Christa Giles

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in his overall denunciation of the artists. And although he
seems to have appreciated what they were trying to achieve
technically, he rejected the end result. In a rather bizarre
passage in L’Art moderne, 539 he concludes that in the process
of sitting outside attempting to paint accurate outdoor
paintings, the Impressionists must have strained their eyes,
and consequently their painting of colour altered. He
attributes this change in perception to problems with
nerves, and refers to Charcot’s work with patients suffering
from hysterical conditions. The latter apparently noted that
his patients’ perception of colour often altered due to
nervous illnesses. Huysmans, therefore, takes what seems
to be an extremely odd pseudo-scientific tack in his
assessment of the Impressionists. However, if one takes
into account Huysmans’ interest in psychology, in
particular in relation to the temperament of the artist, his
conclusion may seem less ridiculous today. For as we have
seen, both Huysmans and Wilde accepted the prevalent
notion that the artist has extremely delicate and finely
tuned sensibility and nerves, and certainly neurosis and
disease and abnormality were often associated with genius
at the time. This evaluation of the Impressionists is not
entirely negative; it might even be said to be almost
complimentary. By 1882 his perception of Impressionism as