• Roots by Frida Kahlo

The Crying Spider by Odilon Redon

The scream by Edvard Munch^^

Symbolism is a Nineteenth Century art Movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths Symbolically through metaphorical images and language mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realism. This movement started in France in the 1880’s and it is said to represent a synthesis of form and feeling, of reality and the artists inner subjectivity.Symbolism first appeared as a literary movement that opposed rationalism and materialism that dominated Western culture in the late 19th century. The beginnings of the movement can be traced back to 1886 when writer Jean Moreas published his famous Symbolist Manifesto.The manifesto proclaimed that every person, natural element and object should be used to represent a symbol of a deeper idea or emotion. Moreas believed that, rather than replicating reality, artists should suggest it with symbols. Though it began as a literary movement, Symbolism was quickly adopted by a group of young visual artists who followed its rules. Some outstanding artists from this period are Gustav Klimt, Gustave Moreau, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gaugin, Jacek Malczewski, etc… These artists communicated ideas through symbols instead of bluntly depicting reality. Most Symbolist painted in wide strokes of unmodulated color creating flat, abstract figures and forms.The Symbolists sought escape from reality, expressing their personal dreams and visions through color, form, and composition.
The crying Spider by Odilon Redon is a very mysterious and scary looking piece and to me, it automatically represents pain and suffering, we see the face of a person attached to a spiders body, with tears in his eyes gazing away from the viewer. This piece is very low in value and it gives it almost a Nightmar-ish vibe. To me this symbolizes the pain and suffering that the artists was going through and I think he portrays it perfectly because it causes me to feel some type of way about it.
Roots by Frida Kahlo, this is my personal favorite, as we can see this is a Self-portrait of Frida laying in the ground with roots of a plant growing out of her chest and around her body going into the ground which to me symbolizes where she came from and her origin or her “roots” as many of us say. This piece, unlike the one we just looked at is full of vibrant colors which makes it pop and is the opposite of the crying spider. This piece is high in saturation and the ground creates a very nice texture as well as the leaves and the end of her dress, very beautiful piece.
The Scream by Edvard Munch is a very famous painting we have all seen at some point lol, We see the Iconic man Screaming in distress while walking through what seems like a peaceful place which is kind of Ironic. It is believed that this piece symbolizes a time in Much’s life in which he was dealing with stress, and some dark times dealing with his mental illness and Trauma. This painting is very dramatic and it contains lots of movement and the colors used contrast very well together which give it more of a dramatic effect.
Some of the most important Symbolist pieces are: Jupiter and Semele by Gustave Moreau, 1895// The three bridges by Jan Toorop, 1893// Orpheus by Gustave Moreau, 1865.
All of these pieces contribute to Symbolism because they are all describing a story in a metaphoric way, depicting emotion on a very different way and they are all very outstanding in unique ways I would love o learn more about symbolism because it is quite surprising to me.