The symbolists

by Philippe Jullian

English (translation)Original French

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Philippe Jullian né Philippe Simounet, est un écrivain, dessinateur et graveur, chroniqueur mondain et artistique de son époque.

Reviews

[Side Real Press · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-read (again!)

This book was first published in 1973 but what makes the book still relevant is the excellent introduction by Jullian which gives a good basic overview of the movement and includes a lot of very interesting references to books and authors that are still relatively unrecognised in the English speaking/reading world, giving synopses and various quotes from their works. It's invaluable to people like myself who can only (just about!) deal with their mother tongue and even although I have owned this book for perhaps twenty years still find myself coming back to it 'just in case' an author I am interested in is mentioned. Lo! more often than not it obliges.

That said, its age does show somewhat in regard to the actual illustrations as a fair proportion are reproduced in b/w. That said, many of them are (even now) not the more run of the mill symbolist images that get reproduced ad infinitum/nauseam all over the place, and with the internet, one can seek most of them out in glorious colour.

Because it is not as fancy looking as more modern volumes it is often relegated to the dustier (and cheaper) shelves of bookshops. It's definitely worth the few pounds it'll probably set you back.

[Patrick.G.P · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Symbolists is beautiful book going into detail, the inspiration, philosophy, and work of the great symbolist painters mainly from France and Belgium. The author also touches on decadence and some of its writers like Huysmans and Lorrain who’s writing served as an inspiration for many of the symbolist painters. The only negative about this book is that many of the works are reproduced on either small scale or in black and white when the original painting is ablaze with color and details that don’t show in black and white.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Symbolism developed a complete language based on flowers. Some flowers were indeed banned from the garden because of their strident colours or their popularity in municipal gardens, and others, such as the dazzling flower, were only admitted through the good offices of Walter Crane and the English Aesthetic Movement. Lilies were ubiquitous - innocent in appearance, disturbing in their scent, and gathered by the primitives; Schwabe made them his hallmark. The iris, the flower of the Modern Movement, could be found in Mucha’s posters, Lalique’s jewellery, Lorrain’s poems - in which it was dyed black and became a phallic symbol. Orchids, which were found so frequently on Galle’s vases and in the corsages of Proust’s Odette, were of little interest to the painters. The blue hydrangeas growing around the fountains dear to Robert de Montesquiou were painted by Helleu and Le Sidaner. Towards the end of the Symbolist Movement, violets became the flowers of Lesbos and Renée Vivien. Dead roses which were so loved by Poe and Verlaine withered at the feet of a statue of a sphinx. Dead leaves which covered the paths in October, the month of Decadence, formed patterns as in a tapestry by William Morris; they were burnt by the girls in Millais’ picture, in a bonfire which created the smoke for the paintings of Carrière. In the garden of the palace one feels that all will soon be transformed into the mauve shades of Dulac’s and Osbert’s landscapes."

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little thin on text, but rich in gorgeous color plates. The text will be more useful and informative if you are already familiar with the era and most of the names referenced. (Sadly, the book ignores the few women painters I'm aware of who could potentially have been included, almost all names discussed are male.)

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discovered artists I’d never heard of before. Interesting discussion around the dynamic between the literary and artistic symbolist movement.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reproduces some excellent works by artists of whom we tend to hear too little. I do wish there were more color plates. Jullian’s text here is well-informed, but seems to partake too much of the Wagnerian and other pretensions of the artists and contemporary critics whose rhapsodic fatuities he quotes. I would have appreciated closer reading of the masterpieces under consideration; this is, after all, a study, not merely a tabletop book full of images. But there is much here to admire, all the same.

Criminal omission: Franz von Stuck.

[James Euclid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leider führt die an sich fruchtbare Idee keine chronologische Aufarbeitung zu liefern, sondern den Symbolismus als Architektur, als Tempel mit seinen Flügeln zu beschreiben, recht bald zu einer elaborierten Aufzählung. Vor allem aber: die Mehrzahl der Abbildungen sind schwarzweiß oder beschnitten.

[GD · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're into the sick side of art, this guy knows where it's at.

[Michael Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome histories on Symbolist artists.