THE SYMBOLISTS

Translated by the author Michael Gibson into English from its French edition. Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and painting, seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realism, anti-idealistic styles which were attempts to represent reality in its gritty particularity, and to elevate the humble and the ordinary over the ideal. Symbolism was a reaction in favor of spirituality, the imagination, and dreams. Included is Gustav Klimt, the erotic drawings of Audrey Beardsley, and the anguished pictures of Edvard Munch, among many other examples of the remarkably varied aspects of symbolist expression within the 319 illustrations in this book. 56 hand-tipped plates in full color. Out of Print. Condition: Fine Plus. One slightly bumped corner.