Who Was Paul Alexis?

Paul Alexis was a writer and art critic. He was born in 1847 in Aix-en-Provence, the same birthplace as the artist Paul Cezanne and the writer Emile Zola. He would later develop a close friendship with them. He is well-known for his work as the biographer of Zola.

In 1869, Alexis moved to Paris where he became a part of Impressionist circles. He took part in the Impressionist gatherings at the Cafe Guerbois and the Nouvelle-Athennes. Alexis championed the Impressionist movement and noted that it was an ideal counterpart for naturalism in literature, which he so valued. Naturalism was a reaction to the idealized and stylized art of the Romantics. Alexis is famous for writing, 'Naturalism is not dead.'

Perhaps because Alexis publicly defended Impressionism, he was a favourite subject of the painters. His portrait was painted by Cezanne, Seurat and Zandomenghi. Alexis died in 1901 from an aneurism.