GAUTIER, THÉOPHILE ( b. Tarbes, France, 31st Aug 1811; d. Neuilly-Sur-Seine 23rd Dec 1872 )
Gautier's early poetry and prose tended to deal with macabre or fantastic subjects. His later work reveals a growing fascination with form and beauty. This has caused him to be called a forerunner of the Parnassian school of literature, which stressed the importance of a finely-honed style.
It was Gautier who coined the slogan "l'art pour l'art" (art for art's sake). He believed that beauty was only attained through the worship of form and that no considerations, moral, political, or social should interfere with his pursuit of that ideal. His sophisticated concern for form is evident in the delicate balancing of sounds and images which so delighted the composer Berlioz. The musicality and the evocative qualities of Villanelle are typical of Gautier's style, both in his short pieces and the longer, narrative poems which he published between 1833 and 1852.
