Passionate discontent: creativity, gender, and French symbolist art

Abstract

"Passionate Discontent is a study that explores the relationship between gender and genius in late nineteenth-century French Symbolism." "Art historian Patricia Mathews examines the artistic, social, and scientific discourses of fin-de-siecle France. Along the way, she illuminates the Symbolist construction of a feminized aesthetic that nonetheless excluded female artists from its realm. She analyzes contemporary cultural assumptions as well as theories such as social Darwinism, biological determinism, and degeneracy."--Jacket.

Contents

The symbolist aesthetic -- The symbolist aesthetic in context: commentary and critique -- The ecstasy and the agony: creative genius and madness -- The gender of creativity: women, pathology, and Camille Claudel -- Gendered bodies I: sexuality, spirituality, and fear of women -- Symbolist women artists: practice and reception -- Gendered bodies II: Paul Gauguin -- Gendered bodies III: Suzanne Valadan.