Symbolism, a loosely organized literary and artistic movement that originated with a group of French poets in the late 19th century, spread to painting and the theatre, and influenced the European and American literatures of the 20th century to varying degrees.

Symbols in art were a blend of religious mystique, the grotesque, the sexual, and the degenerate in regards to the particular subject matter. The supernatural, the macabre, the dreaming realm, sadness, wickedness, and mortality are common themes among artists who used symbolism.

Symbolist painters believed that art should reflect an emotion or idea rather than represent the natural world in the objective, quasi-scientific manner embodied by Realism and Impressionism.

Symbolism was not just confined to painting; it extended to literature, music, and theater, creating a rich tapestry of interconnected artistic expressions. The Symbolism Art Movement originated in France in the late 19th century, around the 1880s, as a reaction against the prevailing trends of realism and naturalism.

As opposed to Impressionism, in which the emphasis was on the reality of the created paint surface itself, Symbolism was both an artistic and a literary movement that suggested ideas through symbols and emphasized the meaning behind the forms, lines, shapes, and colors.