Reconstructing the Romantic Artist
In Charles Baudelaire’s essays on Poe, Wagner, Delacroix, and Guys he reconceptualizes the identity of the Romantic artist. ... The essays on Delacroix , Wagner, and Poe are only partial reconstructions of the Romantic artist as modernist. The essay on Guys is the full realization and the full reformation of the modernist artist. This new artist is not just a genius but a hero, creating the eternal out of the trivial. THE ROMANTIC ARTIST An examination of the characteristics of the Romantic artist provides the frame with which to judge Baudelaire’s reconceptualized modernist artist. ... The Romantic wanted to integrate mankind and was longing for the recovery of lost unity. However, the Romantic was alienated by the city and was not inspired by the modern urban experience. ... The Romantic artist also was uninspired by past traditions or masters of classical Greece. The Romantic did not feel the need to create a rational foundation based on the classics as Enlightenment thinkers had. ... The Romantic identity of genius contrasts strongly with Baudelaire’s notion of genius. The role of the artist before Romanticism was of an artisan or skilled craftworker. The new definition of artist created by the Romantics was that of the genius professional. ... The Romantic concept of a person is of a unique core wrapped in many layers of societal constraints. ... The Romantic artist as a genius had privileged access to the realm of truth in nature. ... "The romantic movement . ... " The public did not have the skills that the genius did to connect with nature, thus was dependent on the Romantic for the Enlightenment he provided. The status of artist as genius was created by the Romantics to create a modern professional identity for the artist within society. This was a need greatly felt by the artist who was becoming increasingly displaced in the industrializing atmosphere of the early 19th century. ... As the genius, the artist’s commodity was his unique intuition. ... Also, because the artist’s job was to translate the truths found in nature into a form of representation that the public would understand, his time would generally be spent passing back and forth from nature to society, as demonstrated in Wordsworth’s Prelude. In this constant return to nature, the artist could easily lose his place in society. ... However by creating a profession in which the artist’s job requires him to return to nature, the Romantics created a place within society for a person who is outside. However, the identity of artist as genius did not just create a place in society for the artist; the artist also fulfilled a need within society. ... Thus Romanticism fulfilled the dual needs of the artist and society, resulting in the creation of high culture. ... Baudelaire states that the artist "delights in fine carriages and proud horses, the dazzling smartness of the grooms, the expertness of the footman, the sinuous gait of women, the beauty of the children happy to be alive and nicely dressed. ... It was in this environment that Baudelaire began reconstructing the role of the artist. During this period Baudelaire wrote his critical essays on art which reformulated the artistic identity from Romantic to Modernist. Baudelaire, generations after the Romantic artists, also spoke for the anxieties of his age as they did. "Baudelaire by his own assessment is Romantic. ... The modernist artist was connected to an urban culture and identity flux. ... " Though Baudelaire seems to be the exact opposite of a Romantic artist, he was actually trying to do exactly what the Romantics did for a new age. Baudelaire’s Art Criticism as Reconceptualization Baudelaire’s four criticisms on the artists Delacroix, Poe, Wagner, and Guys demonstrate his reconceptualization of the Romantic artist into the Modernist artist. His essays address the identities of four distinct types of artists, a Romantic painter, a writer, a musician, and a sketch artist, in a unified manner. ... In describing Delacroix, Poe, Wagner, and Guys, Baudelaire often transcends historical fact and creates a fiction which represents Baudelaire’s vision of the modernist artist. In this way, though a less accurate portrayal of the actual artist is presented, Baudelaire’s essays provide excellent material to reveal his own vision of the modernist artist. One example of Baudelaire’s fiction is that he makes claims not about the work of the artist, but about the artist himself. ... " Thus Baudelaire was an artist himself when discussing the identities of the artists. He created his own artistic personas which capture the spirit of the modernist artist. This method contrasts Wordsworth’s method of recreating his own persona in the form of the artist, as demonstrated in The Prelude. While Wordsworth and Baudelaire are both creating artistic identities, Wordsworth directs his creation of the artist at himself. Baudelaire, in creating the artist identity in many different people is demonstrating the many faces of the artist, and the ambiguity of the artist’s persona. ... THE RECONSTRUCTION (Through Delacroix, Wagner, Poe) While all four essays convey Baudelaire’s notions of the artist, the essays on Delacroix , Wagner, and Poe are only partial reconstructions of the Romantic artist as modernist. ... Guys is the only artist to fully represent Baudelaire’s vision of the modernist artist. ... The identity of the modernist artist revealed through Baudelaire’s essays on Delacroix, Wagner, Poe emphasized many aspects of the inherent contradictions faced by the modernist artist. ... Baudelaire clearly states throughout his essays on Delacroix, Wagner, and Poe that he believes each artist to be a genius. However this genius has different characteristics from the Romantic genius. The Romantic ideal of genius values the innate unique qualities of the artist. Baudelaire also emphasizes the inherent gift in the artist when he says "a man truly worth of the great name of artist must possess something essentially sui generis, thanks to which he is himself and no on else.