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Symbolism
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The Poor Fisherman, oil on canvas by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1881; in the Louvre, Paris. Portrait of Arthur Rimbaud at age 17, photographed by Carjat around 1870, showing him with tousled hair, a bow tie, and a neutral expression. Paul Verlaine, detail from Un Coin de table, oil painting by Henri Fantin-Latour, 1872; in the Louvre, Paris. Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov, portrait by an unknown artist. Joris-Karl Huysmans, detail of an oil painting by Jean-Louis Forain. Lithograph by Odilon Redon showing a shadowy, elongated human figure with an arm raised, surrounded by swirling dark lines and ethereal textures, evoking a dreamlike or surreal mood. Painting by Gustave Moreau showing a woman in ornate robes holding the severed head of Orpheus and his lyre, standing barefoot in a rocky, dreamlike landscape. Paul Claudel. Auguste, comte de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, drawing by Paterne Berrichon.
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Symbolist movement summary
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The Poor Fisherman, oil on canvas by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1881; in the Louvre, Paris.
The Poor Fisherman, oil on canvas by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1881; in the Louvre, Paris.

Symbolism

literary and artistic movement
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Symbolism, a loosely organized literary and artistic movement that originated with a group of French poets in the late 19th century, spread to painting and the theatre, and influenced the European and American literatures of the 20th century to varying degrees. Symbolist artists sought to express individual emotional experience through the subtle and suggestive use of highly symbolized language. The principal Symbolist poets include the Frenchmen Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Jules Laforgue, Henri...

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