Shock the Bourgeois: French Influences and Bohemianism in The Yellow Book
Hannah Polinski
Ryerson University
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Conder: A True Bohemian
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Conder, who is considered by Ann Galbally to be the “most enigmatic, most charming, most bohemian” artist of his time also embraced non-conventional styles in his art (81). Conder made a name for himself in Australia, painting non-conventional portraits of Impressionistic urbanized landscapes at a time when most artists were resisting urbanity and reverting to nostalgic nature portraits (Hoff 700). According to Martin Birnbaum, Conder’s greatest influences were eighteenth-century French painters who he grew interested in at art school (5). Conder did not truly dedicate himself to painting until he moved to Paris in 1890 and began fraternizing with other artists and writers at the Moulin Rouge, a famous literary cabaret (Pezzini 21).
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Charles Conder
Frederick Evans
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Conder, who is considered by Ann Galbally to be the “most enigmatic, most charming, most bohemian” artist of his time also embraced non-conventional styles in his art (81). Conder made a name for himself in Australia, painting non-conventional portraits of Impressionistic urbanized landscapes at a time when most artists were resisting urbanity and reverting to nostalgic nature portraits (Hoff 700). According to Martin Birnbaum, Conder’s greatest influences were eighteenth-century French painters who he grew interested in at art school (5). Conder did not truly dedicate himself to painting until he moved to Paris in 1890 and began fraternizing with other artists and writers at the Moulin Rouge, a famous literary cabaret (Pezzini 21).
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According to Barbara Pezzini, Conder’s paintings had a feminine quality. His art did not objectify or sexualize women, but was rather produced for women’s eyes, rather than the portraits of women that were designed by and for the male gaze at the time (23). In “Souvenir de Paris” the main female figure is not sexualized: she is fully clothed, and is gazing off to the left side without any hint of eroticism. Her hand is resting on a cup of coffee, which brings to mind images of literary cafes. The woman in the foreground of Conder’s painting is sitting alone, which evokes the sense of the independent French woman that was exemplified in The Yellow Book. The woman in Conder’s painting is comparable to Harland’s Nina, who is also an independent woman navigating the male-dominated spaces of bohemian circles. Likewise, Conder’s lone woman is negotiating a space for herself at a cafe in Paris, which would have been considered profound to a British audience.
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Souvenir de Paris
Charles Conder
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It is notable that the woman in Conder’s painting does not meet the gaze of the viewer. The woman is looking off to the side and seems uninterested by who may be watching her. According to Hughes, the gender of the gazer is important in negotiating cultural and gendered politics around art (Hughes 854). Since Conder spent time in bohemian circles, which were overwhelmingly male, it can be inferred that men were the typical audience of “Souvenir de Paris.” It is significant that the woman appears indifferent to meeting the gaze of who is looking at her. This disregard of the gaze displays Conder’s non-conventional approach to art. At the time, many male painters were objectifying women for their own pleasure, but Conder’s painting shows a woman who is ignoring who may be watching her, and therefore resisting the gaze. This non-mainstream approach to women in art characterized Conder’s bohemianism, and therefore contributes a subversive idea to the print bohemian community of The Yellow Book.
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Sketch for a Silk Design
Charles Conder
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Publishing “Souvenir de Paris” in The Yellow Book speaks to the bohemian and non-conventional attitude of the periodical as well. “Souvenir de Paris” was published in the sixth volume of The Yellow Book, after the arrest of Oscar Wilde and the consequential defamation of the magazine. Despite the French influence of the yellow covers that ended the periodical by unfortunate association, The Yellow Book did not give up its French influence and continued to reproduce experimental works such as “Souvenir de Paris” that did not succumb to British anxieties over multiculturalism. By remaining true to its subversive values, The Yellow Book proves its status as a bohemian print community, as bohemian communities would have embraced such non-conventional attitudes and diversity without faltering before mainstream values.
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