Stéphane Mallarmé

19th century French poet and critic.

Biography:

Mallarmé, Stéphane

(1842–98).

French poet and critic, champion of the IMPRESSIONISTS and figurehead of the SYMBOLISTS. An inspiration to younger writers who elected him the ‘Prince of Poets’ in 1896, Mallarmé also earned the respect and friendship of the innovative painters of his generation. MANET, who painted his portrait (1876; Paris, Mus. d'Orsay) and illustrated his verse, was the main subject of the poet's long essay on Impressionism published that year in English. Obliged to teach English for a living, he also compiled a short-lived fashion magazine La Dernière Mode. His poetic output (including Hérodiade and L'Après-midi d'un faune, 1876) was rarefied and highly wrought; his ideas were nevertheless seminal, notably his belief in the poet's duty to remain enigmatic and suggestive rather than to tie down with concrete description. From 1880 on Mallarmé's Tuesday soirées provided a focal point for the diverse members of the Symbolist movement and his circle of artistic friends included MONET, DEGAS, REDON, GAUGUIN, BERTHE MORISOT, WHISTLER, and the NABIS.

Belinda Thomson

(Thomson, Belinda. "Mallarmé, Stéphane." The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, accessed October 8, 2015, http://proxy.bostonathenaeum.org:2154/subscriber/article/opr/t118/e1574.)