Selected Writings On Art And Literature (Penguin Classics)

Description: Before publishing the sensuous and scandalous poems of 'Les Fleurs du Mal', Charles Baudelaire (1821-67) had already earned respect as a forthright and witty critic of art and literature. This stimulating selection of criticism reveals him as a worshipper at the altar of beauty, illuminating his belief that the pursuit of this ideal must be paramount in artistic expression. Reviews of exhibitions discuss works by great painters such as Delacroix and Ingres in fascinating detail, and 'Of Virtuous Plays and Novels' sees Baudelaire as an avenging angel in defence of true art. Writings on Poe, Flaubert and Gautier evoke a profound understanding of fellow artists, while his single excursion into musical criticism, 'Richard Wagner and Tannhauser in Paris', displays an incisive awareness of the magical power of suggestion in music. Table of Contents: The Salon of 1845 (extracts); the Salon of 1846 (extracts); of virtuous plays and novels; the universal exhibition of 1855 - the fine arts (extracts); of the essence of laughter, and generally of the comic in the plastic arts; Edgar Allan Poe, his life and works; further notes on Edgar Poe; some French caricaturists; 'Madame Bovary' by Gustave Flaubert; Theophile Gautier; the Salon of 1859 (extracts); Richard Wagner and 'Tannhauser' in Paris; the life and work of Eugene Delacroix; the painter and modern life.