Death and Life

Death and Life

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Death and Life (detail)

Death and Life (detail)

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Death and Life (detail)

Death and Life (detail)

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The Dance of Life

The Dance of Life

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The Three Brides

The Three Brides

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The Eye, Like a Strange Balloon Moves Towards Infinity

The Eye, Like a Strange Balloon Moves Towards Infinity

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Jupiter and Semele

Jupiter and Semele

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Introducing: Symbolism

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Symbolism was a direct rejection of the naturalism that had come to dominate late nineteenth century painting in the wake of Courbet’s Realism and French Impressionism. It was also a reaction against the crude materialism of the modern industrial age and the soulless rationalism of scientific progress. Imagination was seen by Symbolists as an escape from drab reality, who prized the idea of subjectivity over objectivity. Instead of a picture representing the world as it appeared to the eye, they believed that it was the artist’s duty to express their inner thoughts and feelings. Between 1880 and 1910, a diverse array of artists and writers played with themes from mythology, religion and the occult in an effort to imbue their work with a sense of mystery and spirituality. Imagery was intended to be suggestive and ambiguous, rather than literal and concrete. Erotic subject matter was often combined with morbid undertones of death and disease, whilst women were portrayed as potent symbols of both innocence and sin. Its major figures included Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon and Paul Gauguin. The movement would have a huge influence on both the rise of Expressionism and later developments in 20th century abstraction.

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Works

Death and Life

Death and Life

Click to More
Death and Life (detail)

Death and Life (detail)

Click to More
Death and Life (detail)

Death and Life (detail)

Click to More
The Dance of Life

The Dance of Life

Click to More
The Three Brides

The Three Brides

Click to More
The Eye, Like a Strange Balloon Moves Towards Infinity

The Eye, Like a Strange Balloon Moves Towards Infinity

Click to More
Jupiter and Semele

Jupiter and Semele

Click to More