ABSTRACT
From the argument of the Guys essay, it would appear that Baudelaire’s fascination with this artist was connected above all with his handling of backgrounds, which differ little from the handling of backgrounds in the theater. But because these pictures, unlike scenery on the stage, are to be viewed from close up, the magic of distance is cancelled for the viewer without his having to renounce the judgment of distance. In the essay on Guys, Baudelaire has characterized the gaze which here and in other places he himself turns toward the distance. Baudelaire dwells on the expression of the oriental courtesan: ‘She directs her gaze at the horizon, like a beast of prey; the same wildness, the same indolent distraction, and also at times the same fixity of attention.’2
