The first exhibition ever to be devoted to Symbolist Landscape will be the highlight of the Festival programme at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh this summer. Van Gogh to Kandinsky: Symbolist Landscape in Europe 1880-1910 will bring together some 70 outstanding landscapes by 54 artists of the avant-garde, including masterpieces by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Munch, Monet, Whistler, Mondrian and Kandinsky. The exhibition will also introduce the public to a group of less well known artists from Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe, such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Jacek Malczewski.
Symbolism was a radical movement of artists, poets, writers and composers that emerged in reaction to the industrial expansion and materialism of late-19th century Europe. Symbolist artists abandoned the direct representation of nature or reality, creating instead a vision of the world drawn from the imagination. Their work explored powerful themes that reflected the anxieties and uncertainties of the age, including a fascination with death, dreams and the unconscious, fears about scientific advances and a questioning of man’s place in the world.
Symbolist painting embraced a broad range of styles, and was closely linked to literature and other artforms; the relationship between art and music - a major preoccupation for some artists - will be a significant underlying theme of the exhibition.
Dates: from July 14 to October 14.
Location: Scottish National Gallery. The Mound, Edinburgh EH2 2EL.
Opening hours: from Friday to Wednesday from 10am to 5pm. Thursdays from 10am to 5pm.
Enjoy more works of the exhibition in the following slideshow: