Octave Mirbeau, French author, 1848-1917
The French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde. His work has been translated into thirty languages. As an art critic, he campaigned on behalf of the "great gods nearest to his heart": he sang the praises of Rodin, Monet, Pissarro, CΓ©zanne, Gauguin, Renoir, Vallotton, and Bonnard, and was an early advocate of van Gogh, Camille Claudel, Aristide Maillol, and Maurice Utrillo.