Felix Feneon (1861-1944) was a key figure in the cultural and intellectual life of the Belle epoque. His position as the indispensable editorial secretary of the Revue blanche from 1894 until it ceased publication in 1903-as well as his work as critic and editor earlier and later in his career (promoter of symbolism and post-impressionism, friend and publisher of Mallarme, unfailing ally of Seurat, regular contributor to anarchist journals)-made him a kind of hub for late nineteenth-century culture and politics in France. He was also an enigma: both well known and unknown. Jean Paulhan considered him a unique embodiment of that ultra-rare figure, "le critique." In this article, the author describes his commitments, his activities, and his singular style, the better to try out a Feneon perspective on a number of general questions such as relations between art and politics, high culture and labor, refinement and roughness, distinction and indifference.
