"To clothe the idea in perceptible form," proposed the poet Jean Moreas in his 1886 "Manifesto of Symbolism". It was in France and Belgium, the cradles of literary Symbolism, that Symbolist painting was born. It plunged headlong into the cultural space opened up by the poetry of Baudelaire and Mallarme and by the operas of Wagner. Symbolist painters sought not to represent appearances but to express "the Idea," and the imaginary therefore plays an important part in their work. "Dream" was their credo; they execrated, with a fanatical hatred, impressionism, realism, naturalism, and the scientistic. The main principle of Symbolism, that of "correspondences," was to attain harmony between all the different arts, or even to realise the total work of art (Gesamtkunstwerk) that Wagner had dreamt of creating. What we rediscover today, after a period of neglect, is this: Symbolist painting is essential to our understanding of modern art, not only because it spread across the world like wildfire, creating disciples from Russia to the United States, from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean, but because it was the source of a series of mutations without which modern art would not be what it is.
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About the Author
Gilles Neret was an art historian, journalist, writer, and museum correspondent. He organized several art retrospectives in Japan and founded the SEIBU museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He directed art reviews such as L'Oeil and Connaissance des Arts and received the Elie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. Neret is the editor of TASCHEN'S catalogues raisonnes of the works of Monet and Velazquez, as well as the author of Dali The Paintings and Erotica Universalis. He died on August 3, 2005. Michael Gibson is an independent scholar and philosopher (currently editor in chief of UNESCO's World Heritage Review) who has been writing on art over the past thirty years for numerous publications, including the International Herald-Tribune. He has published numerous books, including studies of Bruegel, Gauguin, Duchamp and Calder.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A treasure of symbolist art.Colour illustrations throughout.Informative text.Amazing value for money.Refers to many,to me at least,previously unheard of but fascinating works by 19th century eastern European artists.Highly recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By topnotchtosh
Format:Hardcover
This book is a joy to browse through, featuring a staggering selection of beautiful art. Each painting is reproduced in glorious colour and several are accompanied by preparatory sketches or photographs of the models taken by the artists. Much of the subject-matter centres on sexual imagery, both implicit and overt, so be warned if you're buying this as a gift for anyone that isn't especially broad-minded.
3 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"Symbolism" is a coffee table book showing (mostly ugly) art from the latter half of the 19th century. However, the book never really answers the question: What exactly *is* Symbolism?
After hundreds of pages of pseudo-erudition, I'm still not any wiser than before reading the book. There seems to be a total disconnect between the text and the paintings analyzed, nor do the works of art seem to have much in common with each other. And what on earth are the Pre-Raphaelites doing in this volume? Were they Symbolists? Nor do I understand the difference between Symbolism and Modernism, except that the artwork of the latter is even uglier.
If you want a colourful volume of ugly, incomprehensible art, I'm sure you are going to like "Symbolism". Otherwise, you might as well skip this one.
After hundreds of pages of pseudo-erudition, I'm still not any wiser than before reading the book. There seems to be a total disconnect between the text and the paintings analyzed, nor do the works of art seem to have much in common with each other. And what on earth are the Pre-Raphaelites doing in this volume? Were they Symbolists? Nor do I understand the difference between Symbolism and Modernism, except that the artwork of the latter is even uglier.
If you want a colourful volume of ugly, incomprehensible art, I'm sure you are going to like "Symbolism". Otherwise, you might as well skip this one.
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