Champfleury
Encyclopedia
Jules François Felix Fleury-Husson (1820 Laon
, Aisne
- 1889 Sèvres
), who wrote under the name Champfleury, was a French art critic
and novelist, a prominent supporter of the Realist
movement in painting and fiction.
In 1843 Fleury-Husson moved to Paris. He met Charles Baudelaire
and the next year started writing art criticism under the pen-name "Champfleury" for the journal L'Artiste
. He was one of the first to promote the work of Gustave Courbet
, in an article appearing in an issue of Le Pamphlet in 1848.
In 1850 he advocated the work of El Greco
, and wrote about the Le Nain brothers and Maurice Quentin de La Tour
. He also had a brief affair in 1851 with Eveline Hańska, the widow of his friend Honoré de Balzac
.
He edited the periodical, Le réalisme in 1856 and 1857.
His novels, of which the best-known is Les bourgeois de Molinchart (1854), were among the earliest Realist
works.
In 1870 his book Les Chats, a series of essays about cats including portrayals of cats by prominent artists of the time, was published by Librarie de la Societe Botanique de France, edited by J. Rothschild.
From 1872 until his death in 1889 he was Chief of Collections at the Sèvres porcelain factory
.
The character of Marcel in Henri Murger
's Scènes de la vie de bohème, and thus the corresponding character Marcello in Puccini's opera
based on it, was partially based on Champfleury. Champfleury was a friend of Murger and they had roomed together for a time.
Laon
Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
, Aisne
Aisne
Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
- 1889 Sèvres
Sèvres
Sèvres is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau of Weights...
), who wrote under the name Champfleury, was a French art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
and novelist, a prominent supporter of the Realist
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
movement in painting and fiction.
In 1843 Fleury-Husson moved to Paris. He met Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
and the next year started writing art criticism under the pen-name "Champfleury" for the journal L'Artiste
L'Artiste
L’Artiste was a weekly illustrated review published in Paris from 1831 to 1904, supplying "the richest single source of contemporary commentary on artists, exhibitions and trends from the Romantic era to the end of the nineteenth century."...
. He was one of the first to promote the work of Gustave Courbet
Gustave Courbet
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French painting. The Realist movement bridged the Romantic movement , with the Barbizon School and the Impressionists...
, in an article appearing in an issue of Le Pamphlet in 1848.
In 1850 he advocated the work of El Greco
El Greco
El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
, and wrote about the Le Nain brothers and Maurice Quentin de La Tour
Maurice Quentin de La Tour
Maurice Quentin de La Tour was a French Rococo portraitist who worked primarily with pastels. Among his most famous subjects were Voltaire, Rousseau, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour.-Biography:...
. He also had a brief affair in 1851 with Eveline Hańska, the widow of his friend Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
.
He edited the periodical, Le réalisme in 1856 and 1857.
His novels, of which the best-known is Les bourgeois de Molinchart (1854), were among the earliest Realist
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
works.
In 1870 his book Les Chats, a series of essays about cats including portrayals of cats by prominent artists of the time, was published by Librarie de la Societe Botanique de France, edited by J. Rothschild.
From 1872 until his death in 1889 he was Chief of Collections at the Sèvres porcelain factory
Manufacture nationale de Sèvres
The manufacture nationale de Sèvres is a Frit porcelain porcelain tendre factory at Sèvres, France. Formerly a royal, then an imperial factory, the facility is now run by the Ministry of Culture.-Brief history:...
.
The character of Marcel in Henri Murger
Henri Murger
Louis-Henri Murger, also known as Henri Murger and Henry Murger was a French novelist and poet....
's Scènes de la vie de bohème, and thus the corresponding character Marcello in Puccini's opera
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
based on it, was partially based on Champfleury. Champfleury was a friend of Murger and they had roomed together for a time.
Publications
- TroubatJules Simon TroubatJules Simon Troubat was a French littérateur, born at Montpellier. He was the last secretary of Sainte-Beuve, one of his testamentary executors, and his legatee. He published a number of posthumous works of Sainte-Beuve, such as his , an unfinished monograph on Proudhon, and three volumes of...
, Souvenirs sur Champfleury et le Réalisme (Paris, 1905)