and the plastic
arts. One may say that from 1885 Wagner's work acted directly or
indirectly on the whole of artistic thought, even on the religious and
intellectual thought of the most distinguished people in Paris. And a
curious historical witness of its world-wide influence and momentary
supremacy over all other arts was the founding of the _Revue
Wagnerienne_, where, united by the same artistic devotion, were found
writers and poets such as Verlaine, Mallarme, Swinburne, Villiers de
l'Isle Adam, Huysmans, Richepin, Catulle Mendes, Edouard Rod, Stuart
Merrill, Ephraim Mikhael, etc., and painters like Fantin-Latour, Jacques
Blanche, Odilon Redon; and critics like Teodor de Wyzewa, H.S.
Chamberlain, Hennequin, Camille Benoit, A. Ernst, de Fourcaud, Wilder,
E. Schure, Soubies, Malherbe, Gabriel Mourey, etc. These writers not
only discussed musical subjects, but judged painting, literature, and
philosophy, from a Wagnerian point of view. Hennequin compared the
philosophic systems of Herbert Spencer and Wagner. Teodor de Wyzewa made
a study of Wagnerian literature--not the literature that commentated and
the paintings that illustrated Wagner's works, but the literature and
the painting that were inspired by Wagner's principles--from Egyptian
statuary to Degas's paintings, from Homer's writings to those of
Villiers de l'Isle Adam! In a word, the whole universe was seen and
judged by the thought of Bayreuth. And though this folly scarcely lasted
more than three or four years--the length of the life of that little
magazine--Wagner's genius dominated nearly the whole of French art for
ten or twelve years.[209] An ardent musical propaganda by means of
concerts was carried on among the public; and the young intellectuals of
the day were won over. But the finest service that Wagnerism rendered to
French art was that it interested the general public in music; although
the tyranny its influence exercised became, in time, very stifling.

[Footnote 209: Its influence is shown, in varying degrees, in works such
as M. Reyer's _Sigurd_ (1884), Chabrier's _Gwendoline_ (1886), and M.
Vincent d'Indy's _Le Chant de la Cloche_ (1886).]

Then, in 1890, there were signs of a movement that was in revolt against
its despotism. The great wind from the East began to drop, and veered to
the North. Scandinavian and Russian influences were making themselves
felt. An exaggerated infatuation for Grieg, though limited to a small
number of people, was a