Jean de Bosschère (

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

, 5 July 1878 –

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

, 17 January 1953) was a Belgian writer and painter. After a tormented childhood, Jean studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts from 1896 to 1900. In 1909, he published his first collection of poetry, ''Béâle-Gryne'', which he illustrated himself. The style of these illustrations, as well as his later work, was influenced by the drawings of

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...

and the spiritual works of French poet and dramatist

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

. De Bosschère was accused of Satanism in 1912, in response to his first novel, ''Dolorine et les Ombres'' (1911). In 1914, he made a trip to Italy. In 1915, after the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he fled from Belgium and went to London where he met writers such as

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

and

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer, essayist, and painter. His modernist works reflect on modernity, social alienation ...

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

, and

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

. De Bosschère illustrated numerous books in the '20s and '30s, including the poems of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

and

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

and erotic classics by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

, and

Apuleius Apuleius ( ), also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (c. 124 – after 170), was a Numidians, Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman Empire, Roman Numidia (Roman province), province ...

. At the end of 1922, he left London and lived in Albano near Rome, followed by Brussels, Paris, and Solaia near

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

in Italy, where De Bosschère worked on his many novels and poetry collections. De Bosschère settled in

La Châtre La Châtre () is a commune in the Indre department in central France. Population Personalities *It was the birthplace of Henri de Latouche and Emile Acollas. André Boillot the auto racing driver crashed here in 1932 and died from his inj ...

central France Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

in 1938. De Bosschère's work was marked by a persistent search for spirituality and a fascination with the occult and the sexual. He wrote several novels, including two autobiographies, and two anthologies of most of his poetry, however, much of his work remains unpublished. In 1952, he was awarded the Prix de la Méditerranée (Mediterranean Prize) and the .

Early life

Bosschère was born in

, the son of Charles de Bosschere and Nancy Marie Hélène Van der Stock. In 1884, the family moved to Lier, where Jean spent a tormented childhood full of affection for his disfigured sister Marthe, described in ''Marthe et l'Enragé''. In 1893, Jean attended the École d'Horticulture in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

. In 1894, the family moved to Antwerp, where Jean attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts from 1896 to 1900.

Influences

Between 1901 and 1905, he regularly visited Paris where he met writers with a passion for the occult. On 25 March 1905, he married Jeanne Fanny Alexandra Jones; they separated officially in 1923. From 1905 to 1914, he wrote regular articles for the magazine ''L'Occident'' and ''L'Art Flamand et Hollandais''. From 1907, he also wrote several monographs, especially on Flemish art. Two years later he published his first collection of poetry, ''Béâle-Gryne'', which he illustrated himself. The style of these illustrations, as well as his later work, was a version of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

heavily influenced by the drawings of

. He was also influenced by the Roman Catholic spiritual works of French poet and dramatist

, whom he saw lecture in 1909. That same year, he began a lifelong friendship with the Antwerp Symbolist poet Max Elskamp (of whom in 1914, he published a critical study), and in 1911, of the French writer Andre Suares. Around 1912, he underwent a moral and emotional crisis and distanced himself from Symbolism. He was accused of Satanism in 1912, in response to his first novel, ''Dolorine et les Ombres'' (1911). In 1914, he made a trip to Italy.

Life in exile

In 1915, after the outbreak of

, he fled from Belgium and went to London where he met writers such as

John Gould Fletcher John Gould Fletcher (January 3, 1886 – May 10, 1950) was an Imagist poet (the first Southern poet to win the Pulitzer Prize), author and authority on modern painting. He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, to a socially prominent family. After a ...

and

, and

Imagist Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized literary modernism, modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism has bee ...

poets such as

and Richard Aldington. He met several London publishers for whom he illustrated numerous books in the '20s and '30s. Among the books he illustrated were the poems of

and

. He also illustrated erotic classics by

, Strato and

. In 1920, he moved in with his beloved Vera Anne Hamilton but she died in January 1922. At the end of 1922, he left London with Élisabeth d'Ennetières, with whom he would stay for the rest of his life. They settled in Albano, near Rome. In the winter of 1925–26, they lived in Brussels, then from March 1926, in Paris, where he met

Antonin Artaud Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...

. They also stayed regularly Solaia near

in Italy, where De Bosschere worked on his many novels and poetry collections.

Mysticism and decline

The work of De Bosschere was marked by a persistent spiritual seeking in his life he developed a fascination with the occult, the spiritual, the obscure and the sexual. He gave himself the nickname "Satan" and "l'Obscure", which formed the title of ''Satan l'Obscure'' (1933), his second autobiographical novel after ''Marthe et l'Enragé''. The decade of the '30s was difficult for De Bosschere. He wrote several novels that he regarded as failures and found little illustration work due to the poor economic climate. From 1938 he lived a secluded life in

. He kept a diary from 1946 titled ''Journal d'un Rebelle Solitaire'' that has remained unreleased. He also made two anthologies of most of his poetry: ''Derniers poèmes de l'Obscure'' (1948) and ''Héritiers de l'abime'' (1950).

Awards and death

In September 1952 he received the Prix de la Méditerranée and in November the Mandat des Poètes. A year later he died at the age of 74 in the hospital in Châteauroux. Following his death several of his works were published, but much of the work, which is kept in the Archives et Musée de la littérature in Brussels, of this prolific writer has remained unpublished.

Selected bibliography

Works in English

* ''The Closed Door'', trans.

F. S. Flint Frank Stuart Flint (19 December 1885 – 28 February 1960) was an English poet and translator who was a prominent member of the Imagist group. Ford Madox Ford called him "one of the greatest men and one of the beautiful spirits of the country". L ...

. John Lane: New York, 1917. * ''Folk Tales of Flanders'' (also pub. as ''Beasts and Men''). London: William Heinemann, 1918. * ''The City Curious''. London: William Heinemann, 1920. * ''Weird Islands''. London: William Heinemann, 1921. *''The Love Books of Ovid.'' London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1925 – 24 plates. * ''Marthe and the Madman'', trans. Pierre Loving. New York: Covici-Friede, 1928. * ''Peacocks and Other Mysteries'', trans. Frederick Street Hoppin. New York: Edmond Byrne Hackett, 1941. * ''The House of Forsaken Hope'', trans. Donald MacAndrew (from ''Satan, l'Obscure''). London: Fortune Press, 1942.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bosschere, Jean De 1878 births 1953 deaths People from Uccle Belgian painters Art Nouveau painters 20th-century Belgian novelists Belgian male novelists Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni 20th-century Belgian poets Belgian male poets 20th-century Belgian male writers