In which country did the artistic movement called Symbolism originate?

Symbolism began as a literary movement in France in the 1880s during a period of enormous change and upheaval in Europe. The term first came into circulation in 1886 when the poet Jean Moréas published his ‘Symbolist Manifesto’ in the Parisian newspaper "Le Figaro". Moréas attacked naturalism, urging writers and artists to be more evocative and suggestive in their response to nature.

Symbolist art shifted the emphasis from the direct representation of nature to the world of the imagination. Instead of describing something with precise, realistic detail or stating facts they used personal metaphors and symbols, evoking a meaning or feeling instead. Or as Mallarmé explained in a letter, the idea was, “to paint not the thing but the effect it produces”.

This marked a shift away from the prevailing naturalist and realist approaches of the time, and was partly a reaction to the increasing industrialisation and scientific advances they saw around them. Symbolism offered an antidote, not only to scientific uncertainties, but to the materialism of industrial Europe. It rejected reality, offering an escape into the world of dreams and visions, spiritualism and mythology.