Huysmans, Joris-Karl

Huysmans, Joris-Karl

 orig. Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans

Joris-Karl Huysmans, detail of an oil painting by Jean-Louis Forain.

(credit: J.E. Bulloz)

(born Feb. 5, 1848, Paris, France—died May 12, 1907, Paris) French Decadent writer. His early works, influenced by contemporary naturalism, were followed by far more individual and violent works. The first was Down Stream (1882). His best-known novel, À rebours (1884; Against the Grain), relates experiments in decadence by the bored survivor of a noble line. The controversial and clearly autobiographical Là-bas (1891; Down There) is a tale of 19th-century satanists. His final novels concern his return to Roman Catholicism. He also wrote perceptive art criticism.