History Creator / TheophileGautier

->''"Fancy demanding feeling from poetry! That's not the main thing at all. Radiant words, words of light, full of rhythm and music, that's poetry."''

-->--'''Théophile Gautier''', remark reported in the ''Journal des Goncourts''

Gautier's first poems appeared in 1830, but as the publication took place during the July Revolution, no copies of the book were sold and it was eventually withdrawn; it was reissued two years later with 20 additional poems under the name ''Albertus''. During this time, he turned from the doctrines of {{Romanticism}} to the dictum of "art for art's sake", and expressed his views in the preface to ''Albertus'' and his novel ''Mademoiselle de Maupin'' (1835). These views caused a stir in literary circles because of his insistence on the sovereignty of the beautiful and disregard for morality. Gautier's pessimism and fear of death were expressed in his poem ''La Comédie de la mort'' (1838).

His experiences from travelling, especially in Greece, reinforced his theory of art and admiration of the Classical forms; he taught that art should be impersonal, free from teaching moral lessons, and that the artist must concentrate on achieving perfection of form. He developed a poetic technique called ''transposition d'art'', in which he recorded his exact impressions when experiencing a painting or another work of art, producing ''Émaux et camées'' (1852). This poetry collection is considered to be among his finest, and Creator/CharlesBaudelaire paid tribute to Gautier in the dedication of his poetry collection ''Les Fleurs du mal''.

Gautier was esteemed by many contemporaries who were also prominent literary figures, like Creator/GustaveFlaubert and Charles Baudelaire. The 1860s were when he was assured literary fame; though he was rejected by the French Academy thrice (1867, 1868, 1869), Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, the most influential literary critic of the day, devoted no less than three major articles in 1863 to reviews of Gautier's published works. In 1865, he was admitted into the salon of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, cousin of Napoleon III and niece to Napoleon; she offered Gautier a sinecure post as a librarian to ease his financial strain.

During theUsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar, Gautier returned to Paris upon hearing of the Prussian advance on the capital. He remained with his family throughout the invasion and the aftermath of the Commune, eventually dying on 23 October 1872 due to a long-standing cardiac disease at the age of 61 years. He is interred at the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris.

Gautier's first poems appeared in 1830, but as the publication took place during the July Revolution, no copies of the book were sold and it was eventually withdrawn; it was reissued two years later with 20 additional poems under the name ''Albertus''. During this time, he turned from the doctrines of Romanticism to the dictum of "art for art's sake", and expressed his views in the preface to ''Albertus'' and his novel ''Mademoiselle de Maupin'' (1835). These views caused a stir in literary circles because of his insistence on the sovereignty of the beautiful and disregard for morality. Gautier's pessimism and fear of death were expressed in his poem ''La Comédie de la mort'' (1838).

During the Franco-Prussian War, Gautier returned to Paris upon hearing of the Prussian advance on the capital. He remained with his family throughout the invasion and the aftermath of the Commune, eventually dying on 23 October 1872 due to a long-standing cardiac disease at the age of 61 years. He is interred at the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris.

Théophile Gautier was born in Tarbes, capital of Hautes-Pyrénées département in Southern France, on 31 August 1811. His father was Jean-Pierre Gautier, a fairly cultured minor government official; and his mother was Antoinette-Adelaïde Cocard. The family moved in 1841, taking up residence in the ancient Marais district.

Gautier's first poems appeared in 1830, but as the publication took place during the July Revolution, no copies of the poem were sold and it was eventually withdrawn; it was reissued two years later with 20 additional poems under the name ''Albertus''. During this time, he turned from the doctrines of Romanticism to the dictum of "art for art's sake", and expressed his views in the preface to ''Albertus'' and his novel ''Mademoiselle de Maupin'' (1835). These views caused a stir in literary circles because of his insistence on the sovereignty of the beautiful and disregard for morality. Gautier's pessimism and fear of death were expressed in his poem ''La Comédie de la mort'' (1838).

Gautier was esteemed by many contemporaries who were also prominent literary figures, like Creator/GustaveFlaubert and Charles Baudelaire. The 1860s were when he was assured literary fame; though e was rejected by the French Academy thrice (1867, 1868, 1869), Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, the most influential literary critic of the day, devoted no less than three major articles in 1863 to reviews of Gautier's published works. In 1865, he was admitted into the salon of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, cousin of Napoleon III and niece to Napoleon; she offered Gautier a sinecure post as a librarian to ease his financial strain.

During the Franco-Prussian War, Gautier made his way back to Paris upon hearing of the Prussian advance on the capital. He remained with his family throughout the invasion and the aftermath of the Commune, eventually dying on 23 October 1872 due to a long-standing cardiac disease at the age of 61 years. He is interred at the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris.

-->--'''Théophile Gautier'', remark reported in the ''Journal des Goncourts''

Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier (30 August 1811 - 23 October 1872) was a French poet, novelist, critic, and journalist whose influence was strongly felt in the period of changing sensibilities in French literature—from the early Romantic period to the aestheticism and naturalism of the end of the 19th century. He has been cited as a [[Main/{{Romanticism}} Romantic]], but his work also remains a point of reference for many subsequent literary traditions such as the Decadent movement and Parnassianism, a movement that sought artistic control, polish, elegance, objectivity, and impassiveness, in response to what it considered the excessive sentimentality of the Romantics.

Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier (30 August 1811 - 23 October 1872) was a French poet, novelist, critic, and journalist whose influence was strongly felt in the period of changing sensibilities in French literature—from the early Romantic period to the aestheticism and naturalism of the end of the 19th century. He has been cited as a [[UsefulNotes/{{Romanticism}} Romantic]], but his work also remains a point of reference for many subsequent literary traditions such as the Decadent movement and Parnassianism, a movement that sought artistic control, polish, elegance, objectivity, and impassiveness, in response to what it considered the excessive sentimentality of the Romantics.