SYMBOLISM

Edvard MUNCH

   Symbolism originated in France, and was part of a 19th-century movement in which art became infused with mysticism. French Symbolism was both a continuation of the Romantic tradition and a reaction to the realistic approach of impressionism. It served as a catalyst in the outgrowth of the darker sides of Romanticism and toward abstraction.
   Symbolism is an important element of most religious arts and reading symbols plays a main role in psychoanalysis. Thus, the Symbolist painters used these symbols from mythology and dream imagery for a visual language of the soul.

Odilon REDON

   Symbolism was more an international ideological trend. Symbolists believed that art should cover more absolute truths which could only be accessed indirectly. Thus, they painted scenes from nature, human activities, and all other real world phenomena in a highly metaphorical and suggestive manner. 
   Odilon Redon, Paul Gaugin, Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel, Leon Bakst, James Ensor, Jean Delville,  Edvard Munch are some of the main symbolist artists.