The Symbolist and Scientific Roots of Modern Art

Biomorphic Modern art, one of the most recognizable styles of abstract modernism, is understood as a biological-based style, sometimes utilizing magnified views of natural forms to represent the primacy and the processes of life. Twentieth century artists, including Hans Arp, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee rejected natural appearances, insteadexpressing the “rhythms” of the universe. This paper will investigate the precedents for biomorphic abstract art that emerged in French art at the fin de siècle.

“Scientific Symbolism,” a term coined by critic Camille Mauclair in 1907 to explain the paintings of Albert Besnard, is a useful category to outline how nineteenth century French artists moved towards abstracting their imagery. Besnard, Emile Gallé and Odilon Redon, to name a few, were well versed in biological and chemical theories and photographic technologies especially microscopic photography. French scientific culture was still much influenced by neo-Lamarckian (Transformist) theories at the turn-of-the-century, and biology and chemistry seemed to reinforce ideas aboutthe vitalforces of nature, possibly revealing fundamental natural laws. As Modernity developed, the growing pressure to do away with narrative and figurative forms, encouragedsome Symbolist artists to explore iconographic and methodological resemblances between scientific visualizations and fine art tocreate meaningful work.