Marie Gabriel Mourey (23 September 1865 – 10 February 1943) was a French novelist, essayist, poet, playwright, translator and

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

Biography

Gabriel Mourey was born 23 September 1865 in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, the son of Louis-Félix Mourey, a druggist, and Amélie-Madeleine Roche-Latilla.Dossier cote LH 19800035/561/63905
Archives nationales de France. He began his career as a poet at the age of seventeen with the collection ''Voix éparses'' (1883) published in the Librairie des bibliophiles by Jules Rouam (Paris). In March 1884, he launched ''Mireille, revue des poètes marseillais'', with Raoul Russel, which had eight deliveries. For the Parisian publisher Camille Dalou, he published his first translation from English, the ''Poésies complètes de

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

'' (1889) with a preface by

Joséphin Péladan Joséphin Péladan (28 March 1858 in Lyon – 27 June 1918 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French novelist and Martinist. His father was a journalist who had written on prophecies, and professed a philosophic-occult Catholicism. He established the ...

; He subsequently translated poems by

Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

. From then on, the poet approached the symbolist trend and became friends with

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

, and met in

Edmond Bailly Henri-Edmond Limet called Edmond Bailly (19 June 1850 – 8 September 1916) was a French librarian and publisher. Biography Edmond Bailly was a musician and writer of symbolic, theosophical and esoteric inspiration. He wrote essays, narrativ ...

's ''Librairie de l'art indépendant'', the "master of the dream"

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of ...

, of whom he attended the "Tuesdays of the Rue de Rome". The following year, he published his first essay of art criticism, ''Les Arts de la vie et le règne de la laideur'' at , a rather reactionary essay that denounced

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

, the realistic or naturalist drifts of painting, and which was more on the side of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

and

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

, and in which he affirmed that "it is the spirit of anarchism that reigns in France in the artistic movement... a need for destruction, a sort of delirium that wants to abolish everything that exists." Mourey was much more open during the following decades; he was commissioned by the Ministry of Fine Arts from 1895 onwards, and served as a link between the emerging English, Italian, Russian and Parisian

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

, and then saluted the advent of the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style. He wrote for catalogs of the Bing gallery and the Maison moderne, defended

Albert Besnard Paul-Albert Besnard (2 June 1849 – 4 December 1934) was a French painter and printmaker. Biography Besnard was born in Paris and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, studied with Jean Bremond and was influenced by Alexandre Cabanel. He wo ...

, ,

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

Edmond Aman-Jean Edmond Aman-Jean (13 January 1858, Chevry-Cossigny – 25 January 1936, Paris) was a French symbolist painter, who co-founded the Salon des Tuileries in 1923. Life His father was the owner and operator of an industrial lime kiln. He had hi ...

Edgar Chahine Edgar Chahine ( hy, Էդգար Պետրոսի Շահին: 31 October 1874, in Vienna – 18 March 1947, in Paris) was a French painter, engraver, and illustrator of Armenian descent. Biography Edgar Chahine was born in Vienna but moved to Cons ...

, etc. Basically, this versatile writer was a promoter in the hexagon of the Pre-Raphaelites and the

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

movement. Erecting the latter as a model, with a tendency to idealize his supposed success, Mourey argued for an art with a social vocation .. As a number of his contemporaries, and as an art for all, his ideas found one of their extensions in 1904–1905 in the ephemeral magazine ''Les Arts de la vie,'' which he created and directed t Larousse He thus evoked this "bankruptcy of modern decorative art" in France, for a production he considered to be elitist, not having been able to show a real agreement between artists and manufacturers, unlike, according to him, the English or German achievements ''. Between 1888 and 1905, he held a correspondence with

Jean Lorrain Jean Lorrain (9 August 1855 in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime – 30 June 1906), born Paul Alexandre Martin Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school. Lorrain was a dedicated disciple of dandyism and spent much of his time amongs ...

in which the two men sometimes showed an appalling cruelty to their contemporaries. From 1891, he wanted to become a playwright with ''Lawn-tennis'', a

one-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

created at the Théâtre Antoine, and then in 1893 he wrote with Paul Adam ''Automne'', a three-act drama, which was banned by censorship on 3 February, and which gave rise to a stormy session in the Chamber of Deputies on 6 March 1893 with the intervention of

Maurice Barrès Auguste-Maurice Barrès (; 19 August 1862 – 4 December 1923) was a French novelist, journalist and politician. Spending some time in Italy, he became a figure in French literature with the release of his work ''The Cult of the Self'' in 1888. ...

: The latter, deputy of Nancy, then opposed the interior minister

Charles Dupuy Charles Alexandre Dupuy (; 5 November 1851 – 23 July 1923) was a French statesman, three times prime minister. Biography He was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, where his father was a minor official. After a period as a profe ...

, who asked to remove from the text everything that recalled the at

La Ricamarie La Ricamarie () is a commune in the Loire department in central France. It is situated between the city of Saint-Etienne and the town of Firminy. Population Twin towns La Ricamarie is twinned with: * Pyskowice, Poland, since 1998 See also ...

: in 1869, in the coalfield of Saint-Etienne, where the troops fired on the strikers. With

Armand Dayot Armand Dayot, (19 October 1851 – 2 October 1934), was a French art critic, art historian and leftist politician. He was born in Paimpol, Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany. He founded the journal ''L'Art et les artistes'' and the Breton liberal organisa ...

he drew attention to the 18th-century

English school of painting English art is the body of visual arts made in England. England has Europe's earliest and northernmost ice-age cave art. Prehistoric art in England largely corresponds with art made elsewhere in contemporary Britain, but early medieval Anglo-Sa ...

, then partly forgotten. In 1900, he founded the ''Société nouvelle de peintres et de sculpteurs'' ("New Society of Painters and Sculptors") with French, German and English artists, which he presided until 1907; The Paris headquarters was located at

Georges Petit Georges Petit (11 March 1856 – 12 May 1920) was a French art dealer, a key figure in the Paris art world and an important promoter and cultivator of Impressionist artists. Early career Petit was the son of François Petit, who founded the f ...

's gallery. In 1913, he was made chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, under the patronage of

Charles Plumet Charles Plumet (17 May 1861 – 15 April 1928) was a French architect, decorator and ceramist. Life Charles Plumet was born in 1861. He became an architect and designed buildings in medieval and early French Renaissance styles. He collaborated wi ...

. After the war, he became inspector of national museums. During his career as a critic, Gabriel Mourey wrote for many newspapers, such as ''

Gil Blas ''Gil Blas'' (french: L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane ) is a picaresque novel by Alain-René Lesage published between 1715 and 1735. It was highly popular, and was translated several times into English, most notably as The Adventures of G ...

'', ''

Le Journal ''Le Journal'' (The Journal) was a Paris daily newspaper published from 1892 to 1944 in a small, four-page format. Background It was founded and edited by Fernand Arthur Pierre Xau until 1899. It was bought and managed by the family of Henri ...

'' (1911), '' The Studio'', the ', ''

L'Illustration ''L'Illustration'' was a weekly French language, French newspaper published in Paris from 1843 to 1944. It was founded by Édouard Charton with the first issue published on 4 March 1843, it became the first illustrated newspaper in France then, a ...

'', the ''

Revue de Paris ''Revue de Paris'' was a French literary magazine founded in 1829 by Louis-Désiré Véron. After two years Veron left the magazine to head the Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded ...

''... He was chief editor of the ' magazine. One of his most popular translations was ''

The Book of Tea ''A Japanese Harmony of Art, Culture, and the Simple Life'' (1906) by Okakura Kakuzō (1906) is a long essay linking the role of ''chadō'' (''teaism'') to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of Japanese life and protesting Western caricatures of ...

'' by

Okakura Kakuzō (also known as 岡倉天心 Okakura Tenshin) was a Japanese scholar and art critic who in the era of Meiji- Restoration reform defended traditional forms, customs and beliefs. Outside Japan, he is chiefly renowned for '' The Book of Tea: A Jap ...

. Mourey died 10 February 1943 in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

Mourey and Debussy

Composed in 1913, as a short piece for solo flute after ''Psyché'', a dramatic poem in three acts by Gabriel Mourey, ''

Syrinx In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx (Greek Σύριγξ) was a nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Pursued by the amorous god Pan, she ran to a river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, sh ...

'', the fruit of this friendship, remains the only composition of Debussy that was completed in the framework of their many projects. A contributor to the Revue wagnérienne, Mourey had many friends in common with Debussy and was the intermediary between him and Gabriele D’Annunzio for ''

Le Martyre de saint Sébastien ''Le Martyre de saint Sébastien'' is a five-act musical mystery play on the subject of Saint Sebastian, with a text written in 1911 by the Italian author Gabriele D'Annunzio and incidental music by the French composer Claude Debussy (L.124). Ba ...

''. Projects in cooperation with Debussy which never realised were: ''L’Embarquement pour ailleurs, commentaire symphonique'', 1891; ''Histoire de Tristan, drame lyrique'',For the reasons and circumstances of this project and its failure, rea
« Claude Debussy, auteur de 12 opéras — II — L'histoire de Tristan »
by David Le Marrec, in ''Opera critiques''. 1907–09 ; ''Huon de Bordeaux'', 1909 ; ''Le Chat botté, d'après Jean de La Fontaine'', 1909 ; ''Le Marchand de rêves'' , 1909.

Works

Poetry

* ''Voix éparses...'', Paris, Librairie des bibliophiles, 1883. * ''Flammes mortes'', Paris, C. Dalou, 1888. * ''L'Embarquement pour ailleurs'', Paris, , 1890, reworked reprint: H. Simonis Empis, 1893. * ''Le Miroir : poèmes'', Paris, Société du Mercure de France, 1908. * ''Le Chant du renouveau, poèmes de guerre'', Paris, Berger-Levrault, 1916. * ''La gloire de Saint-Marc : vingt-trois gravures en couleurs d'après les aquarelles de Augusto Sezanne'', poems in prose, Paris, Plon, 1920. * ''L'Oreiller des fièvres et les chansons de Leïla'', adorned with engravings on wood by Augustin Carrera, Librairie de France, 1922. * ''Marie-Madeleine à la

Sainte-Baume The Sainte-Baume ( Provençal: ''Massís de la Santa Bauma'' according to classical orthography and ''La Santo Baumo'' according to mistralian orthography) is a mountain ridge spreading between the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône and Var in So ...

'', poem decorated with 16th century woodcut, Aix-en-Provence, éditions d'art de la revue ''Le Feu'', 1925.

Translations

* ''Poèmes complets by

'', preface by

, Paris, C. Dalou, 1889. Reissue, preceded by a letter from John H. Ingram and followed by ''La Philosophie de la composition'', and biographical and bibliographic notes, Paris, Mercure de France, 1910. * ''Poèmes et ballades d'

'', notes by

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

, Paris, Albert Savine, 1891. * ''Chants d'avant l'aube de Swinburne'', Paris, P.-V. Stock, 1909. * ''

'' by

, translated from English, Paris, Delpeuch, 1927, reprint by Payot, 1931 �
Read online
* Jacques Zoubaloff, ''Politian, comte de Leicester'', incidental music for Edgar Poe's drama, translation by Gabriel Mourey, score piano and singing, Paris, Maurice Sénart, 1927.

Director of publication

* ''Mireille, revue des poètes marseillais'' with Raoul Russel, Marseille rue Sainte, 1884 �
Read online
* ''Les Arts de la vie paraissant sous la direction de Gabriel Mourey'', Paris, Larousse, 1904-1905 �
Read online

Essays and prefaces

* ''Les Arts de la vie et le règne de la laideur'', Paris, Paul Ollendorff, 1890, reissued 1899. * ''Passé le Détroit, la vie et l'art à Londres'', Paris, Paul Ollendorff, 1895. * ''Des hommes devant la nature et la vie'', Paris, P. Ollendorff / Société d'éditions littéraires et artistiques, 1902. 'Comprend des notes sur Auguste Rodin, Helleu, Le Sidaner, Steinlen, E. Claus, P. Renouard, Ch. Cottet, J. W. Alexander, J.-F. Raffaelli, F. Thaulow, G. La Touche, A. Baertsoen, Aman-Jean, A. Lepère. * ''La Maison moderne. Documents sur l'art industriel au vingtième siècle : reproductions photographiques des principales œuvres des collaborateurs de La Maison moderne'', with nine etchings by

Félix Vallotton Félix Édouard Vallotton (; December 28, 1865December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as . He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portra ...

, Paris, Édition de La Maison moderne, 1901. * Préface à ''Documents décoratifs : panneaux décoratifs, études des applications de fleurs, papier peints, frises, vitraux, orfévrerie''by

Alfons Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decora ...

, Paris, Librairie centrale des beaux-arts, . 1902 ? * ''Œuvres de Felix Borchardt exposées à l'Art nouveau Bing'', Paris, April 1902. * ''Poèmes arméniens anciens et modernes traduits par Archag Tchobanian et précédés d'une étude de Gabriel Mourey sur la poésie et l'art arméniens'', Paris, A. Charles, 1902. * ''

Ignacio Zuloaga Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (July 26, 1870October 31, 1945) was a Spanish painter, born in Eibar (Guipuzcoa), near the monastery of Loyola. Family He was the son of metalworker and damascener Plácido Zuloaga and grandson of the organizer and d ...

'', Paris, Manzi & Joyant, 1905. * ''

'', with 100 reproductions out of text including nine in color and one original etching, Paris, H. Davoust, 1905. * ''

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

: Biographie critique'', Paris, Henri Laurens, 1906. * ''Fêtes foraines de Paris'', etchings by

, Paris, P. Renouard, 1906. Reprint with 72 drawings by François Quelvée, Paris, André Delpeuch, 1927. * ''Regards sur l'âme ombrienne'', .p., 1907 * '' D.-G. Rossetti et les Préraphaélites anglais : biographies critiques'', Paris, Henri Laurens, 1909. * with

, ''Anglaises et Françaises. Écoles du XVIIIe siècle'', Paris, .n. 1909. * Preface to ''Exposition de peintures et d’eaux-fortes de Philip Zilcken'', Paris, Galérie d’art décoratif, 1911. * ''Le village dans la pinède :

Mazargues Mazargues is a former village and now a neighbourhood of the 9th arrondissement in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. History Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné (1646–1705), a French aristocrat, had a bastide in Mazargues. On February 5, 1 ...

(Bouches-du-Rhône)'', Paris, Mercure de France, 1911. * ''Exposition Daniel Vierge, 11 janvier-12 février 1912'', Paris, Musée des arts décoratif, 1912. * ''Exposition

Mathurin Méheut Mathurin Méheut (21 May 1882 – 22 February 1958) was a French painter, ceramist, engraver, and etcher best known for his depictions of Breton scenes, the sea, and nature. Méheut was born into a family of artisans in Lamballe, Brittany, and ap ...

: la mer, faune et flore, oeuvres diverses, du 28 octobre au 24 décembre 1913'', Paris, Musée des arts décoratifs, 913 * ''Propos sur les beautés du temps présent'', Paris, Ollendorff, 1913. * ''La Guerre devant le palais : Compiègne 1914'', Paris, P. Ollendorff, 1915. * ''Essai sur l'art décoratif français moderne'', Paris, Librairie Ollendorff, 1921. * ''Histoire générale de l'art français de la Révolution à nos jours'', Paris, Librairie de France, 1922.Translated in English: ''French art in the XIX century'', London, The Studio Ltd., 1928. * ''La Vérité sur la cour des métiers : Ce qu'elle est ... aurait du être ... pouvait être'', Paris, Librairie de France, 1925. * Preface to ''La Vie et les œuvres de quelques grands saints'' by Émile Baumann, Paris, Librairie de France, 1926. * ''Eugène Delacroix'', with 24 phototypies, Paris, Librairie de France, 1927. * '' François Quelvée'', Paris, éditions de la N.R.F, 1928. * ''La Peinture anglaise du XVIIIe siècle'', Paris, G. Van Oest, 1928. * ''Le Livre des fêtes françaises'', Paris, Librairie de France, 1930. * ''

Georges Dufrénoy Georges Dufrénoy (June 20, 1870December 9, 1943) was a French post-Impressionist painter associated with Fauvism. Biography He was born in Thiais, France. His family lived at 2 Place des Vosges in Paris in a historic 17th-century building in ...

'', Paris, Georges Crès,

930 Year 930 ( CMXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * 17 June (traditional date) – The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is established at ...

* Preface to '' Serge Yourievitch'' with 24 phototypes, Paris, Librairie de France, 930? * ''Tableau de l'art français des origines à nos jours'', Tome I à IV, Paris, Delagrave, 1932–1938. * '' Achille Ouvré'', .l.: .n.

Theatre and librettos

* ''Lawn-tennis, pièce en un acte'', with a letter by

André Antoine André Antoine (31 January 185823 October 1943) was a French actor, theatre manager, film director, author, and critic who is considered the father of modern mise en scène in France. Biography André Antoine was a clerk at the Paris Gas Utilit ...

, Paris, Tresse and Stock, 1891. * with Paul Adam, ''L'Automne : drame en trois actes''; Prohibited by censorship on 3 February 1893, Paris, E. Kolb, 1893. * ''Trois cœurs, pièce en un acte'', Paris, P.-V. Stock, premiered at Théâtre de l'Odéon on 5 April 1897. * ''Psyché : poème dramatique en trois actes'', Paris, Mercure de France, 1913. * ''Guillaume d'Orange : geste en cinq actes et six tableaux'', Paris, P. Ollendorff, 1914. * ''Daphnis, poème dramatique en un acte'', Paris, Librairie de France, 1925.

Novels and short stories

* ''Monada'', Paris, P. Ollendorff, 1894. * ''Les brisants'', Paris, P. Ollendorff, 1896. * ''L'Œuvre nuptiale'', Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1896. * ''Cœurs en détresse'', Paris, P. Ollendorff, 1898. * ''1 heure : la Bourse'', collection Beltrand and Dété, series « Les minutes parisiennes », illustrated by , Paris, P. Ollendorff, 1899 �
on Gallica
* ''Jeux passionnés'', Paris, P. Ollendorff, 1901. * ''Sainte Douceline, béguine de Provence : 1214-1274'', illustrated by , Paris, éditions du Monde nouveau, 1922. * ''L'Amateur de fantômes'', Paris, Mercure de France, 1937.

References

Bibliography

* « Gabriel Mourey », in Claude Schvalberg (direction), ''Dictionnaire de la critique d'art à Paris, 1890-1969'', Rennes, Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2014, (pp. 266–267) .

External links

''Le mythe de Psyché''
Paris Sorbonne. D’Apulée à M. Gabriel Mourey
Gabriel Mourey
at

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Ga ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mourey, Gabriel 1865 births 1943 deaths Writers from Marseille 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists English–French translators French art critics 19th-century French poets 20th-century French poets 19th-century French essayists 20th-century French essayists 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 19th-century translators