"Everything in the world exists to end up as a book."

-Stéphane Mallarmé

Portrait of Mallarmé, by Manet (1876)

“Everything in the world exists to end up in a book.” It’s a wonderfully provocative maxim from the French author Mallarmé. There are many different ways to interpret it. But for me it has always been a lesson about the importance of having an intellectual or artistic project. Which is to say, when you have a certain ‘lens’ through which you can filter reality, then suddenly the world will begin to speak to you in new and surprising ways.

For example, let’s say you go out with a camera and your goal is to take one picture every day. Suddenly you’ll start looking at the world around you differently. Everything suddenly becomes an object to be recorded, a potential photograph. It is in this precise sense that Susan Sontag, in her writing on photography, joked that in today’s world Mallarmé’s maxim should be adapted to “Everything exists to be photographed”.

Mallarmé was pointing towards what might be called a distinctly modern sensibility, namely the idea that the world contains images, moments, and ideas to be captured by the perceptive artist. This notion of the creative as someone “who notices” became a key feature of 19th century artistic movements, be it literary realism or plein air painting. For these artists reality existed to serve them, not the other way around. It was a complete turnaround from how art had traditionally been viewed. Instead of seeing the artist as a craftsman who created realistic depictions (or copies, to put it in Plato’s derisive terms), the artist was someone who uses the world around him as a starting point for his own impressions and manipulations. It was the dawn of the artist as an unreliable narrator.

Mallarmé himself was well aware of the powerful ways in which photography allowed artists to insinuate themselves, essentially becoming actors in their own lives. Consider, for example, this incredible photograph (below), of Renoir and Mallarmé, taken at home by the artist Degas

Mallarmé is on the right, his left hand casually thrown into his pocket, and looking down in a suitably cool posture (100 years before James Dean would strike a similar pose). Renoir looks directly at the camera. If they’d had social media (and thank God they didn’t), this is likely how they would have wanted to be seen: artsy, cool, aloof, with a hint of sensuality. In the reflection of the mirror we can see the figure of Degas, his head obscured by the flash, and a group of women sitting in the background.

These are ‘modern’ artists in that they would like to be seen as individuals who have a unique perspective on reality. The artist as ‘rockstar’, as it were. Consider, for example, Degas’ equally striking self-portrait (also a photograph).

We see Degas sitting against a black backdrop, his chin resting in his right hand, as he pensively looks into the distance. In the background, a sculpture of a female nude appears to be floating in space, almost like a thought-bubble. Degas appears to be contemplating the “idea” of woman. It’s an utterly sensational photograph, unlike any painted portrait we have of Degas. And it makes sense that this is how he wanted to be seen (let’s not forget that he carefully staged this photograph). Unlike his arch-rival Manet, who was a society figure and enjoyed being in the public eye, Degas was a recluse, who lived only for his Art. He detested the idea that art could make you popular. He was an early forerunner of what would become the notion of ‘art-for-art’s sake’. And yet in this photograph we can detect a hint of vanity. It is as if Degas is saying, “while you are out there partying, I am at home contemplating art.”

Not only are these photos fascinating historic artifacts in their own right, they also tell us something about the emerging self-consciousness of the modern artist. The modern artist saw himself as an outsider, as someone with a unique ability to depict the world in a certain way. It is, if you will, the emergence of the idea that the artist is someone who represents a specific sensibility, a personal style, and a distinct “take” on reality.

Of course artists had been portraying themselves ‘as artists’ for a long time before the camera was invented. Consider, for example, this comedic self-portrait by a young Rembrandt, in which he paints himself in oriental attire, with a somewhat reluctant poodle in the foreground (the dog was added later, as a comedic touch to make the portrait even stranger). This is Rembrandt essentially making fun of artists who wanted to make themselves look bigger and more important than they actually were.

Personally, I like to think that Mallarmé’s quote (“everything exists in order to end up as a book”) is also a gentle reminder that all of us can benefit from looking at the world with an artistic eye. Instead of taking reality for granted, we can choose to see it as an opportunity for creativity. For example, you could take a notebook with you to sketch something in your neighborhood. You could write down something that you saw and want to remember, etc. It’s essentially a way of saying that to be fully human is to exercise your imagination, and to look around you with wonder. And that’s when everything becomes interesting. Instead of just passively taking in the world, you start to make new connections. Everything becomes a source of inspiration, and in so doing, the world comes alive and reveals itself as resplendent and full of wonder.

This, then, is perhaps what it means to be an artist: to see the world as something to be engaged with both critically and creatively. In that sense the world “exists” for us to record it, and in so doing, to write or paint ourselves into existence as well.

Julian

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