Rebels and Martyrs

Book excerpt: The mythical artist, heroic and rebellious, isolated and suffering, is the creation of late-18th-century Romanticism. Throughout the 19th century this powerful myth influenced the way people thought and wrote about artists and, more importantly, the way artists thought about––and depicted––themselves. Covering the period from the French Revolution to World War I, from Romanticism to the avant-garde, this catalogue considers how artists responded to this myth. The focus is on key artists and groups who self-consciously forged distinctive identities: the Nazarenes, Delacroix, Courbet, Manet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, the Nabis, and Schiele. The book includes an introduction, a chronology, and an overview of the myth of the artist in literature, as well as a beautifully illustrated catalogue section arranged according to such themes as Bohemia; Dandy and Flâneur; Priest, Seer, Martyr, Christ; and Creativity and Sexuality.