Jonathan Pederson
Professor Shana Klein
Modern Art History 210
28 September 2015

Charles Baudelaire's The Painter of the Modern Life: Character of Modern Art

Charles Baudelaire discusses the character of a modern artist through developing a hypothetic artist, M. C.G., and describing his life. The first core value Baudelaire imbues in M. G. C. is originality. A popular concept in the art world, as best addressed by How to Read Literature like a Professor, strings to the idea that former art influences all new art. Each work of art does one of two things. Either the artist applies the conventions and ideas of former art or an artist attempts to break away from those conventions, which employs an indirect influence to the new art. M. G. breaks away from former art through not caring about former art. This encourages complete originality by detaching any influence from former artists.

The second and most important distinction M. C. G. holds in the modern world, as opposed to the pre-modern world, is the separation of critical value. M. G. breaks from appealing to critics. Baudelaire implies that modern art, and by extension true modern art, derives from the soul and not appeals to others. Baudelaire explains that others are critics, but this also implies patrons. This attitude encourages art as an expression of oneself, which explains why M. G. was self-taught at age 42. Baudelaire’s best emphasizes this, “Genius is no more than childhood recaptured at will, childhood equipped now with man's physical means to express itself, and with the analytical mind that enables it to bring order into the sum of experience, involuntarily amassed.” M.G. enables himself to be a genius by his experiences and young mind.

The third distinction Baudelaire makes, which relates an artist to the world best, is the artist’s anonymity. M.G. specifically refuses to sign his name on the art. This helps two-fold; on the one hand, it separates the artist from the art. This enables any viewer to feel the expression M.G. portrays. Relatability is key in the modern artist’s life, and thereby he must understand the world himself. Baudelaire encourages this, “By 'man of the world', I mean a man of the whole world, a man who understands the world and the mysterious and legitimate reasons behind all its customs.” On the other hand, anonymity helps legitimize the artist as a modern artist. One of the struggles in a modern world is the battle against over-consumerism and greedy capitalism. Anonymity fully allows an artist to detach himself fully from this and authenticates his art as true modern art. M.C.G., like any modern artist, must not only make modern art, but also live the modern artistic life.