We could sum up the focus of many modern artists and printmakers as ‘everything behind this world’.
They shared with the authors, poets and dramatists of their time a fascination for the worlds that lie behind visible reality.
It was a reaction against the rationalism and materialism that dominated western society towards the end of the nineteenth century.
The way these invisible worlds were visualised in prints varied: some artists represented mythical, literary and religious themes, while others opted for a more subtle approach by suggesting that deeper truths underlie everyday subjects.
Odilon Redon set out in his dark prints to make ‘the invisible visible.’
His etchings and lithographs are filled with imaginary creatures that seem to have stepped straight out of his unconscious, and he did indeed use his work as a gateway to the depths of his own soul.
We can only guess as to the meaning of these enigmatic prints. Like most Symbolist artists, Redon resisted any attempt to interpret his work, as this would diminish its mysticism.
Symbolism and Daily Life
The quiet interiors and landscapes of the Nabis seem a little ordinary compared with Redon’s bizarre fantasy images.
Nevertheless they too sought to reach beneath the surface of everyday life in their prints.
They used a certain mood to enable the viewer to sense the hidden essences and emotions at play.
The Nabis stylised visible reality by translating their impressions into a harmonious (or disharmonious) combination of colours, lines and surfaces — to which colour lithography lent itself perfectly.
Pierre-Louis Mathieu, La génération symboliste, Geneva 1990
Henri Dorra (red.), Symbolist Art Theories. A Critical Anthology, Berkeley 1994
Pierre Théberge et al., Lost Paradise. Symbolist Europe, tent.cat., Montreal 1995