La « fusion des arts » et la « recherche de la modernité ». L'introduction en Bohême d'un chapitre de la critique d'art française : Camille Mauclair et sa relation à F. X. Šalda et William Ritter

“The Fusion of the Arts” and the “Search for Modernity” : the introduction in Bohemia of a chapter of French art criticism : Camille Mauclair and His Relationship with F. X. Šalda and William Ritter The names of two French-speaking art critics appear on the artistic scene of the Czech countries at the turn of the century: the first is William Ritter (1867-1955), the Swiss critic who commented on Czech art in French periodicals, and the second one is the Frenchman Camille Mauclair (1872-1945), who wrote articles on French art for two Czech periodicals, and in particular for “Volné směry”, the mouthpiece of the artistic society Mánes. The critic F. X. Šalda seems to deserve the credit for introducing of the works of Mauclair in Prague, in particular his plan for a unified aesthetics and art criticism suggested in his collection of articles “Les Idées vivantes” [Living Ideas], and notably in the last chapter "L'identité et la fusion des arts" ["The Identity and fusion of the Arts"], and in his novel “La Ville lumière” [The City of Light] (both published in 1904). However, William Ritter was certainly the one who unwittingly acted as a go-between between Volné směry and Mauclair, strengthening the relationship that already existed between Rodin and Élémir Bourges. A study of this relationship shows how the complicity existing between the two critics gave way to a certain competitiveness. At the same time they shared a loathing for the form of modern art starting to be influential in Prague, as expressed by Ritter in 1906 in “Études d'art étranger” [Studies in Foreign Art] (1906) and by Mauclair in “Les Trois crises de l'art actuel” [The Three Crises in Contemporary Art].