Esquisse D’incomplétude: Baudelaire, Guys and Modern Beauty

Le dessin est un projet de l’esprit, comme l’indique?bien l’orthographe de nos pères qui écrivaient dessein.Charles Blanc

Abstract

Although some attention has been paid to Baudelaire’s art criticism and to his theory of modern beauty, there has been surpringly little attempt to identify or elaborate on the aesthetic that leads him to select Guys as the Painter of Modern Life. This article examines Baudelaire’s definitions of modern beauty and his own poetic practice, setting these alongside the description of Guy’s work and working method in order to demonstrate that a key aspect of that aesthetic is a desired unfinishedness. Directly related to spontaneity, the non finito also engages the spectator in a speculative hermeneutic process that Baudelaire describes as ‘legendary translation’.