1. ART OF THE 19TH CENTURY
…PRESENT TODAY

2. Directory
A – María Navarro Partida: Find out
what is the influence of the 19 the
century art present in the artwork
assigned.
B – María Andrea Sánchez:
Contexts: historical, social and
cultural-artistic
C – Luis Daniel Ayala: The artists
and their work

3. A
http://vimeo.com/33976373

4. A
A Little Introduction
The symbolism is an artistic movement that was born in XIX
century in France and Belgium. This style of art tried to
expressed the deep emotions of a person (generally an artist),
rather than portray a representation of reality. One of the most
famous artist in this movement is Edvart Munch (1863- 1944)
who painted “The Scream”.
Melancholy, 1891
1900
The Murderess, 1906
Golgotha,

5. Things to recognize in
Symbolism
A
Generally, symbolist artworks expressed
strong emotions, disturbing feelings or
problems.
This movement was born in a “bad time” for
society (French and English revolutions)
and was influenced in “technique” by the
post-impresionism.
Commonly used dissonant, complementary
or “sad” colors to create anxiety (when
using yellow , purple was added; when
orange, then blue).
Symbolist art is generally considered
disturbing (because use of its “strong
themes”).
Some common topics are:
fear, death, eroticism, anxiety, distress and
loneliness.
The Scream, 1893

6. Sebastian Cosor and his
version of “The Scream”
Now, we can go to the work of Sebastian Cosor. He is
a Romanian artist that had the idea of expressing his
vision about “The Scream” of Edvard Munch, inspired
by some of the words what the painter said when he
created his famous work.
Edvard gave us a painting and Sebastian, a video
in 3D.
“Walking along a path with two friends - the sun set suddenly the sky turned red blood, I stopped and
leaned on a fence dead tired - blood and tongues of
fire lurking on the dark blue of the fjord and city ​- my
friends continued and I was still trembling with
anxiety, I sensed an infinite scream passing through
nature.” Edvard Munch
A

7. Historical context
B
The historical context that influenced the development of Symbolism was
the Elightenment movement.
The Enlightenment focused in what was happening inside the human mind:
the profound thoughts, dreams, goals and imagination of the human being.
Arthur Loureiro Study for 'The spirit of the new moon’ 1888 (detail)
Queensland Art Gallery.

8. B
Social Context
Society was developing new and
revolutonary thoughts that were more
concentrated in what the individual
human needs were. So events like
Revolutions where happening in
Latinoamrica because they people
demanded wanted personal
freedom, specially freedom of
speech and thought.
Horse-drawn tram, Hove, Brighton &
Hove, late 19th century

9. B
Cultural – Artistic context

10. B
“Louisa May Alcott, known best as the author
of Little Women, was a popular female author
of the late 1800s. Long before her literary
career, Alcott was an army nurse in the Civil
War where she broke the ban on admitting
single women. After the war and a trip to
Europe, Alcott returned to America to find her
family once again in debt. She resolved to
change that with the publication of Little
Women”.
•
(http:/savethelobsters.wordpress.com/categor
y/uncategorized/)

11. C
Edvard Munch
1873 – 1944
(late 19th century, early 20th century)
•Lost his mother and sister at early ages. Raised by his mentally
ill father to fear death, hell and the external forces of the
unknown.
•During his first travel to Paris in 1885, he was influenced by the
impressionist artists of the moment, which focused on inner
perceptions, rather than objective portrayals of things.
•His subjective portrayal of his inner anxieties were product of
both his unhappy life and the difficulties of his curren times. His
art not only reflected his own fears and torments, but also those
that any human being could experience, specially in that time
period.
•During his adult life, he suffered from alcoholism and was heavily
affected from a difficult romantic relationship, which led him to be
comitted to a psychiatric hospital. He eventually rehabilitated.
•During the later years of his life after his recovery, the pessimistic
tones on his works were less prominent and they now showed
Self-portrait, 1895

12. C
“Anxiety”, 1894
The the black-clothed line of people are reminescent of a group leaving from
(or marching to) a funeral, while their green-pale faces make them look as if
they were the ones dead. Likewise, their expressions look death in the sense
that they’re emotionless, but also penetrating, specially from the woman in the
very front. Fear of death was one of Munch’s sources of anxieties and it is

13. C
“Separation”, 1900
Here depected is a faceless (thus emotionless) and bright woman, leaving
behind a dark and pale-faced man, who clutches his heart in pain. Heartbreak
from love is a common source of pain and torment for any man and woman,
and Munch himself had suffered from it after many difficult relationships (one of
which became a partial reason for his mental breakdown), so those same
emotions he had gone through can be seen here.

14. C
“Worker and Child”, 1907
Perhaps an early hint of Munch’s slight overcome of his torments before his
breakdown one year later, here we see a group of dark-clothed workers. The
most prominent of them seen at the front, is seeing holding the hands of a little
girl, who contrasts with her bright colors. It could be seen as a man’s
rediscovery of the enjoyment of life, which Munch would do to some extent
after rehabilitating from his psychiatric treatment.

15. C
•The work of Munch is considered symbolic as it doesn’t seek to represent an
external part of life, but rather a personal emotion, or a source of thereof, experienced
internally.
•Munich uses the reocorruing use of certain elements in order to symbolize certain his
themes, mostly negative in nature. In “Worker and Child” and “Separation”, the dark
clothing of the characters on the left, who evoke a negative feeling of sadness,
frustration and pessimism, contrast against the bright figures on the right, both
reflective of liveliness and perhaps optimism.
•Aside from common symbolism, Munch also makes use of personal symbols. Notice
how in “Anxiety” he reuses the same background mostly remembered from “The
Scream”. The Oslo Bridge is seen as a personal motif of his, which express his
sensation of feeling like a lost wanderer in a strange environment. This same

16. References
Save The Lobsters!. (n.d.). Save The Lobsters. Retrieved January 28, 2014, from
http://savethelobsters.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized
Ya está el listo que todo lo sabe. (n.d.). Ya está el listo que todo lo sabe. Retrieved
January 28, 2014, from
http://blogs.20minutos.es/yaestaellistoquetodolosabe/tag/sebastian-cosor/>.
vintage everyday. (n.d.). : Headless Portraits From the 19th Century. Retrieved
January 28, 2014, from http://www.vintag.es/2012/12/headless-portraits-from-19thcentury.html
Biografia de Edvard Munch. (n.d.). Biografia de Edvard Munch. Retrieved January 28,
2014, from http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/m/munch.htm
BiografÃ-a de Edvard Munch - quién es, información, datos, historia, obras, vida.
(n.d.). BiografÃ-a de Edvard Munch - quién es, información, datos, historia, obras,
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http://www.buscabiografias.com/bios/biografia/verDetalle/92/Edvard%20Munch
Edvard Munch. (n.d.). - paintings, biography, and quotes of. Retrieved January 27,
2014, from http://www.edvardmunch.org/
Edvard Munch - The Dance of Life Site. (n.d.). Edvard Munch - The Dance of Life Site.
Retrieved January 28, 2014, from http://www.edvard-munch.com/index1.htm
APA formatting by BibMe.org.