Henri Rousseau and Symbolist Art

Name: Henri Rousseau and Symbolist Art
Rating: 4.1 (4 reviews)

The precursor of Surrealism

Created byFederico von Borstel

Last updated 6/2025

English

What you'll learn

Students who take this course will learn the various styles and manifestations of Symbolic Art.
Increased appreciation of Art
The course enhances human development.
The course promotes self-learning.

Course content

1 section • 18 lectures • 1h 44m total length

Introduction1:49
Explore symbolism in art from antiquity to symbolist painters, and preview works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John William Waterhouse, Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, and Henri Rousseau.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 26:46
Explore how symbolism uses signs that unify content across forms, drawing on myth, dream imagery, and history, and how 19th-century artists embraced Art Nouveau and Pre-Raphaelite movement against industrial revolution.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 36:35
Explore how symbols in ancient art convey culture and knowledge, from prehistoric petroglyphs and griffins to Egyptian archetypes and Greek deities, revealing natural laws and cosmic principles.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 44:33
Symbolism in Art Lecure 52:12
Explore symbolism in art by examining how artists reinterpret myths and religions, from the Oedipus and sphinx motif to Hindu and Buddhist imagery, showing content expressed in varied forms.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 64:03
Explore symbolism in 19th-century painting, tracing shifts from loose, impressionistic brushwork to neoclassical clarity, and study mythic themes like Diana with her nymphs, love, glory, and fortune.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 72:28
Analyze symbolism in Ferdinand nuff's art, revealing surrealist tendencies, art nouveau precursors, and symbols such as flowers, the winged head, shadows, rain, nightingale, and sister portraits.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 83:37
James Ensor uses masks from his mother's carnival shop to reveal death and satire in scenes. He pairs Christ's entry into Brussels with masks and skeletons to express political commentary.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 96:01
Explore Rousseau's self-taught, naive style rooted in nature study at botanical gardens, where he creates open, collaged scenes of plants and animals that foreshadow cubism.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 105:43
Explore how the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood reacted against modern times and the industrial revolution, embracing arthurian myth and truth to nature, with redheaded muses like Alexa and Jane Morris.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 115:45
Examine William Holman Hunt's awakening of conscience as a symbol-rich portrayal of morality, with light as Christ and a discarded glove signaling fate. Consider the scene's possible political readings.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 126:29
Explore symbolism in art via Christ in the house of his parents, highlighting early medieval realism, floral motifs like poppies and roses, and allusions to St Agnes Eve and Mariana.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 134:12
Explore symbolism in art through Christian motifs, medieval legends, and myths, as seen in Edward Byrne Jones's work and the Arts and Crafts stained glass by William Morris.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 145:42
Explore Waterhouse’s shift to literary and mythic themes in the 80s, featuring dreamily romantic scenes such as the Lady of Shalott and echoes of Narcissus, with refined tone and composition.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 1514:35
Explore how the artist reconstructs past life with archaeologically accurate settings, from egyptian capitals and games to Rome scenes, using marble study and historical sources.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 166:34
Explore Aubrey Beardsley's compact, black-and-white illustrations for Sir Thomas Mallory and Oscar Wilde's Salome, highlighting line work, busy patterns, and color field experimentation that presage modern art.
Symbolism in Art Lecure 177:42
Course Catalog9:46
Explore the course catalog for Henri Rousseau and Symbolist Art through a playful, repeated birdie motif, punctuated by Bernie and hey, buddy, ending with it's over.

Requirements

There are no prerequisits for this course other than an interest in Art.

Description

This is a course on Henri Rousseau and Symbolist Art. This course focuses on the pioneering Symbolic Artists of the 19th century. The course examines the various styles and movements of Symbolic Art during this period of rapid social change. The Symbolist Artists express their desire to retain the romantic past. This movement is very important in the history of Art, not only does it seek to preserve the idealized qualities of a bygone era, but it also anticipates the future of psychology and Surrealism. I teach lecture courses and studios as I wish they would have been taught to me. Much of the graphic material in my lectures is taken or generated first hand directly by me on site. I teach to learn. I teach subjects as I wish they were taught to me. The Mission Statement. Education is a tool for the improvement of successive generations. I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. Confucius

This course is designed under the premise that humans should be taught in a way that is modeled after the educational patterns of evolution.

The design, development and application of educational systems based on the educational principles of evolution generates a philosophy and methodology of education in synchrony with the evolutionary education system that is firmly and deeply rooted in each of us.

Education for evolution is an educational system designed to help propel humans forward in the natural course of evolution. The purpose of education for evolution is to enhance and strengthen the natural evolutionary process of humans through the mechanism of education. The means to achieve this objective is the design of a curricula based on the same educational techniques and strategies used by natural evolution, enhanced and guided by the application of conscious educational decisions.

Who this course is for:

This course if for students who want to penetrate and understand the mysteries of Symbolic Art.