Shock the Bourgeois: French Influences and Bohemianism in The Yellow Book
Hannah Polinski
Ryerson University
2284
Prospectus: The Yellow Book 4 (Jan. 1895)
Aubrey Beardsley
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One of the most visible French influences upon the British periodical The Yellow Book was its unmistakable yellow covers. This design was conceived to attract attention to the subversive magazine, and it was this same borrowed aesthetic that contributed to the periodical’s downfall. In 1895, Oscar Wilde was arrested for indecency, and under his arm was a yellow-covered book that spectators assumed to be The Yellow Book. However Wilde was not carrying The Yellow Book, but rather a French novel, as decadent French novels were notoriously adorned with yellow covers (Weintraub 141). Wilde had never contributed to The Yellow Book; regardless, it became linked with sodomy which led to the defamation of the quarterly publication (142). |
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Throughout its short lifespan, The Yellow Book contained many other French influences, most notably the inclusion of works evoking Parisian Bohemian culture, such as Henry Harland’s short story “The Bohemian Girl” in volume IV and Charles Conder’s painting “Souvenir de Paris” in volume VI. Harland’s short story revolves around the life of Nina, a girl brought up in the socially radical neighbourhoods of bohemian Paris. After the death of her famous bohemian father, she manages to run a salon, raise her daughter alone, and become a matriarch-like figure in a male-dominated environment. Conder’s painting features a woman in Paris drinking coffee alone as she looks out of the frame. Using the cultural context of bohemianism, this exhibit will analyze Harland’s “The Bohemian Girl” and Conder’s “Souvenir de Paris” as works that exhibit non-conventional values and relate it to how The Yellow Book can be read as a print community of French-influenced bohemianism.
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Souvenir de Paris
Charles Conder
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Bird's Eye View of Paris, France
A Photographic Trip Around the World
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Bohemia in Paris
During the fin-de-siècle, Paris saw a flourishing of art and literature from its bohemian community. In Mary Gluck’s Popular Bohemia, bohemianism is defined not as a movement but as an anti-conformist community of creative intellectuals focused on freeing their lives from the values of the bourgeois class (9). Bohemian communities formed in the eclectic Parisian neighbourhoods of Montmartre and the Latin Quarter, where cafes and cabarets became the heart for exchanges in ideas about art, philosophy, and society. These intellectual circles also presented the opportunity for artists and writers such as Harland and Conder to show their work to the public, as some often donated art to decorate the interior of the cabarets (Hamilton 31). |
Eiffel Tower
Library of Congress
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Soirée au cabaret le Chat Noir
Wikimedia Commons
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The French were enthusiastic about liberating art from the sole consumption of the ruling class (Desmarais 73). They believed in creating a democratic art culture that everyone could engage with. Paris provided this culture through its bohemian circles (Gluck 15). All sorts of intellectual figures as well as members of the bourgeois class could visit cafes and cabarets of Montmartre and the Latin Quarter to be exposed to a slew of intellectually stimulating discussions. New art and literature would often be showcased at these discussions (Gluck 15) which transformed art into an accessible entity available to all.
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Shock the Bourgeois: French Influences and Bohemianism in The Yellow Book
Hannah Polinski
Ryerson University
2462
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Bohemian Influences in The Yellow Book
The Yellow Book became synonymous with art and literature that was subversive to conventional styles and cultural values of the fin-de-siècle. In Victorian England, there was a growing anxiety over French influence in art and literature as many believed it was a threat to national identity. Conservative Victorians thought the French were indecent and immoral because of how freely they embraced “forbidden” topics such as sexuality (Desmarais 73). Consequentially, mainstream British art and literature shunned multicultural works that did not represent the beliefs of the empire (74). Seeing as it represented non-conventional values, The Yellow Book demonstrated a deviation from this nationalistic belief and prejudice against the French. In doing so it published French texts and content with visible French influences, like “The Bohemian Girl” and “Souvenir de Paris.” |
Bal du moulin de la Galette
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
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La Cavalcade de La Mi-Carême
Paul Merwart
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Since The Yellow Book published a wide variety of material, there were some pieces that did have traditional literary styles and content, which is reflective of the attitudes and views in actual bohemian communities. Members of the bourgeois class often joined literary circles, creating a “cultural democracy” as they sought new innovative ideas (Gluck 15). While this seems contradictory to bohemianism’s aims to stand apart from the bourgeois, it was impossible for bohemia to ignore the harsh realities of class and economic inequalities. The fin-de-siècle bohemians were able to envision the new culture they wanted to create in addition to acknowledging the bourgeois class should be able to access art and literature (14).
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The Yellow Book can be thought of as a sort of bohemian print community. When The Yellow Book was first conceived by Harland, he had not intended for it to start a movement, but rather to be a collection of excellent art and literature that resisted the boredom and redundancy of other periodicals at the time (Beckson 57). Co-founder Aubrey Beardsley explained in a private letter that the idea behind The Yellow Book was to publish the best writers and artists whose work was considered non-conventional or too provocative for traditional magazines (58). The periodical became known for its strange outlook on art and life, contributing to a refreshing sense of modernity as the decade moved out of the conservative Victorian era and into the age of realism while struggling against the strong influence of French decadence and impressionism. (Weintraub 136). The Yellow Book is comparable to French bohemia in the way it did not seek to start an outright social or political movement, but wanted provide a space to discuss culture, literature, and art. The periodical ended up doing so in the way by publishing a wide variety of literary and artistic material which went on to characterize it as an experimental and provocative hub for “new art” and “new literature” (Turner).
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Moulin Rouge in 1900
Wikimedia Commons
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Shock the Bourgeois: French Influences and Bohemianism in The Yellow Book
Hannah Polinski
Ryerson University
2463
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Unconventionality in Harland’s “The Bohemian Girl”
Harland is a writer whose style and subject matter was undoubtedly influenced by French aesthetics, particularly from his time in Paris. Despite being an American who spent many years in London, he cites French writers such as Maupassant, Daudet, and Mérimée as his greatest literary influences (Mix 61). Harland admired the emotional quality of French poetry and of the French people, which was a refreshing change compared to what he called “practical” English (97). He spent several years living in Paris and engaging with literary cafes and cabarets, which can be considered the inspiration for “The Bohemian Girl.” Harland’s admiration of romantic French realism is evident in the rich detail the narrator of “The Bohemian Girl” uses to describe his experiences in bohemian Paris. Harland’s story is littered with references to Parisian landmarks and famous boulevards, which evokes the romantic imagery and detail typical of an expat writer. The narrator of this story is an active participant of the bohemian community, inhabiting the fictional bohemian Cafe Bleu in the Latin Quarter. The narrator describes conversations which the reader can infer would be similar to the discussions Harland himself took part in while in Paris. |
Henry Harland
LC Page and Company
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Harland’s story challenges many bourgeois ideals of the time, most notably through the freedom and liberation of Nina, a free-spirited girl brought up in bohemian Paris. Nina does not fulfill traditional gender roles, and her father views her not as his property but as a person capable of individual thought, allowing her to take part in conversations of politics and society that were considered unsuitable for women. French women had more liberty and freedom than English women, which Harland evokes in his bohemian girl to contrast against the values of Victorian England. In his story he describes how Nina’s free spirited French personality are not well received when she moves to England with her cousins. Her bohemian values align with those of the independent French woman, who can be considered the cousin of the English New Woman, an emerging feminine persona who challenged Victorian notions of health and feminine womanhood (Desmarais 59). The independent French woman had more sexual and economic freedom, which explains Nina’s rebellion against conservative England causing her to escape back to Paris where she has more liberty and her strong convictions are acceptable.
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Boulevard de Montmartre, Matinée de Printemps
Camille Pissarro
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The inclusivity and freedom Harland offers to Nina’s character is echoed in his work as editor of The Yellow Book. Unlike other periodicals of the time, The Yellow Book published texts by women, which confronted the patriarchal assumptions of the literary sphere as these women writers challenged mainstream ideals on female sexuality and freedom (Hughes 850). For female poets, getting published in a periodical was the chance to express radical content and contribute to contemporary debates using prose and poetry (Hughes 866). Harland’s Nina is not a New Woman poet, but rather the related French independent woman whose character remains true to bohemian values. By projecting these non-conventional values into The Yellow Book Harland is contributing to a bohemian discussion not unlike those that took place in literary cafes, both those in real life and in “The Bohemian Girl”. “The Bohemian Girl” brings clear bohemian values to The Yellow Book which remains in dialogue with New Woman and other anti-conformist works in the periodical. However not all texts and images in The Yellow Book were in line with the values of “The Bohemian Girl”, therefore The Yellow Book functions as a material space for progressive and provocative ideas to be discussed and challenged.
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Shock the Bourgeois: French Influences and Bohemianism in The Yellow Book
Hannah Polinski
Ryerson University
2464
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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Shock the Bourgeois: French Influences and Bohemianism in The Yellow Book
Hannah Polinski
Ryerson University
2470
Conclusion
If it were not for the daring ideas in bohemian circles, The Yellow Book would not have achieved its provocative style. By publishing famous bohemian figures like Harland and Conder The Yellow Book absorbed French influence in recreating a bohemian print community. The non-conventional ideas in the periodical echo those present in “The Bohemian Girl” and “Souvenir de Paris”, as both author and artist contribute their bohemian ideas to a periodical-wide discussion of modernity and non-conventionality. Consequentially The Yellow Book functions as a print community of bohemianism, as its editors allowed eccentric artists and writers to display their works on a grand scale when non-traditional publications with bourgeois values would not accept them. Thus, from yellow cover to yellow cover, The Yellow Book was a publication that existed outside of the mainstream, which is what has made its legacy last until today.
If it were not for the daring ideas in bohemian circles, The Yellow Book would not have achieved its provocative style. By publishing famous bohemian figures like Harland and Conder The Yellow Book absorbed French influence in recreating a bohemian print community. The non-conventional ideas in the periodical echo those present in “The Bohemian Girl” and “Souvenir de Paris”, as both author and artist contribute their bohemian ideas to a periodical-wide discussion of modernity and non-conventionality. Consequentially The Yellow Book functions as a print community of bohemianism, as its editors allowed eccentric artists and writers to display their works on a grand scale when non-traditional publications with bourgeois values would not accept them. Thus, from yellow cover to yellow cover, The Yellow Book was a publication that existed outside of the mainstream, which is what has made its legacy last until today.
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Panorama of the Seven Bridges
Library of Congress
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Copyright: Images in this online exhibit are either in the public domain or being used under fair dealing for the purpose of research and are provided solely for the purposes of research, private study, or education.
Works Cited
Beckson, Karl. Henry Harland. London: The Eighteen Nineties Society, 1978. Print.
Bird’s Eye View of Paris, France. 1890. A Photographic Trip Around the World. Chicago: John W. Illiff & Co, 1892. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Birnbaum, Martin. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Original Works by Charles Conder. New York: Berlin Photographic Co., 1913. Print.
Conder, Charles. Sketch for a Silk Design. 1890. Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Scotland. Wikimedia Commons.Web. 15 November 2015.
Conder, Charles. "Souvenir de Paris." The Yellow Book 6 (July 1895): 255. The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2011. Web. 16 October 2015.
Desmarais, Jane Haville. The Beardsley Industry. Brookfield:Ashgate Publishing Limited, 1998. Print.
Eiffel Tower. 1889. Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, Library of Congress. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 18 Nov 2015.
Evans, Frederick. Charles Conder. 1912. Photograph. Photograph of Charles Conder. Frontispiece for Charles Conder: His Life and Work, by Frank Gibson. The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University. Web. 15 November 2015.
Galbally, Ann. "Charles Conder 1868-1909."Craft Arts International 59 (2003): 81-83. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Gluck, Mary. Popular Bohemia: Modernism and Urban Culture in Nineteenth-Century Paris. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2005. Print.
Hamilton, Sarah Elizabeth. "From Publicity to Intimacy: The Poster in Fin-De- Siecle Paris." Order No. 1459456 Texas Christian University, 2008. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Harland, Henry. “The Bohemian Girl.” The Yellow Book 4, 1895. 12-44. The Yellow Nineties Online. Web. 15 October 2015.
Henry Harland. 1903. L.C Page and Company, Boston. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Hoff, Ursula. “Conder, Charles.” The Dictionary of Art. Ed. Jane Turner. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries Inc, 1996. Print.
Hughes, Linda K.. “Women Poets and Contested Spaces in "the Yellow Book"”. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 44.4 (2004): 849–872. Web. 15 October 2015.
Merwart, Paul. La Cavalcade de la Mi-Carême. 1894. L'Illustration, Paris. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Mix, Katherine Lyon. A Study in Yellow: The Yellow Book and its Contributors. Greenwood: University of Kansas Press, 1969. Print.
Moulin Rouge in 1900. 1900. Paris Capitale, Paris. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Panorama of the Seven Bridges. 1890. Library of Congress, Washington.Wikimedia Commons.Web. 15 November 2015.
Pezzini, Barbara. “New Documents Regarding the Carfax Gallery: ‘Fans and Other Paintings on Silk by Charles Conder’ 1902.” British Art Journal 13.2 (2012): 849-872. Web. 15 October 2015.
Pissarro, Camille. Boulevard Montmartre, Matinée de Printemps. 1897. Israel Museum, Israel. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste. Bal du moulin de la Galette. 1876. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Soirée au cabaret le Chat Noir. n.d. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Weintraub, Stanley. “THE YELLOW BOOK: A REAPPRAISAL”. The Journal of General Education 16.2 (1964): 136–152. Web. 15 October 2015
The Yellow Book 4. (Jan. 1895).The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2011. Web. 14 November 2015.
The Yellow Book 6. (July 1895).The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2011. Web. 14 November 2015.
Beckson, Karl. Henry Harland. London: The Eighteen Nineties Society, 1978. Print.
Bird’s Eye View of Paris, France. 1890. A Photographic Trip Around the World. Chicago: John W. Illiff & Co, 1892. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Birnbaum, Martin. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Original Works by Charles Conder. New York: Berlin Photographic Co., 1913. Print.
Conder, Charles. Sketch for a Silk Design. 1890. Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Scotland. Wikimedia Commons.Web. 15 November 2015.
Conder, Charles. "Souvenir de Paris." The Yellow Book 6 (July 1895): 255. The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2011. Web. 16 October 2015.
Desmarais, Jane Haville. The Beardsley Industry. Brookfield:Ashgate Publishing Limited, 1998. Print.
Eiffel Tower. 1889. Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, Library of Congress. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 18 Nov 2015.
Evans, Frederick. Charles Conder. 1912. Photograph. Photograph of Charles Conder. Frontispiece for Charles Conder: His Life and Work, by Frank Gibson. The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University. Web. 15 November 2015.
Galbally, Ann. "Charles Conder 1868-1909."Craft Arts International 59 (2003): 81-83. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Gluck, Mary. Popular Bohemia: Modernism and Urban Culture in Nineteenth-Century Paris. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2005. Print.
Hamilton, Sarah Elizabeth. "From Publicity to Intimacy: The Poster in Fin-De- Siecle Paris." Order No. 1459456 Texas Christian University, 2008. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Harland, Henry. “The Bohemian Girl.” The Yellow Book 4, 1895. 12-44. The Yellow Nineties Online. Web. 15 October 2015.
Henry Harland. 1903. L.C Page and Company, Boston. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Hoff, Ursula. “Conder, Charles.” The Dictionary of Art. Ed. Jane Turner. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries Inc, 1996. Print.
Hughes, Linda K.. “Women Poets and Contested Spaces in "the Yellow Book"”. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 44.4 (2004): 849–872. Web. 15 October 2015.
Merwart, Paul. La Cavalcade de la Mi-Carême. 1894. L'Illustration, Paris. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Mix, Katherine Lyon. A Study in Yellow: The Yellow Book and its Contributors. Greenwood: University of Kansas Press, 1969. Print.
Moulin Rouge in 1900. 1900. Paris Capitale, Paris. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Panorama of the Seven Bridges. 1890. Library of Congress, Washington.Wikimedia Commons.Web. 15 November 2015.
Pezzini, Barbara. “New Documents Regarding the Carfax Gallery: ‘Fans and Other Paintings on Silk by Charles Conder’ 1902.” British Art Journal 13.2 (2012): 849-872. Web. 15 October 2015.
Pissarro, Camille. Boulevard Montmartre, Matinée de Printemps. 1897. Israel Museum, Israel. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste. Bal du moulin de la Galette. 1876. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Soirée au cabaret le Chat Noir. n.d. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 15 November 2015.
Weintraub, Stanley. “THE YELLOW BOOK: A REAPPRAISAL”. The Journal of General Education 16.2 (1964): 136–152. Web. 15 October 2015
The Yellow Book 4. (Jan. 1895).The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2011. Web. 14 November 2015.
The Yellow Book 6. (July 1895).The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2011. Web. 14 November 2015.