Symbolism was a late 19th-century movement expressing ideas over realistic description.
“Art is the most beautiful of all lies.” — Claude Debussy
French critic Jean Moréas coined the term in 1886 to describe poetry by Mallarmé and Verlaine, and the movement soon applied to visual art where realistic depiction of the natural world, seen in impressionism and realism, was rejected in favour of imaginary dream worlds populated with mysterious figures from literature, the bible, and Greek mythology, with new psychological content particularly erotic and mystical themes including love, fear, anguish, death, and unrequited desire.
Symbolism was a complex international phenomenon spanning multiple countries.
France produced Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, and Paul Gauguin, while Belgium contributed Fernand Khnopff and Jean Delville, and Britain offered Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, and Aubrey Beardsley; the movement originated with Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal in 1857, and Edgar Allan Poe influenced Baudelaire greatly, providing many stock images and tropes that shaped Symbolist aesthetics.
The term derives from the Greek symbolon, an object cut in half for recognition.
In ancient Greece, pottery shards were inscribed and broken as records of alliance, and Symbolism was largely a reaction against naturalism and realism, favouring spirituality, imagination, and dreams over gritty particularity; Joris-Karl Huysmans began as a naturalist before becoming a symbolist, reflecting increasing interest in religion, while the Decadents mixed naturalist sexuality with Byronic romanticism and fin de siecle world-weariness.
Symbolists admired Gautier’s motto of “art for art’s sake.”
They retained Parnassianism’s love of word play and musical verse, yet rejected Parnassian clarity and objectivity; Joséphin Péladan established the Salon de la Rose + Croix in Paris, hosting avant-garde art, writing and music during the 1890s, giving space for artists embracing spiritualism, mysticism, and idealism in their work.
Gustave Moreau was a leading Symbolist painter in France; He depicted mythological scenes with jewel-like color and intricate detail. His watercolors and oils influenced the Surrealists decades later. Moreau’s work evokes mystery and spirituality; He taught Henri Matisse and Georges Rouault. His legacy endures through his Paris museum, yet Symbolism’s influence extends far beyond his studio.
“The beautiful is the symbol of the symbol.” — Stéphane Mallarmé