Théodore Duret

Born in Saintes, France, in 1838, Théodore Duret became known as a journalist, writer, and art critic with a strong interest in the new art of his time. He was among the earliest defenders of Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet, and the Impressionists, and his criticism helped explain their work to a wider public.

Duret is especially remembered for writing in support of avant-garde painting when it was still controversial. His book Critique d'Avant Garde is one of the works most closely associated with that role, and he was also a collector and adviser to major art buyers, including the American collector Louisine Havemeyer.

He died in Paris in 1927. Today, he is remembered not mainly as a novelist or public figure, but as one of the critics who recognized the importance of modern French painting early and argued for it with lasting influence.