SYMBOLISM
Symbolism refers to movements in both literature and the visual arts during the late 19th Century. Symbolism was seen in France. In symbolism art became infused with mysticism. French Symbolism is a continuation of Romantism and it is opposed to Impressionism. The term Symbolism means the systematic use of symbols or pictorial conventions to express an allegorical meaning. Symbolism is an important element of most religious arts and reading symbols plays a main role in psychoanalysis. Thus, the Symbolist painters used these symbols from mythology and dream imagery for a visual language of the soul.
Not so much a style of art, Symbolism was more an international ideological trend. Symbolists believed that art should apprehend more absolute truths which could only be accessed indirectly. Thus, they painted scenes from nature, human activities, and all other real world phenomena in a highly metaphorical and suggestive manner. They provided particular images or objects with esoteric attractions.
Sybolism includes such artists as, John Henry Fusseli and Caspar David Friedrich . Anticipating Freud and Jung, the Symbolists mined mythology and dream imagery for a visual language of the soul. More a philosophical approach than an actual style of art, they influenced their contemporaries in the Art Nauveau movement and Les Nabis. The leading Symbolists included Gustave Mouraveu, Puvis de Chavannes, and Odilon Redon.
LES NABIS
Les Nabis were a group of Post-Impressionist artists and illustrators in Paris who became very influential in the field of graphic art .
Their name derived from the Hebrew word navi, which means prophet. The group was comprised of Post-Impressionist artists who became interested in graphic art. The movement shared many of the ideas of the Art Nouveau style and Symbolism. Les Nabis began as a rebel group of young artists who met and formed at the Academie Julian in Paris. In addition to fine arts, members of the group also worked in printmaking, poster design, illustration, textiles, furniture, and set design. Some of the representatives of Les Nabis are; Pierre Bonnard, Felix Vallaton, Denis Maurice and Eduard Muillard.
