Symbolism in 19th century art - Research Paper Example

? Art-History- Symbolism in 19th Century Art Introduction Symbolism as used in art in the 19th century, involved a focus visual art as a response to the humiliations as described by Freud that included biological, psychological and cosmological humiliations. Art during this period was used as a response to these humiliations and mainly focused on a belief on ancient myths that provided an alternative belief to counter the humiliations. Further, the symbolists turned to mythology as a means of providing a connection to the lost innocence concerning culture prior to the genesis of rationalism and the bourgeois civilization. In essence, the overriding objective concerning symbolism revolved around a focus on mystical, universal and spiritual idealism that replaced the decadent lifestyle in that period. Symbolist iconography mainly contains various arts as a visionary statement whereby a person looks within himself in order to produce world of ideas1. This paper examines the psychological symbolism in art and how Edvard Much relies on his inner conflicts as the inspiration to create his art. Symbolism during the 19th century was more profound among young artists whose paintings mainly depicted a rejection of the naturalist conventions. These symbolists’ painters that included Edvard Munch believed in artwork that reflects on emotions or ideas and not a depiction of the natural world as described by the impressionists. Further, symbolist painters advocated for an artwork that describe the emotional experiences through use of composition, line and color2. As depicted in paintings, symbolism mainly presented the synthesizing of feeling or form and in relation to the inner subjectivity and the reality as viewed by the artist. On another note, aesthetic philosophy plays an important role in understanding artwork of symbolists in the 19th century. Thematically, the work of Edvard Much appears to maintain a focus that revolves around events occurring within his own life. This includes dysfunctional love affairs, the death of his father and sister, and the ideological separation concerning his bourgeois Christian family and the hostility from the public, to his work. Munch’s theme mainly focus on anxieties related to his sexuality and images describing death and further, his work also focused on the expression of anxiety related to the modern age3. Freud and Charles Darwin further influence Munch’s work and the art by Munch mainly involves a transformation of personal experiences by using broader statements related to human condition. Among the artwork by Edvard Munch, include: The Scream In this artwork, Munch conveys existential anxiety in relation to the modern age and Munch himself has explained the events in his life that inspired the creation of The Scream. Further, Munch mainly focused on learning how various materials can affect the meaning of an image and believed that different media created different sensibilities within the same image. Munch explored this ideology as evident in the repetition of the same image using oil paint and he believed that, different print media contained different psychological and emotional tones; this provided different feelings concerning Munch’s images4. The Kiss This artwork mainly focus on a description of a man and a woman dressed in the studio of an artist and the subsequent images similar to this, depicted images of couple’s nudity before a window. In most of Munch’s intaglio work revolved around a detailed narration of a scene and the images or themes within his artwork are highly stylized. In a similar manner to the artwork by Gauguin, Munch’s artwork involved a focus on raw materials that are used to make prints and formed an integral part of Munch’s aesthetic conceptions. As depicted in the image of The Kiss, the grain of the wood forms an integral part of the piece and provides organic and vertical pattern, which describes the pouring rain around the black figures that converge to a single form. However, critics of Munch’s work such as Stanislaw Prxybyszewski reiterate that Munch’s image of The Kiss is “repulsive” and for example, the use of figures, which Stanislaw suggest, appears like liquefied flesh5. Madonna This image as presented by Munch describes a woman as being femme fatale, which, is a concept, related to femininity as describes by artists of all different kinds. In essence, Munch viewed a woman as an ambiguous creature that is enticing, predatory and fertile. On the same note, Munch believed that a woman is endowed with power that can attract and hold on to a male6. Vampire Vampire as portrayed by Munch depicts a joyless reflection related to human sexuality and in the image, the actions of the woman appears predatory and not an expression of love. The red hair that Munch uses in most of his images that describes a woman appears to suggest a flow of blood7. In essence, the innovative reliance on graphic media provides an important understanding of the artist’s graphic work. Munch’s artwork involves different media and mainly emphasizes the need to depict emotions in his images. To achieve this, he mainly printed monoprints that provides single impressions related to images that stressed expression, and not reproduction8. Munch’s Symbolism Since mid-1880s up to the 1900s, artists focusing on symbolism mainly presented the human situation in a subjective manner by relying on visual sources. However, the art works by Munch stands out in terms of presenting personal quality in relation to visual imagery that he applies in his paintings. In most of his paintings, a number of features became trademark of his painting such as the Norwegian seascape. Further, the shadow as used in his paintings describes a difficult past and unknown future while, color as used by Munch describes death, sexuality, corruption or purity. In his paintings, Munch highlights on the difficult emotional landscape related to modern life and the troubled silence of the self. In addition, Munch also engaged in experimental print making that revolved around virtuosity and astonishing daring and his forceful images include graphic works9. In addition, Munch mainly focused on open-ended themes that acted as symbols or universal importance. As a result, the paintings, prints and drawings by Munch, focus on the quality related to psychological talisman that emanates from Munch’s own life experiences. In a similar manner to Vincent van Gogh, the artwork by Munch focuses on the relationship between the observed subject in the artist’s world and the artist’s own psychological, spiritual and emotional experiences10. The significance of emotion in Edvard Munch artwork In analyzing emotions in the art presented by Edvard Munch, how he depicts the emotions can be described as generally acceptable. However, it is difficult to explicate the reasons that make the artworks by Munch, to appear emotional. As a result, research in art need consider factors such as psychology and cognition that relates to the emotions described in Edvard Munch’s work. Art research is important in providing knowledge conventions related to art and as presented in different period. In essence, knowledge of psychology and cognition help to understand how emotions are experienced and how the emotions concepts can be categorized in artwork. An explicit application of concepts related to emotions may create new ideas in studying Munch’s art11. The questions that need to be explored in artwork include how to understand what emotion means in art and how to analyze emotions as presented in the oeuvre of Edvard Munch. Relying on such a conception would play a significant part in improving the study related to emotions in artwork thus making presentations less random and transparent. For example, the use of frame might be beneficial in terms of making a comparison between Munch’s expression of emotions and how other artists express emotions. Further, the frame would make the emotional aspects related to the art of Munch to be analyzed from a broader context such as studying the aspects of the emotions as being a part of Modernism. In addition, the frame may also be helpful in organizing different research that discusses Munch’s art12. Conclusion Symbolism in art as used by Edvard Munch mainly relates to the personal experience in life that he portrays in images of paintings, prints and drawings. In applying symbolism, Munch has managed to come up with powerful images that exist in art history such as, The Scream. Further, the art by Edvard Munch provoke questions regarding love, sex, death, and the value of being human that, are difficult to answer and are still asked today. Bibliography Campbell, Douglas G. Edvard Munch, Master Printmaker. Library Journal 108, no. 21 (1983): p. 2245. Lunde, Arne. Behind the Scream. Scandinavian Studies 80, no. 2 (2008): pp. 239-241. Myers, Nicole. "Symbolism". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan of Art, 2000. Prelinger, Elizabeth and Parke-Taylor, Michael. The Symbolist Prints of Edvard Munch. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1996. Schiefler, Gustav. Verzeichnis Des Graphischen Werks Edvard Munch’s Bis 1906 (in German). Berlin: B. 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