Jean Baptiste Gustave Planche (16 February 1808 – 18 September 1857) was a French art and literary critic.

Life and career

Already in his time as a medical student, Planche frequented artistic circles. This did nothing to promote the success of his studies. Around 1830, Planche was introduced by the famous writer

Alfred de Vigny Alfred Victor, Comte de Vigny (27 March 1797 – 17 September 1863) was a French poet and early French Romanticist. He also produced novels, plays, and translations of Shakespeare. Biography Vigny was born in Loches (a town to which he never re ...

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, director of the ''

Revue des deux mondes The ''Revue des deux Mondes'' (, ''Review of the Two Worlds'') is a monthly French-language literary, cultural and current affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829. According to its website, "it is today the place for debates a ...

'', and contributed to this journal until 1840. In that year, his father, a rich apothecary, died, and over the few years, Planche dedicated himself to spending his 80,000 franc inheritance in Italy, his Salon reviews at the

Revue des Deux Mondes The ''Revue des deux Mondes'' (, ''Review of the Two Worlds'') is a monthly French-language literary, cultural and current affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829. According to its website, "it is today the place for debates a ...

taken over by Louis Peisse from 1841.Tabarant, ''La Vie Artistique au Temps de Baudelaire'', p. 51 He resumed his connection with the journal in 1846, a collaboration which was only terminated by his death in 1857, at the age of 49. Planche was an honest critic and refused to accept a position from

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

for fear of compromising his

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

. A fervent admirer of

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

and Alfred de Vigny, he was contemptuous of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

as a playwright. He characterized Hugo's earlier dramas as

ode An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...

s (in allusion to Hugo's book of poetry 'Odes et Ballades'), those following the drama ''

Le Roi s'amuse ''Le roi s'amuse'' (; literally, ''The King Amuses Himself'' or ''The King Has Fun'') is a French play in five acts written by Victor Hugo. First performed on 22 November 1832 but banned by the government after one evening, the play was used for G ...

'' as

antitheses Antithesis (Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together f ...

(because their characters were torn apart by conflicting tendencies), and the later ones as nothing but

spectacle In general, spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. Derived in Middle English from c. 1340 as "specially prepared or arranged display" it was borrowed from Old French ''spectacle'', itself a reflection of the ...

. His critical papers were collected under the titles: ''Portraits littéraires'' (1836-1849); ''Nouveaux portraits littéraires'' (1854); and his

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is quest ...

s in ''Études sur l'école française'' (1855). In his writings, Planche made an attempt to reconcile modern and classical art and literature by highlighting their common preoccupation in depicting human passions. Planche liked to formulate his opinions in a sharp and precise manner. His style is witty.

Notes

References

* Jonker, Marijke, 'Gustave Planche, or The Romantic Side of Classicism.' ''Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide'' Vol. 1 no. 2 (2002, on Internet). ;Attribution * 1808 births 1857 deaths Writers from Paris French art historians French art critics 19th-century journalists Male journalists French male non-fiction writers 19th-century French male writers {{France-nonfiction-writer-stub