

[Lisajean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure who the target audience for this book is... Jullian references so many artists and their works without providing an accompanying picture that I assume the reader is just supposed to be familiar with the entire oeuvre of all Decadent artists. Although if that’s the case, why read this book, which is more of a list of artists and themes than it is a synthesis or analysis of key features of Decadent art? I loved the pictures but didn’t get as much out of the text as I had hoped.

[Chuck LoPresti · Rating 4 out of 5]

The strength of this book is the attention given to the literary influence on this variably fashionable but consistently interesting period of creativity. There are some scholarly errors here and by no means should this be considered the cornerstone work of the period. For example the author compares Kubin to Ensor with the explanation that they are similar but Ensor doesn't show the Asian influences of Klinger. Ensor's parents were shop owners that specialized in Asian collectibles, his sister married an Asian merchant and Ensor repeatedly painted the vases and prints that populated the shop. He painted his sister in Asian clothing. His work is most certainly informed by a knowledge of eastern art and the author's oversight here is egregiously incorrect. That didn't prevent me from enjoying the book and the large collection of rarely seen prints from Moreau, Schwob, Toroop and many other artists of the period that are not exactly common stock are great. There are many references to writers such as Rodenbach, Jarry, Huysmans and the many other decadent poets that influenced these artists but I think that there is a misleading trend to define symbolism as a purely literary movement. Much of the formalism seen in movements such as futurism had foundations in symbolist art and the innovations of artists like Klimt, Toroop and Gerstle can't be easily pinned to a literary foundation - music had broken away from literary dependence long before the recognized symbolist painters reached the same conclusions. Even the most lazy scholar can read the titles of Klimt paintings and realize that a scholarly appreciation of music informed his style. Style-defining nit-picking aside - Jullian casts a wide enough net for most fans of weird and dreamy art to find something to interest them in the often misunderstood work of symbolist visual art and fans of symbolist literature will find a wealth of resources that will enable then to draw their own conclusions about this very fertile period of creative expression.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at a section of the art world that has always resonated with me. The book added a lot of connective tissue to my patchy knowledge and introduced or reacquainted me with many artists of whom I am inordinately fond. Odilon Redon, Moreau, Bocklin. One artist whose work I knew slightly, I learned much more of, the Dutch/Balinese Jan Toorop. His atmospheric symbolist imagery, heavily inflected with Javanese and Balinese style, I have become deeply enamoured of. Having been originally published in 1969 the book also links the movement through to hippies and surrealism in ways that give me insights into the development of my own tastes. Even H P Lovecraft gets a mention.

[Anthony]

An excellent journey through the eerie and often disconcerting world of Decadent art. Using Moreau's work as a point of departure, Jullian introduces the reader to the leitmotifs used by Decadent artists. These include mythology, flower symbolism, Byzantium, spiritualism, and homosexuality. An interesting and useful feature of this book is the generous sampling of quotations from various Decadents provided at the end of the text; it allows one a doorway into what these artists thought they were doing and why.

[reveurdart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a landmark book and helped so many of us get into symbolist art, pe-raphaelite art and the decadent movement. Essential.

“je suis l'empire à la fin de la décadence.”― Paul Verlaine

The authors' other book, The Symbolists, is a great supplement as well.

[Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Embodies many of the works discussed: certainly considered and creative, but doesn't add up to much. I appreciated the discussion of Ophelia and found the other explorations wanting.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explores themes and elements of Decadence, with numerous photos and illustrations.

Despite this being a guide of sorts, I feel this wouldn't be a suitable introductory book to the artistic movement as it presupposes the reader is already familiar with a great number of artists and authors.

If you're already immersed in the world of Moreau, Beardsley, Redon, Khnopff, Toroop and the writings of Jean Lorrain, Rachilde, Proust, Wilde, Swinburne, Huysmans et al you may enjoy this rather acidic and at times scathing exploration of their world.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got hold of this book from a bazaar - I had a copy earlier. Although it is a big beaten up, the text is good and the illustrations fine. The book is an excellent platform for anyone interested in nineteenth and early twentieth century art and thought - esp Symbolism and the various cults that determined the fin-de-siècle.

[KMT · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is obviously very knowledgeable about this art movement but unfortunately provides little context, explanation or analysis about the artists mentioned. Lots of lovely pictures, even if not always near where they are referenced in the text, and the book would have benefitted from having at least four times as many.

[Jai M {Cat Crazy Dragon } · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars.

[Desmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book thats not difficult to read

[Murray Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written at a time when fin de siècle Symbolist art was being rediscovered, Jullian’s book is a scholarly and often witty look at this mystical, fantastic art. Probably, if you’re interested in Symbolist art you’ll want to buy books for the pictures. This one features mostly black and white reproductions, with a few scattered colour plates; but its text is one of the better on the subject — read it for that, not the pictures (though Jullian has managed to select a lot of images not usually reproduced in books of Symbolist art).

[Telyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the symbolist art and literary movement. This was one of the first serious books on the subject, written in the early 1970s—a time when 19th century romantic and decadent art was just beginning to be retrieved from the ash heap where it was consigned for most of the 20th century by the modernist aesthetic (or maybe the modernist lack of aesthetic). Well worth tracking down for anyone interested in the period.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't say I read it cover to cover... but I must have taken it from the library 5-6 times. Sophmore year in HS I spent a LOT of listening new wave vinyl ( which to a black kid in a black suburban neighborhood was VERY exotic ) and reading this book.

[Mary Lohmeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for any person interested in the Symbolist Art Movement. Jullian thoroughly covers this literary art movement. He includes both well-known and more obscure artists of this genre.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about my spiritual beliefs. I'm not even being really facetious. One day, when I have time, I'll come back and write a proper review but I'm just leaving this here for now.

[Sade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this several times. Need to track down a copy of my own!