Symbolism vs. Post-Impressionism vs. Art Nouveau Symbolism: a late 19th-century movement in art and literature that presented alternatives to the realistic impulses of Realism and Impressionism. Symbolism vs. Post-Impressionism: Post-Impressionism can be considered an outgrowth of or a reaction against Impressionism; Symbolism is more of an alternative to Impressionism, with little or no relation to it at all. Symbolist / Post-Impressionist “crossovers”: Some artists that we think of primarily as Post-Impressionists can also be considered Symbolists (e.g., Gauguin). Conversely, some artists that we think of primarily as Symbolists can also be considered Post-Impressionists (e.g., Munch). Art Nouveau (French for “New Art”): a style or movement that took its name from the gallery L’Art Nouveau in Paris, which promoted it. Art Nouveau vs. Symbolism: By contrast with Symbolism, Art Nouveau is a specific style—the way something looks—irrespective of subject matter or content. Some Symbolists use an Art Nouveau style (e.g., Beardsley); some do not (e.g., Redon).

Other Terms / Names for Today’s Lecture Jugendstil (German for “Youth Style”): a style or movement related to Art Nouveau that flourished in Germany and Austria, taking its name from the magazine Jugend (“Youth”), published in Munich, which promoted it. Sigmund Freud: Austrian psychiatrist ( ); “father” of psychoanalysis. femme fatale (French for “fatal [or deadly] woman”): a woman who causes the death, downfall, or destruction of a man. For example: Salomé, Judith, Delilah, or Eve from the Bible; Medusa, Circe, or the Sirens from Greek mythology; Carmen from the famous opera; “vamps” in silent movies, etc.

Early hot air balloon Modern hot air balloon

Early hot air balloonDaumier, Nadar Elevating Photo- graphy to the Height of Art, 1863

Daumier, Nadar Elevating Photo- graphy to the Height of Art, 1863 Another mid-19th-century tribute to ballooning, contemporary with Daumier’s print, was Jules Verne’s first novel, Five Weeks in a Balloon (1862).

Early hot air balloonOdilon Redon, The Balloon Eye, 1882

Odilon Redon, The Balloon Eye, 1882 Note that Redon’s title was deliberately vague and mysterious: The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity. The print (a lithograph) was issued as part of a series dedicated to the American writer Edgar Allan Poe, whose spooky short stories and haunting poetry were more popular in France than in the U.S. Redon also dedicated another series of prints to Goya, whom he regarded as a precursor and took as a source of inspiration.

Redon, The Balloon Eye, 1882 Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, 1799

Redon, The Balloon Eye, 1882 Aubrey Beardsley (British), Salomé, 1892

Oscar Wilde, Title page of the English version of the play, 1894 Beardsley, Salomé, 1892

Photo of the dancer Maud Allan as Salomé in an adaptation of Wilde’s play (Note also Richard Strauss’s famous opera of 1905 based on the play) Beardsley, Salomé, 1892

Gauguin, Day of the God, 1894 Gauguin was a Post-Impressionist who can also be considered a Symbolist and was also influenced by Art Nouveau. Beardsley, Salomé, 1892

Victor Horta (Belgian), Stairwell of Tassel House, Brussels, Beardsley, Salomé, 1892

Horta, Stairwell of Tassel House Banister and wall decoration

Horta, Stairwell of Tassel House Detail of wall decoration

DetailUpstairs at the Tassel House

Alphonse Mucha (Czech), Ad for Job Cigarette Papers (poster), 1896 Wall decoration, Tassel House

Mucha, Ad for Job Cigarette Papers Job cigarette papers today

Mucha, Ad for Job Cigarette Papers, 1896 Edvard Munch (Norwegian), The Scream, 1893

Note that Munch was a friend and contemporary of the Scandinavian playwrights Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, whose plays also delve into the inner recesses of the mind. Like these plays, Munch’s paintings deal with the anxieties of modern life and have been termed “psychic images of modern existence.” Edvard Munch (Norwegian), The Scream, 1893

Entry in Munch’s diary for January 22, 1892: “I was walking along the road with two friends. The sun was setting. I felt a breath of melancholy. Suddenly the sky turned blood-red. I stopped and leaned against the railing, deathly tired, looking out across the flaming clouds that hung like blood and a sword over the blue- black fjord and town. My friends walked on. I stood there, trembling with fear, and I sensed a great, infinite scream pass through nature.” Elsewhere, Munch wrote: “The camera will never be able to rival painting, so long as it is impossible to use it in heaven or in hell.” Edvard Munch (Norwegian), The Scream, 1893

Recent spoof of Munch’s painting Munch, The Scream

Jugendstil architecture in Vienna

Jugendstil architecture in Vienna This building was the home of the Vienna Secession, an organization of avant-garde artists who broke with the conservative Austrian art establishment. Its most famous member was Gustav Klimt.

Beardsley, Salomé, 1892 Gustav Klimt (Austrian), Judith, 1901

Klimt, Judith, 1901 Klimt, The Kiss,

Detail Klimt, The Kiss,

Turn of the century architecture in Barcelona

The painting represents Picasso’s so-called “Blue Period,” which can be placed under the heading of Symbolism (but not Art Nouveau!). Pablo Picasso (Spanish), The Old Guitarist, 1903

Picasso, Family of Saltimbanques, representing Picasso’s “Rose Period,” 1905 Picasso, The Old Guitarist, 1903