Symbolism

May 1884 saw the publication in Paris of a fin de siecle novel that became a perverse sensation on the European cultural scene. A Rebours (translated both as Against the Grain and Against Nature) by Joris-Karl Huysmans was written as a seductive textbook of decadence, an antidote to the "banality" of the dominant literary styles, Naturalism and Realism. Symbolism, whose influence would endure well into the modernist era, was an artistic religion-substitute, a spiritually charged cult of beauty. A Symbolist picture or sculpture is deliberately mysterious. In place of intellectual comprehension, the work seeks to have the beholder experience its esoteric depths like a vision. It is no wonder that Symbolists created some of the most fascinating artworks of their age.

Раздел: Искусство

Язык: Английский

Год: 2009

Тип издания: Книга

Издательство: Taschen