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Tag Archives: Dreyfus Affair

Edgar Degas: Eclecticism

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Dreyfus Affair, Edgar Degas, Impressionism, landscapes, pastels, Realism, Social Realism, Valery-sur-Somme

 beach-with-sailing-boats
beach-at-ebbe-1870
Beach with Sailing Boats, 1869 (pastel)
Beach at Ebbe, 1870 (pastel)
(Please click on the smaller images to enlarge them.)
 

The Edgar Degas (19 July 1834 – 27 September 1917) we know depicted ballet dancers.  In fact, for many of us, dancers were Degas’ only subject matter, which is understandable as these were the works we were shown.  Yet, he also depicted horse racing and café scenes.  Moreover, he was a fine portrait artist, a skill he perfected during a three-year stay with relatives in Naples, Italy, beginning in 1856.  At that time, he was also considering a career as historical painter and produced a few historical paintings.

Degas’ main subject was indeed the human figure, especially women.  “Ballet dancers and women washing themselves would preoccupy him throughout his career.”[i]  So would milliners, laundresses, cabaret singers and prostitutes.  As Degas claimed, he was a “realist” and, earlier in his career, a social realist, as in literary realism.     

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica,

“As part of his own process of engaging with modernity, he [Degas] self-consciously aligned himself with Realist novelists such as Émile Zola and Edmond and Jules Goncourt, drafting illustrations for their novels and briefly adopting a similar social descriptiveness.”[ii]

Yet, Degas would later cast away “the certainties of a state-controlled, historical culture for an art of individual crisis, even approaching the nihilism of the following generation.”[iii]  Moreover, the Dreyfus Affair would elecit, on Degas’ part, a “violently anti-Semitic response” that estranged former friends.[iv]

Degas: Seascapes, Landscapes & Valery-sur-Somme

Early Outdoors Scenes

But let us return to our subject matter: the eclectic Degas.  We know that he made fun of en plein air (outdoors) painters, but the above paintings prove that he devoted at least one season, 1869, to “plein-air” art.  Moreover, Degas’ depictions of horses and horse racing scenes are outdoors works.  Finally, Degas left seascapes, landscapes, and depictions of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, shown below.  The above paintings, two pastels, are early works depicting beaches.  These are therefore very luminous works.  Moreover, they could be classified as Impressionist works.  The colours are muted, varied, and sea and sky nearly blend in “Beach with Sailing Boats.”  In the upper part of these pastel seascapes, Degas has used a darker colour.  He therefore presents a painterly rather than linear sky scape.

sky-study_jpg!HalfHD
Sky Study, 1869
 

Later Outdoors Scenes

In later “plein-air” works, his subject matter changed and his works darkened accordingly.   Yet, he did not change his selection of colours to a significant extent.  In “Plowed Field,” shown below, as one looks up, one sees little beads: blue, mauve, dark green and silver.  They illuminate his art.  Here the sky is not a principal subject matter.  Trees dominate “Plowed Field,” a mostly linear pastel.  “Plowed Field” is reminiscent of the nineteenth-century Russian lyrical landscapes of artist Alexei Savrasov (24 May 1830 – 8 October 1897).  It is also reminiscent of the “mood” landscapes created by Isaac Levitan (30 August 1860 – 4 August 1900; aged 39).

Plowed Field, 1890 (pastel)

plowed-field_jpg!HalfHD

From the point of view of composition, “Plowed Field,” now above, is a gem.  It features a lovely curve that begins with the largest tree, on the right side of the artwork.  Degas usually placed his subject matter relatively far from the middle of his artwork.  We also see curves running in opposite directions.  However, we have a dark main line directly beneath the trees.  I love the effect created by the very pale, silvery, beads.  There is considerable movement in this painting.  It is as though the trees were performing pirouettes.  

Saint-Valery-sur-Somme

Degas also depicted the houses of Saint-Valerie-sur-Somme, a small community in northern France.  In “Houses at the Foot of a Cliff (Saint-Valery-sur-Somme),” we have an oil painting featuring a coloured sky, but the main compositional elements are three lines: 1) a slightly broken diagonal line and, underneath, 2) a horizontal line, traced above the blue-roofed cottages and running the entire width of the canvas, beneath the cottages, 3) another diagonal line running in a direction opposite the upper diagonal line.  We do not see a vanishing point, but almost.  There is movement is this painting, as in “Plowed Field.”

Houses at the Foot of a Cliff (Saint-Valery-sur-Somme), 1898 (oil)
houses-at-the-foot-of-a-cliff-saint-valery-sur-somme
rue-quesnoy-saint-valery-sur-somme_jpg!Blog
Rue Quesnoy, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, 1898 (pastel)
 

“Rue Quesnoy” also features lines: two narrowing vertical lines, flanked by houses and a broken and playful third line, a horizontal line consisting of trees slightly above the horizon.  Again, we sense movement in Degas’ work.  He guides and pleases the eye.

Our Masterpiece

But our masterpiece remains a female figure, a pastel inserted at the bottom of this post, a dancer adjusting her slipper:  lines against a flat-coloured background, an example of Japonism, except that he shows a shadow.  In this work, less is more.

“Artists were especially affected by the lack of perspective and shadow, the flat areas of strong color, and the compositional freedom gained by placing the subject off-centre, mostly with a low diagonal axis to the background.”  (See Japonism, Wikipedia)

“The prints were collected by such painters as Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and other artists. The clarity of line, spaciousness of composition, and boldness and flatness of colour and light in Japanese prints had a direct impact on their work and on that of their followers.”[v]

Conclusion

Once known mainly for his depiction of ballet dancers, Degas’ choice of subject matter was much broader and always appealing, even when his representation of the human form, the female figure, did not embellish his models.  His art is figurative, not abstract, but his strength lies, to a large extent, in the structure of his art, or in the lines behind the figures.  A successful artist during his own lifetime, he was admired by artists who followed him, including Picasso, and he remains not only a favourite but also a model, which makes him a classic.

________________________________________

[i] “Edgar Degas”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Aug. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/155919/Edgar-Degas/235481/Realism-and-Impressionism>.
 
[ii] “Edgar Degas”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Aug. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/155919/Edgar-Degas/235483/Final-years>.
 
[iii] “Edgar Degas”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Aug. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/155919/Edgar-Degas/235481/Realism-and-Impressionism>.
 
[iv] “Edgar Degas”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Aug. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/155919/Edgar-Degas/235483/Final-years>.
 
[v] “Japanism”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Aug. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/301314/Japanism>.
 
degas-in-a-green-jacket-1856
Degas in a Green Jacket, Self-Portrait, 1856 (oil) (Photo credit: Wikipaintings)
(Please click on the image to enlarge it.)
 
Antonio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741),
The Four Seasons, Spring
Gidon Kremer (born 27 February 1947), violinist
London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado
 
dancer-adjusting-her-sandelDancer Adjusting her Sandal, 1890 (pastel)
(Please click on the image to enlarge it.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
© Micheline Walker
13 August 2013 
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The Dreyfus Affair & Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy

13 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in History

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Alfred Dreyfus, Émile Zola, Dreyfus, Dreyfus Affair, Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy, France, Franco-Prussian War, Germany

Degradation of Alfred Dreyfus

Degradation of Alfred Dreyfus

The Dreyfus Affair

We are now skipping a century and find ourselves in Paris where a relative of Haydn’s patrons, Charles Marie Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy (16 December 1847, Austria – 21 May 1923, England), would be the key player in a drama that began several years after France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War (19 July 1870 – 10 May 1871), also called the Franco-German War of 1870.  France lost Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, an area it would not regain until the end of World War I (28 July 1914  – 11 November 1918).

(Please click on the image to enlarge it.)

First Trial
Le capitaine Dreyfus devant le conseil de guerre

The Prussian victory was a catalyst.  It led to the unification of Germany.  Germany had long been a group of loosely-linked German-language states, perhaps best described as a landed squirearchy.  It became a nation-state on 18 January 1871, at no less a venue than Versailles itself, in the Hall of Mirrors, ten days before Paris fell, on 28 January 1871.  Germany was unified but, from the moment Captain Alfred Dreyfus was arrested, on 15 October 1894, France would be divided into the Dreyfusards, intellectuals, and the anti-Dreyfusards, a division that revealed deep comtempt against the Jews, not only in the armed forces, but among civilians.

 

Charles Marie Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy

In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935), a French artillery officer of Jewish background, was arrested for treason.  Dreyfus’ wealthy family originated from Alsace but had moved to Paris after the Franco-Prussian War.  The culprit was Marie Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy, a remote member of the Esterházy family, but a relative nevertheless.  Esterhazy had sold information to Germany after the Franco-Prussian War, not Alfred Dreyfus.  Yet a guilty finger was pointed at Alfred Dreyfus.

Émile Zola: « J’Accuse »

Dreyfus was arrested on 15 October 1894, hastily court-martialled, behind closed doors, and convicted of treason on 22 December 1894.  After his conviction, Dreyfus was publicly stripped of his army rank and, beginning on 13 April 1895, he started serving a life sentence on Devil’s Island, about 14 km away from mainland French Guiana, in South America.  Imprisoned on Devil’s Island, an innocent Dreyfus served five years of a life sentence while French intellectuals, led by writer Émile-Édouard-Charles-Antoine Zola (2 April 1840 – 29 September 1902), set about exposing a miscarriage of justice.  Never had a miscarriage of justice so mobilized France’s foremost intellectuals.  Émile Zola wrote his famous « J’accuse, » an open letter to French President Félix François Faure (30 January 1841 – 16 February 1899), published in L’Aurore on 13 January, 1898.

D08_Aurore_janv_98

The military conceals evidence

In 1896, when Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart,[i] chief of the army’s intelligence section, found evidence that Major Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy was engaged in espionage.  Esterhazy’s handwriting was found on the memorandum (the bordereau) that had incriminated Dreyfus.  Picquart revealed his findings to his senior officers who persuaded him to conceal the truth so that Esterhazy would be protected.  Picquart continued investigating and was removed from his position and assigned to duty in Africa.  In fact, he would later be accused of the crime that brought France to its knees.  Picquart had spoken with Dreyfusards before leaving for Africa.

In the meantime, Zola was accused of libel and brought to trial on 7 February 1898.  Zola had hoped that his « J’accuse, » would lead to a trial and to disclosure of evidence that could free and exonerate Dreyfus.  It did, but tortuously.

Dreyfus is tried and convicted a second time

Dreyfus was tried a second time, but was again convicted and condemned to ten years of imprisonment while Major Walsin-Esterhazy went free.  The memorandum clearly implicated Esterhazy, but a decision had been made to protect him.  Consequently, treason was again imputed to Captain Dreyfus despite a petition signed by 3,000 persons asking that the Dreyfus’ trial be reviewed.  According to Britannica, the affair “was made absurdly complicated by the activities or Esterhazy in inventing evidence and spreading rumours, and of Major Hubert Joseph Henry, discoverer of the original letter attributed to Dreyfus, in forging new documents and suppressing others.”[ii]  Major Henry was arrested for having forged evidence against Dreyfus, but committed suicide shortly after he was incarcerated (1898).

However, Dreyfus was pardoned by French President Émile Loubet, in 1899, but a pardon implies that one has been found guilty.  Yet, nothing but forgeries incriminated Dreyfus, but he would not be exonerated and reinstated to his rank until 1906.  Therefore the Dreyfus Affair was a 12-year nightmare for Dreyfus and a long fight on the part of Dreyfusards, Anatole France, Henri Poincaré, Marcel Proust, Georges Clemenceau, France’s premier between 1917 and 1920, Émile Zola, the leader, and others.  “The parliament passed a bill reinstating Dreyfus.  On July 22 he was formally reinstated and decorated with the Legion of Honour.”[iii]

The leading anti-Dreyfusard was Édouard Drumont (3 May 1844 – 5 February 1917), the founder the Antisemitic League of France (1889) and the founder and editor of La Libre Parole.  Drumont is the author of The Jews against France (1898).  The League was also anti-Masonic and had supporters among Catholics.  The editors of La Croix, who have since apologized, wrote an unacceptable “[d]own with the Jews!” and labeled Dreyfus as “the enemy Jew betraying France.”  (See La Croix, Wikipedia.)

As he had hoped, Zola was brought to trial, which served Dreyfus’ cause.  The trial exposed a miscarriage of justice, except that Zola was convicted of libel, a conviction he did not expect and further divided public opinion.  Zola was about to pay a heavy price for publishing his « J’accuse », which had otherwise been a “success.”  Britannica reports that “[b]y the evening of that day, 200,000 copies had been sold.”[iv]  Despite support, Zola was condemned to a year in jail and a fine of 3,000 francs.  He escaped his jail sentence by fleeing to England where he remained for a year, 1898-1899, but he was allowed to return to France when the French Government fell.

Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy

Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy

Although Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy[v] was brought before a court-martial in 1897, he was acquitted by his fellow officers and retired in 1898.  However, as the movement for revision of Dreyfus’ condemnation gained momentum, Esterhazy fled first to Belgium and then to England where he worked mainly as a translator and possibly as a traveling salesman.  Esterhazy was in fact encouraged to flee to England.  He lived in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, until his death in 1923 (aged 75).  After he was exonerated, Dreyfus did reintegrate the army.  He passed away in 1935, at the age of 75.  As for Émile Zola, he died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 1902.  It may have been an accidental death, but it may also have been murder.

Britannica concludes that “[f]rom the turmoil of which it was the centre emerged a sharper alignment of political and social forces, leading to such drastic anticlerical measures as the separation of church and state in 1905 and to a cleavage between right-wing nationalists and left-wing antimilitarists that haunted French life until 1914 and even later,” and adds that “[a]t best, it evoked a passionate repudiation of anti-Semitism, which did France honour[.]”[vi]  But the Dreyfus Affair seems yet another tug of war between extremists, liberals versus conservatives, not to mention a major case of scapegoating at the expense of Jews.

Regarding the connection between Haydn’s patrons and Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy, it is simply very unfortunate.  However, it could well be that Péter Esterházy (born 14 April 1950 in Budapest), a likeable individual, is the most prominent among current Hungarian writers.

History has had a lot of very bad days, and it keeps repeating itself.

© Micheline Walker
_________________________

[i] “Georges Picquart”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/459533/Georges-Picquart>.

[ii] “Dreyfus affair”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/171538/Dreyfus-affair>.

[iii] “Alfred Dreyfus”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/171509/Alfred-Dreyfus>.

[iv] “Dreyfus affair”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/171538/Dreyfus-affair>.

[v] “Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/193419/Ferdinand-Walsin-Esterhazy>.

[vi]  “Dreyfus affair”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/171538/Dreyfus-affair>.

Franz Joseph Haydn: Serenade

 

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