Gustave Moreau, The Apparition (detail), ca.
What is Symbolism?
Black is the most essential color, Redonsaid.
Gustave Moreau, “The Apparition” (detail), ca. 1886 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public Domain])
One must respect black.
It does not yo the eye and it awakens no sensuality.
It is the agent of the mind far more than the most beautiful color of the palette or prism.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, “The Dream,” 1883 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public Domain])
Specifically, as writer Wallace Fowley hasnoted, ever since the rich period of Symbolism .
French poetry has been obsessed with the idea ofpuritya concept pioneered by Symbolist poets.
The imaginary, Surrealist pioneer Andre Breton said, is what tends to become real.
Frédéric-Auguste Cazals, “7e Exposition du Salon des Cent” (detail featuring Paul Verlaine and Jean Moréas), 1894 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public Domain])
Gustav Klimt, “Judith I,” 1901 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public Domain])
Alphonse Mucha, Poster for “The Slav Epic” exhibition, 1928 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public Domain])
