Overview

Though largely forgotten today and always discreetly behind the scenes in his own day, Félix Fénéon had an extraordinary impact on the development of modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and played a key role in the careers of leading artists from Georges Seurat and Paul Signac to Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse. The centrepiece of the exhibition will be Signac's portrait of Fénéon, Opus 217. Against the Enamel of a Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angels, Tones, and Tints, Portrait of M. Félix Fénéon in 1890 - an important recent acquisition to MoMA's collection. The exhibition and catalogue are a collaboration with the Musées d'Orsay/Orangerie (opening October, 2019) and the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac (opening May, 2019). The MoMA presentation will combine, distil and augment elements from the two complimentary Paris venues. The Quai Branly focuses primarily on Fénéon's collection of sculpture from Africa and Oceania, while the Orangerie focuses primarily on European paintings and works on paper.

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Reviews

Given the paucity of material in English, 'Felix Feneon: The Anarchist and the Avant Garde' offers a rare opportunity to broaden our awareness of this polymath.--Mark Polizzotti Bookforum

"Finalist for the Association of American Publishers's Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) Award This unusual exhibition was devoted not to an artist, but to a workaholic polymath: an anarchist. art critic, publisher, editor, collector and art dealer. He was an important early admirer of the Pointillist Georges Seurat and also of African sculpture. This catalog examines the facets of his many activities, one readable essay at a time. The result is an up-close portrait of the overlapping cultural spheres of fin de siècle Paris, seen from a new and telling perspective.--Roberta Smith ""New York Times"" A first-rate, informative catalogue with contributions by the curators and other scholars that tell us an enormous amount about the man, his various careers, affiliations, collections, predilections, and relationships with artists. It's the next best thing to sitting beside Fénéon at a dinner.--Karen Wilkin ""New Criterion"" An exemplary show devoted to an essential figure who multitasked his way through the aesthetic and political ferment of Belle Époque Paris--Roberta Smith ""New York Times"" Gathers together a great deal of the art Fénéon admired (and, often, collected), along with new essays by numerous scholars, including good essays on his political activities, his work as an art dealer, and his personal collection.--David Carrier ""Hyperallergic"" A waterslide into the lore of a staggeringly clever man who epitomizes a heyday of audacities in pell-mell, modernizing Paris. He never wrote a book. He cut a practically invisible figure in public. But, once you've made his acquaintance, he may pester any thoughts you have of the era, like something that is glimpsed and then, when you look, isn't there.--Peter Schjeldahl ""New Yorker"" ...Celebrates the fascinating Fénéon, a man of refined taste and violent convictions who combined the roles of critic, editor, collector, dealer and anarchist to become one of art history's most enigmatic heroes.--Ariella Budick ""Financial Times"" [Fénéon] was from the first an enigma, and the enigma only deepens when we consider that this art critic, literary editor, prose writer of distinction, and successful promoter of avant-garde artists at an important Parisian gallery was also an anarchist who almost certainly planted a bomb that was mean to kill people.--Jed Perl ""New York Review of Books"" Given the paucity of material in English, 'Félix Fénéon: The Anarchist and the Avant Garde' offers a rare opportunity to broaden our awareness of this polymath.--Mark Polizzotti ""Bookforum"""

A waterslide into the lore of a staggeringly clever man who epitomizes a heyday of audacities in pell-mell, modernizing Paris. He never wrote a book. He cut a practically invisible figure in public. But, once you've made his acquaintance, he may pester any thoughts you have of the era, like something that is glimpsed and then, when you look, isn't there.--Peter Schjeldahl New Yorker ...Celebrates the fascinating Feneon, a man of refined taste and violent convictions who combined the roles of critic, editor, collector, dealer and anarchist to become one of art history's most enigmatic heroes.--Ariella Budick Financial Times [Feneon] was from the first an enigma, and the enigma only deepens when we consider that this art critic, literary editor, prose writer of distinction, and successful promoter of avant-garde artists at an important Parisian gallery was also an anarchist who almost certainly planted a bomb that was mean to kill people.--Jed Perl New York Review of Books Given the paucity of material in English, 'Felix Feneon: The Anarchist and the Avant Garde' offers a rare opportunity to broaden our awareness of this polymath.--Mark Polizzotti Bookforum

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