Là-Bas · Theme
Art and the Artist
How Là-Bas develops Art and the Artist.
The novel critiques the literary world, the commercialization of art, and the isolation of the artist, with Durtal rejecting modern literary circles and seeking a more profound, stylistically rich, and spiritually engaged form of expression.
Where it surfaces
- I
Durtal's ideal of art is found in the Primitives and Grünewald, who achieve a fusion of earthly detail and spiritual transcendence, contrasting with the naturalists' focus on the mundane.
- II
Durtal's rejection of naturalism and his search for a more spiritual, less vulgar art form.
- Chapter IV
Gilles de Rais is depicted as a refined aesthete and patron of the arts, whose love of beauty coexists with his monstrous crimes.
- Chapter XII
Durtal's theory of Pygmalionism explores the artist's love for his own creation, blurring lines between art, desire, and sin.
- XVI
Durtal and Des Hermies discuss the artist's isolation from the public and the degradation of literature.