Champier, Victor, 1851-

French art critic, publisher, and educator.

Biographical/Historical Note

Victor Champier was a major figure in the late 19th and early 20th century art world, who promoted the decorative arts in his roles as editor, art critic, art historian, and a director of a school. Champier was born in Fleurs in 1851, and left for Paris to study law in the 1860s. In 1868 he became Gustave Vapereau's secretary and he collaborated with Vapereau on several works, most importantly La Dictionnaire des Littératures. He seems to have written at least two novels during the 1860s, and during the 1870s Champier collaborated with Paul Dalloz and his brother-in-law Jean Morel on the literary journal, La revue de France . However, he soon devoted his energies to writing about art rather than literature, especially after serving briefly during the Prussian War. From 1871 to 1875 he was a major contributor of art criticism for La Dictionnaire Larousse, and in 1875 he assumed the duty of editor-in-chief for L'Art and Musée universelle concurrently. From 1879 to 1887, Champier held the position of art critic for the Le Moniteur universel, and it is during his tenure here that he became an active promoter of the “minor” arts. During this period, Champier also researched, wrote, and edited L'Année artistique, an up-to-date chronicle of academies, museums, and organizations devoted to the decorative arts in Europe and America. L'Année artistique was published yearly from 1878 to 1882.

Champier played a prominent role in the foundation of a national museum dedicated to the decorative arts. From 1878 onwards Champier served as the secretary of the Société du Musée des Arts and he was involved in the creation of the Union Centrale des Arts décoratifs, which developed from the 1881 merger of the Société and the Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts appliqués à l'Industrie. The Union Centrale des Arts décoratifs' mandate was to create a national museum of decorative arts to protect France's heritage and to ensure the future of art industries. The founders intended to exhibit both retrospective and contemporary decorative arts, establish a library, and support contests and educational opportunities for young artists. The founders of the Musée des Arts décoratifs modeled their creation on London's Kensington Museum, now known as the Victoria and Albert Museum. By 1878 the museum was situated in the Palais d'Industrie. In 1905 the Musée des Arts décoratifs opened in its permanent location in the Pavillion de Marsan, adjacent to the Louvre. Several major supporters of the museum, such as Henry Havard, Georges Berger, and Marius Vachon, were also Champier's correspondents. Due to a lack of government support the Museum was primarily funded privately and to this day it holds a distinction as one of the few Parisian museums administered and supported by a private corporation, the Union Centrale.

Perhaps Champier's most influential position was one which he created for himself. In 1879 Champier founded and assumed the directorship of La revue des Arts décoratifs, the official voice of the Union Centrale. La revue des Arts décoratifs played an important role in promotion of the decorative artist, and it published art historical articles as well as critiques of contemporary art.

Champier was also a key figure in planning and determining policy of the Expositions Universelles of 1889 and 1900. For these two expositions, Champier served as rapporteur on the decorative and industrial arts for the French State. Champier also played an integral role in admitting the decorative arts into the yearly salons and giving them prominent positions in world expositions. Later he was selected by the French government to go on missions to Chicago, Turin, and Tunis to study the instruction of decorative arts in foreign countries and their applications to industry. His findings were published in reports such as L'art et l'industrie aux Etats-Unis d'Amerique, l'enseignement (August-November 1893).

Champier also supported the role of education in reviving the decorative arts. In 1902 he was called to direct the school of industrial arts in Roubaix. In 1908 he was the general favorite to assume the position of Director of the Manufacture de Sèvres, but the government appointed Emile Bourgeois in his stead. Champier was made a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1900 and he died in Roubaix in 1929.

Of the many volumes written by Champier, the primary publications are: L'Année artistique (1878-1882), Les industries d'art à l'exposition de 1889 (and for the 1900, 1889-1902 expositions), Le Palais-Royal d'après des documents inédits 1629-1900 (1900), L'art dans les Flandres françaises aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (1911), and Les anciens almanachs illustrés (1886). Champier collaborated on the journals la Revue de France and Le Moniteur universel, and the publications la Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines and la Dictionnaire d'industrie.