This study represents a refreshingly new approach to the reading of Baudelaire . . . [and] suggests a new way of reading the best-known French poet, and shows how brilliantly he anticipated the themes and techniques of modern art. It represents an important contribution to Baudelaire studies.

—French Review

McLees has written an intriguing addition to French studies, a combination of art history, art theory, cultural aesthetics and literary analysis. This small gem of a book . . . helps us see clearly the complex artistic theory behind Baudelaire’s work and [McLees] adds her own touches to the critical portrait of this poet.

—Nineteenth-Century French Studies

McLees has written a unique study that illuminates an area overlooked by other critics. Based on a thorough knowledge of literature and art and richly illustrated with lithographs, etchings and drawings by Baudelaire, Goya, Daumier and other caricaturists, Baudelaire’s ‘Argot Plastique’ will change the way the thoughtful reader perceives this poet’s work.

—Romance Quarterly