Art Criticism - The State University of New York

Moreau was very much a man of his time he created pictures for the purpose of
escaping from his society. He wanted to liberate his fellow man, to create
spiritual dramas with personal and universal significance."42 While he may
have intended his paintings as an avenue of escape, he may also have intended
them to be a medium through which past traditions would survive.
Moreau openly admitted his debt to past masters, and was convinced that
only through the lessons of the past can we attain a viable future: "To be
modern does not consist of searching for something outside of everything
that has been done .. .It is on the contrary, a question of coordinating all that
the preceding ages have brought us, to make visible how our century has
accepted this heritage and how it makes use of it."43 His retreat from reality was
not self-indulgent, and he genuinely believed that he could apply the traditions
of the past to enlighten the minds of others.
Moreau did not sway from his convictions, even if it led to negative
criticism of his work, which often went against popular taste. He could not
appreciate the Realists or the Impressionists. He regarded their subject matter
as far too mundane and showing little or no trace of fantasy or the bizarre.
Maybe the still and mysterious quality of Seurat should have had some appeal,
paralleling as it did in some manner the belle inertie of which Moreau was so
fond. But Moreau rejected even Seurat's approach, because for him, "the introduction
into art of the scientific method could only lead to the death of the
imagination."44 He believed that, like the old masters, he would be appreciated
in the future, and based on these convictions avoided following fashionable
trends: "Indeed there is a past, a present, a future for an immortal and durable
work ... the false, the ephemeral is always what seems the most truly original to .
the eyes of imbeciles ... the healthy, intelligible, noble and traditional works,
even if perfectly original, will be judged ... as aged and old-fashioned: .. there is
only one method for the artist to get out of this situation. But the method is
hard, it is to wait. .. sometimes not 10 not 20 not 30 but 50, 100 years until the
deadly ridicule of special interest groups has died and passed away - then you
will be the future."45 More than 60 years after his death, Moreau's art was
finally rediscovered and given its due appreciation.
How does one explain Moreau's abstract works, which he himself hid
from his students? The swathes of vibrant color sometimes directly applied
from the tube and lacking any figurative resemblance, were more unique and
original than much of the avant-garde art of the fin-de-siecle. The belle inertie
and richesse necessaire have vanished, and we are left with the canvases of
pure color, proclaiming Moreau for what he is: a master colorist. The myriad
details of Salome or Jupiter and Semele are replaced by floating arabesques
and cl ouds reminiscent of the future work of another great mysticist, Kandinsky.
There is much debate as to the true abstract nature of these works and the real
explanation may never be known. Moreau, however, did have these paintings
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Art Criticism