Symbolism (arts)

Symbolism was a late nineteenth century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts.

In other media

Symbolism in the visual arts

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Symbolism in literature is distinct from Symbolism in art although the two overlapped on a number of points. There were several, rather dissimilar, groups of Symbolist painters and visual artists, among whom Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Henri Fantin-Latour, Edvard Munch, Félicien Rops, and Jan Toorop were numbered. Symbolism in painting had an even larger geographical reach than Symbolism in poetry, reaching several Russian artists, as well as figures such as Elihu Vedder in the United States. Auguste Rodin is sometimes considered a Symbolist in sculpture.

Related Topics:
Symbolist painters - Gustave Moreau - Odilon Redon - Pierre Puvis de Chavannes - Henri Fantin-Latour - Edvard Munch - Félicien Rops - Jan Toorop - Russia - Elihu Vedder - United States - Auguste Rodin

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Symbolist influence in music

Symbolism had some influence in music as well. Many Symbolist writers and critics were early enthusiasts for the music of Richard Wagner, a fellow student of Schopenhauer. The Symbolist aesthetic had a deep impact on the works of Claude Debussy. His choices of libretti, texts, and themes come almost exclusively from the Symbolist canon: in particular, compositions such as his settings of Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire, various art songs on poems by Verlaine, the opera Pelléas et Mélisande with a libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck, and his unfinished sketches that illustrate two Poe stories, The Devil in the Belfry and The Fall of the House of Usher, all indicate that Debussy was profoundly influenced by Symbolist themes and tastes. His best known work, the Prélude à L'après-midi d'un faune, was inspired by a poem by Mallarmé, L'après-midi d'un faune. Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire takes its text from German translations of the Symbolist poems by Albert Giraud, showing a link between German expressionism and Symbolism.

Related Topics:
Music - Richard Wagner - Claude Debussy - Libretti - Art songs - Opera - Pelléas et Mélisande - Maurice Maeterlinck - The Devil in the Belfry - The Fall of the House of Usher - Prélude à L'après-midi d'un faune - L'après-midi d'un faune - Arnold Schoenberg - Pierrot Lunaire - German - Albert Giraud

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Symbolist prose fiction

Symbolism's cult of the static and hieratic adapted less well to narrative fiction than it did to poetry. Joris-Karl Huysmans' 1884 novel À rebours (English title: Against the Grain) contained many themes which became associated with the Symbolist esthetic. This novel in which very little happens is a catalogue of the tastes and inner life of Des Esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive antihero. The novel was imitated by Oscar Wilde in several passages of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Paul Adam was the most prolific and most representative author of Symbolist novels. Les Demoiselles Goubert co-written with Jean Moréas in 1886 is an important transitional work between Naturalism and Symbolism. Few Symbolists used this form. One exception is Gustave Kahn who published Le Roi fou in 1896. Other fiction that is sometimes considered Symbolist is the cynical misanthropic (and especially, misogynistic) tales of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly. Gabriele d'Annunzio wrote his first novels in the Symbolist vein.

Related Topics:
Joris-Karl Huysmans - Novel - À rebours - Against the Grain - Antihero - Oscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Gray - Paul Adam - Jean Moréas - Gustave Kahn - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly - Gabriele d'Annunzio

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