6.3 — Symbolism and Art Nouveau
In the late 19th century, Symbolist artists turned inward toward dreams, myth, and emotion, while Art Nouveau transformed the decorative arts with flowing line and organic form. Both movements rejected strict naturalism, seeking evocative, total environments of meaning and beauty.
Symbolism: Inner Worlds
Symbolists favored suggestion over description—using allegory, fantasy, and synesthetic color to evoke moods and the subconscious.
- Gustave Moreau: Jewel-like, mythic visions (Salome, Orpheus).
- Odilon Redon: Dreamy pastels, charcoal “noirs,” floating eyes and flowers.
- Edvard Munch: Anxiety and desire (“The Scream,” “Madonna”) with expressive line and color.
- James Ensor: Masks and carnival satire critiquing society.
Definition: Synesthesia
A blending of senses—seeing sounds or hearing colors—often invoked by Symbolists to describe art’s multisensory resonance.
Art Nouveau: The Total Work of Art
Art Nouveau unified architecture, interiors, furniture, graphics, and fashion through curving “whiplash” lines, botanical motifs, and new materials like iron and glass.
- Architecture: Hector Guimard’s Paris Métro entrances; Victor Horta’s Hôtel Tassel in Brussels.
- Graphics: Alphonse Mucha’s posters with flowing hair, arabesques, and ornate typography.
- Design & Craft: Émile Gallé and Louis Comfort Tiffany’s glass; Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s geometric-organic furniture.
Motifs and Forms
- Whiplash Line: S-curves and tendrils suggesting movement and growth.
- Botanical & Aquatic: Lilies, vines, peacocks, dragonflies, waves.
- Mythic/Feminine: Personifications, femmes fatales, and allegorical figures.
Note: Gesamtkunstwerk
“Total work of art”: architects and designers crafted coordinated interiors—walls, furniture, textiles, lighting—to immerse viewers in a unified aesthetic.
Across Europe and Beyond
Named differently by region (Jugendstil in Germany, Secession in Vienna, Modernisme in Catalonia), Art Nouveau adapted to local tastes. In Barcelona, Antoni Gaudí blended sinuous stone, tile, and iron into biomorphic architecture.
Legacy and Transition
Symbolist emotion and Art Nouveau ornament fed into Expressionism, Fauvism, and early abstraction. By the 1910s, geometric modernism and industrial design tempered Art Nouveau’s curves, but its influence endures in graphic design and contemporary craft revivals.
Looking Ahead
Next, Chapter 7.1 enters the 20th-century avant-garde—Fauvism and Expressionism—where color and form break further from representation.