Gautier, Théophile

(1811-1872)

   writer

   Born in Tarbes, Théophile Gautier early in his life was drawn to painting, but opting instead for literature, he became one of the strongest defenders of victor hugo during the literary debate over Her-nani (1830). However, in his long and imaginative descriptive poem, Albertus (1832), and Les Jeunes-France (1833), a collection of ironic stories, Gau-tier's independence from the romantics is clear. The "Preface" to his novel, Madamoiselle de Maupin (1835-36), expresses his exaltation of pure beauty: "All which is useful is ugly." He sought inspiration in place (chronicles of his journeys to the orient and to Spain) and in time: in a literary essay, Les Grotesques, he praises the age of louis x III, which, in turn, inspired his novel Le Capitaine Fracasse (1863). With Arria Marcella (1852), he evoked ancient Pompeii, in Roman de la momie (1858) ancient Egypt, and finally with Le Spirite (1866), he brings his ideal to the plain of the supernatural. Persuaded that art is an end in itself, and that his only chance for fame was technical perfection (L'Art, 1857), he constantly worked on his poems, like Ribeira (Espana, 1845), or musical variations, like numerous works of Émaux et Camées (1852). The precursor and master of Parnassian poetry, Théophile Gautier, who was the father of the writer judith gautier, was hailed by charles baudelaire (dedication to Fleurs du mal) as the "impeccable poet" and the "perfect magician of French letters."