Symbolic, Spiritual, and Solitary – Symbolism in Visual Art

By the middle of the nineteenth century, artists were becoming more autonomous. They began painting more of their own ideas, moving away from the patriarchy of the church, the monarchy, and systems of patronage.

From Impressionism to Surrealism, artists began to be categorized by stylistic and thematic ideas, whether they liked it or not. Ironically however, one of the keys to looking at modern art became its flexibility and open-ended nature of it’s subject matter.

Though it began as a literary movement in the latter part of the 19th century in Europe, Symbolism was soon identified with the artwork of a younger generation of artists who were similarly rejecting the conventions of Naturalism and the notion of a fixed narrative or idea pertaining to their subject matter.

Symbolist artists believed the true purpose of art was to express subjective feelings and ideas. Rodin’s The Thinker has strong connections to Symbolism–Rodin is considered a Symbolist sculptor and a precursor to modern sculpture. While originally intended to represent Dante and the creative mind, the sculpture became an independent work that evolved into a universal symbol of intellectual struggle, philosophy, and human thought, which aligns with Symbolist art’s focus on ideas and emotions over realism.

Unlike the straightforward symbolism of earlier periods, Symbolist art is marked by personal, subtle, and often ambiguous symbols. The goal was to suggest and evoke a meaning or feeling rather than to state a concrete idea directly.

Auguste Rodin, The Thinker, 1904, Bronze, Musee Rodin

Frida Kahlo’s The Wounded Deer is considered a work of art that incorporates symbolism, though it is also categorized within Magical Realism. The painting is rich with symbolism, using the deer to represent Kahlo’s own physical suffering and her sense of inescapable fate, which are further emphasized by elements like the arrows, the word “karma,” and a broken tree
branch.

Frida Kahlo, The Wounded Deer, 1946, oil on Masonite, private collection

Symbolist art explores common themes, including love, fear, anguish, death, and sexual awakening. Edvard Munch’s The Scream is considered a work of Symbolist art and is even one of the movement’s most famous examples. It was created in 1893 and powerfully uses visual elements like stark colors and distorted forms to represent psychological and emotional states rather than a literal scene.

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893, oil, tempera & pastel on cardboard, National Gallery of Norway

Symbolists intentionally moved away from the realistic style of Naturalism and Realism; to express abstract ideas, they often used simplified forms, and flattened broad strokes of unmodulated color. The rejection of traditional perspective, realistic rendering, and detailed imitation of nature allowed the artists to create a more spiritual or otherworldly effect. Emily Carr’s painting Scorned as Timber Beloved of the Sky, can be seen as a Symbolist work of art.

The solitary tree symbolizes the resilience of nature, an “anthropomorphic deification” of the tree as a Christ-like figure on a “Calvary” of clear-cut land. Carr sought to represent the spiritual vitality of nature, not just its physical form, making the painting a blend of spiritual exploration and environmental protest.

Emily Carr, Scorned as Timber Beloved of the Sky, 1935, oil on canvas, Vancouver Art Gallery

Symbolism’s core tenet was the exaltation of the artist’s subjective experience and “latent ideas” over objective reality. Seeking to communicate “mystery” and “intangible concepts” through symbolism; Symbolist art became a movement that spanned countries, influencing art in Europe and beyond.