Gustave Kahn (21 December 1859, in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

– 5 September 1936, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

and art critic. He was also active, via publishing and essay-writing, in defining Symbolism and distinguishing it from the

Decadent Movement The Decadent movement (Fr. ''décadence'', “decay”) was a late-19th-century artistic and literary movement, centered in Western Europe, that followed an aesthetic ideology of excess and artificiality. The Decadent movement first flourishe ...

Personal life

Kahn was a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

from

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

. He chose sides with

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

in the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

. His wife Elizabeth converted to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

as a protest against

anti-semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, changing her name to Rachel.

Poetry

Kahn claimed to have invented the term vers libre, or

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Defi ...

. Lucie-Smith, Edward. (1972) ''Symbolist Art''. London:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, p. 58. He was in any case one of the form's first European exponents. His principal publications include ''Les Palais nomades'' (1887), ''Domaine de fée'' (1895), and ''Le Livre d'images'' (1897). He also made a valuable contribution to the movement's history with his book ''Symbolistes et décadents'' (1902).

Other work

In addition to his poems, Kahn was a public

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator o ...

who wrote

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

s, plays, and

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...

. He was also extremely influential as a publisher of symbolist writing. Together with

Félix Fénéon Félix Fénéon (; 22 June 1861 – 29 February 1944) was a French art critic, gallery director, writer and anarchist during the late 19th century and early 20th century. He coined the term ''Neo-Impressionism'' in 1886 to identify a group of a ...

and Leo d'Orfer, both critics, Kahn founded and then directed ''La Vogue'' in 1886. Through that magazine, Kahn and his partners were able to influence the careers of developing decadent writers such as Jules Laforgue, as well as to inject new life into the careers of established figures such as

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...

, whose '' Les Illuminations'' manuscript was published in its pages. Together with

Jean Moréas Jean Moréas (; born Ioannis A. Papadiamantopoulos, Ιωάννης Α. Παπαδιαμαντόπουλος; 15 April 1856 – 31 March 1910), was a Greek poet, essayist, and art critic, who wrote mostly in the French language but also in Greek du ...

, he also founded and directed ''Le Symboliste'', a short-lived journal intended as a counter-point to Anatole Bajule's ''Le Décadent'', which they viewed as a false and exploitative publication that represented a vain, shallow mockery of symbolist thought. He played a key role in a number of other periodicals, including ''La Revue Indépendante'', ''La Revue Blanche'' and '' Le Mercure de France''. He was also an art critic and collector who stayed current with developments in

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

until his death. He wrote a widely-read obituary for neo-impressionist painter

Georges Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough su ...

, in which he suggested a symbolist approach to interpreting the artist's work. He also played a role in a number of debates on public issues, including

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

, and

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

. In the 1920s he was (head)editor of '' Menorah'', a Jewish bimonthly magazine which folded in 1933. In 1903, American composer Charles Loeffler set four of Kahn's poems to music for piano and voice. The poems were from ''Les Palais Nomades'': Timbres Oublies, Adieu Pour Jamais, Les Soirs d'Automne, and Les Paons. After his death, his manuscripts were placed in the collection of the library of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Quotation

:::Les Paons :Se penchant vers les dahlias, :Des paons cabraient des rosaces lunaires, :L'assouplissement des branches vénère :Son pâle visage aux mourants dahlias. : Elle écoute au loin les brèves musiques : Nuit claire aux ramures d'accords, : Et la lassitude a bercé son corps : Au rythme odorant des pures musiques. : Les paons ont dressé la rampe ocellée : Pour la descente de ses yeux vers le tapis : De choses et de sens : Qui va vers l'horizon, parure vermiculée : De son corps alangui. : En l'âme se tapit : le flou désir molli de récits et d'encens.

Principal works

* ''Palais nomades'' (1887) * ''Les Chansons d'amant'' (1891) * ''Domaine de fée'' (1895) * ''Le Roi fou'' (1896) * ''La Pluie et le beau temps ''(1896) * ''Limbes de lumières'' (1897) * ''Le Livre d'images'' (1897) * ''Premiers poèmes'' (1897) * ''Le Conte de l'or et du silence'' (1898) translated by

Brian Stableford Brian Michael Stableford (born 25 July 1948) is a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped ...

as ''The Tale of Gold and Silence'' (2011) * ''Les Petites Ames pressées'' (1898) * ''Le Cirque solaire'' (1898) translated into English by Sam Kunkel as ''The Solar Circus'' ( First To Knock, 2023) * ''Les Fleurs de la passion'' (1900) * ''L'Adultère sentimental'' (1902) * ''Symbolistes et décadents'' (1902) * ''Odes de la "Raison"'' (1902 réédité aux Editions du Fourneau 1995) * ''Contes hollandais'' (1903) * ''La Femme dans la caricature française'' (1907) * ''Contes hollandais'' (deuxième série) (1908) * ''La Pépinière du Luxembourg'' (1923) * ''L'Aube enamourée'' (1925) * ''Mourle'' (1925) * ''Silhouettes littéraires'' (1925) * ''La Childebert'' (1926) * ''Contes juifs'' (1926 réédité chez "Les Introuvables" 1977) * ''Images bibliques'' (1929) * ''Terre d'Israël'' (1933)

References

External links

* *
Poems by Gustave Kahn
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Gustave 1859 births 1936 deaths Writers from Metz Symbolist poets French art critics French poets Jewish poets French male poets 19th-century French Jews French male non-fiction writers