impends—an encounter of the type that recalls the uneasiness of a
person’s vulnerable subconscious self during sleep.
AUBREY BEARDSLEYNot all Symbolist artists were French.
Aubrey Beardsley(1872–1898) was one of a circle of English artists
whose work was at the intersection of Symbolism and Art Nouveau
(see page 846). For Salomé,an illustration for a book by Oscar Wilde
(1854–1900), Beardsley drew The Peacock Skirt (FIG. 31-26), a daz-
zlingly decorative composition perfectly characteristic of his style. The
Japanese print influence is obvious, although Beardsley assimilated it
into his unique manner. Banishing Realism as well as the Impression-
ists’ and Post-Impressionists’ emphasis on color, he confined himself
to lines and to patterns of black and white, eliminating all shading. His
tense, elastic line encloses sweeping curvilinear shapes that lie flat on
the surface—some left almost vacant, others filled with swirling com-
plexes of mostly organic motifs. Beardsley’s unfailing sense of linear
rhythms and harmonies supports his mastery of calligraphic line.
EDVARD MUNCH Also linked in spirit to the Symbolists
was the Norwegian painter and graphic artist Edvard Munch
(1863–1944). Munch felt deeply the pain of human life. His belief
that humans were powerless before the great natural forces of death
and love and the emotions associated with them—jealousy, loneli-ness, fear, desire, despair—became the theme of most of his art. Be-
cause Munch’s goal was to describe the conditions of “modern psy-
chic life,” as he put it, Realist and Impressionist techniques were in-
appropriate, focusing as they did on the tangible world. In the spirit
of Symbolism, Munch developed a style of putting color, line, and
figural distortion to expressive ends. Influenced by Gauguin, Munch
produced both paintings and prints whose high emotional charge
was a major source of inspiration for the German Expressionists in
the early 20th century (see Chapter 35).
Munch’s The Scream (FIG. 31-27) exemplifies his style. The im-
age—a man standing on a bridge or jetty in a landscape—comes
from the real world, but Munch’s treatment of the image departs sig-
nificantly from visual reality.The Screamevokes a visceral, emotional
response from the viewer because of the painter’s dramatic presenta-
tion. The man in the foreground, simplified to almost skeletal form,
emits a primal scream. The landscape’s sweeping curvilinear lines re-
iterate the curvilinear shape of the mouth and head, almost like an
echo, as the cry seems to reverberate through the setting. The fiery
red and yellow stripes that give the sky an eerie glow also contribute
to this work’s resonance. Munch wrote a revealing epigraph to ac-
company the painting: “I stopped and leaned against the balustrade,
almost dead with fatigue. Above the blue-black fjord hung the clouds,
red as blood and tongues of fire. My friends had left me, and alone,
trembling with anguish, I became aware of the vast, infinite cry of na-
ture.”^16 Appropriately, the original title of this work was Despair.31-26Aubrey Beardsley,The Peacock Skirt,1894. Pen-and-ink
illustration for Oscar Wilde’s Salomé, 9 65 – 8 . Fogg Art Museum,
Harvard University, Cambridge (bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop).
Banishing the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist emphasis on color,
Aubrey Beardsley, a master of calligraphic line and curvilinear shapes,
confined himself to patterns of black and white without shading.31-27Edvard Munch,The Scream,1893. Tempera and pastels on
cardboard, 2 113 – 4 2 5 . National Gallery, Oslo.
Although grounded in the real world, The Screamdeparts significantly
from visual reality. Munch used color, line, and figural distortion to
evoke a strong emotional response from the viewer.Symbolism 8411 in.1 ft.31-26AENSOR,
Christ’s Entry
into Brussels,
1888.