Initially successful with Naturalist paintings similar to those of Bastien-Lepage, around 1890 he became a leading Symbolist.
symbolism
More superb paintings from the end of the nineteenth century, including the amazing Martin’s unique merger of Symbolism and Divisionism.
Looking back at the art of the nineteenth century, there was a large section devoted to Impressionism, but acclaimed Symbolist and other paintings too.
Early in 1896, several artists who exhibited at the Salons set up a rival exhibition. The following year was the last of Péladan’s and his movements petered out by the twentieth century.
The apogee of the Symbolist Movement in France was run by its self-appointed high priest, Joséphin Péladan. A selection of paintings from its early years to 1894.
His portraits aren’t simple likenesses, but personal narratives which can be difficult to read now because loss of their context.
Brilliant paintings of Poles exiled to Siberia, Thanatos as a woman, Medusa, and the story of Tobias and the angel.
Brilliantly coloured butterflies and flowers, Buddha, and a small sailing boat were among recurrent themes in his later work.
It was his charcoal drawings and prints which first started showing weird chimeras. They then migrated to his canvas in strange but exquisite paintings.
His late paintings were a mixture of symbolism and classical myth. Prominent are murals and a mosaic in the Library of Congress.
The Eclectic Light Company 