Christa Giles

210
because they were suggestive. Ultimately, however, he
concluded that they ˝will not do.˝ 536 He felt that the
Impressionists were merely photographic, capturing
atmospheric effects but with a slavish realism. Wilde
exalted, instead, what he called the ˝nobler vision of the
soul˝ over such a mere ˝physical vision.˝ 537 After seeing an
Impressionist exhibition Redon came to an analogous
conclusion, finding this mode of painting to be:
très légitime quand il s’applique surtout a la
représentation des choses extérieures sous le
plein-air du ciel. Je ne crois pas que tout ce
qui palpite sous le front d’un homme qui
s’écoute et se recueille, je ne crois pas que la
pensée prise pour ce qu’elle est en elle-même,
ait à gagner beaucoup dans ce parti-pris de ne
considérer que ce qui se passe au dehors de
nos demeures. L’expression de la vie ne peut
différemment paraître que dans le clairobscur.
Les penseurs aiment l’ombre… 538
Similarly, Wilde admired the Impressionists but advocated
a more subjective vision, and consequently felt that they
were too limited in their approach. Huysmans, in his
review of L’éxposition des Indépendants in 1880, praises
some aspects of the Impressionists’ work, particularly their
use of light; but is, nevertheless, much stronger than Wilde