[BenLurkin]

Does anybody have an idea as to what "the art of the beautiful gesture" might be?

[JJ_Folderol]

>>> Does anybody have an idea as to what “the art of the beautiful gesture” might be? <<<

I don’t think it’s done with one finger.

[PROCON]

Gesture?

[Jamestown1630]

...”French, meaning “a gracious (or fine) gesture”

-Wiki

[Olog-hai]

I never even heard of this fellow. Does the article say what drove him to suicide?

[needmorePaine]

From Wikipedia: List of French expressions in English
beau geste
lit. "beautiful gesture", a gracious gesture, noble in form but often futile or meaningless in substance. This French expression has been pressing at the door of standard English with only partial success, since the appearance of P.C. Wren's Beau Geste (1924), the first of his Foreign Legion novels.[5]

Still not sure this helps explain it.

[Liz]

Cold consomme served with a melange of artfully carved fresh vegetables.

[bramps]

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.-Thoreau

[TexasCajun]

Swiss police said Mr Violier, who was born in France, appeared to have shot himself.

Something smells fishy.

[Tax-chick]

l'art de le beau geste

Too bad about the gentleman's death.

[dfwgator]

[trisham]

I don’t know if this has any relevance, but:

Beau Geste
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowing from French beau ‎(”beautiful”) + geste ‎(”gesture”)

Noun[edit]
beau geste ‎(plural beaux gestes)

A gracious gesture, noble in form but often futile or meaningless in substance.  

[x]

I guess if you put some unexpected ingredient in that works out particularly well, that could be regarded as "beau geste" or a beautiful gesture.

Vatel also committed suicide. They say it was because the fish for Louis XIV's banquet didn't arrive in time.

I think it was because he realized he wasn't a natural born citizen*.