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Thursday, December 31, 2020

Félix Fénéon: The Anarchist and the Avant-Garde

 These four installment chapters are drawn from an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art on Félix Fénéon, 1861-1944.  "One of the most influential figures in the history of modern art is also one of the least know:  Félix Fénéon, a Fresh art critic, editor, publisher, dealer, collector, and anarchist who was active in Paris during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Fénéon tirelessly advocated for avant-garde art, literature, and politics, working behind the scenes for more than five decades.  

He began his career as a critic, contributing to dozens of progressive journals in the a880's and 1890's.  In 1886, he coined the term New-Impressionism to describe the work of Seurat and Signac, the first of many modern artists he would ardently champion.In the early twentieth century he became a dealer and engaged with a new generation of artists, signing Henri Matisse to his first gallery contract in 1909, and giving the Italian Futurists their breakthrough exhibition in 1912.  As a patron, Fénéon amasses an extraordinary collection of paintings by Seurat, Signac, Matisse, PierreBonnard, Modigliani, and may others.  H was also  one of the first European collectors of art from Africa, Oceania and the Americas and he endeavored to bring recognition to such works.  His anarchism- for which he was arrested, in connection with bombing in 1894- shaped his belief that art could play a fundamental role in the formation of more just and harmonious world."




Paul Signac, French, Opus 217, Against the Enamel of a Background Rythmic with Beats and Angles, Tones, andTints, Portrait of M. Félix Fénéon in 1890.  1890.




Félix Valloton, French, Félix Fénéon at La Revue blanche, 1896.


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