ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СИМВОЛІВ ТА ЇХ ІНТЕРПРЕТАЦІЯ В ПОЛЬСЬКІЙ СЕЦЕСІЇ

Modern art is fi lled with
various symbols, which conveyed a mysterious meaning, and had a
great variety of manifestations. Many ideas that appeared in the era
of modernism were refl ected in art. The system of special tools and
techniques was used by artists in the depiction of various subjects of
paintings. Each spectator could see the refl ection of his outlook and
his attitude in one creative work. Artwork becomes multifunctional
at that time. Analysis of artistic works allows you to see the variety
of symbols and how they affect the mind of the viewer.
The purpose of this publication is to analyze main modernist
symbols; to determine how symbols appear on canvases of the
Polish secession masters and what semantic meaning they carry
to the viewer, to reveal their infl uence on compositional schemes
and image features.
Symbolism is a phenomenon that extends beyond the limits of
artistic reality. In modernism and symbolism, “various spheres
of manifestation ... symbolism is manifested more clearly in the
art associated with the word ... style of modernism” [3, c. 68].
Symbolism is a new, different way to see and perceive the world. In
its own way, this is, of course, the answer to new reality of progress
that is too material and specifi c. Symbolism perceives reality as
the surface of the most realistic things. All events, phenomena,
images are only external part of deep things and events. The world
is fi lled with various symbols, and it looks like a mysterious box,
inside which there is one more box, then another one. It is impos-sible to determine how many of these boxes are there and which
of them will be the last (that is, the true meaning).
Thus, symbolism questioned the fact that things are the ones that
they are seen. On the contrary, in order to understand the essence
of things, they had to be looked at by the inner sight, to see an
additional meaning in them. Thus, against the background of
general knowledge of everything and of all that progressed, the
Symbolists, once again burdened the reality by additional content
that created the secret.
This perception of the world was infi nitely deep and full of subtext
(moreover, not religious symbols, as it was possible to say about
the art of the Middle Ages), which gave another contrast to the
“popularization” of art and raised the artist again (in the broadest
sense of the word) on the Olympus of inaccessibility. In addition,
symbolism introduces the concept of ambiguity in the broad sense,
the ambiguity of not only phenomena, but also characters. From
now the whole world receives the “second, third, fourth, fi fth
bottom”. Symbolism, as a world outlook, becomes a hallmark of
a new reality and one more beginning for the future of the twen-tieth century, in which everything will be ambiguous. Actually,
the worldview of symbolism has become incredibly widespread,
despite the fact that to some extent it was an attempt to create a
new culture for all segments of population.
The thinking of symbolism meant infi nite distrust of reality and
boundless careful consideration and interpretation that in everyday
plan gave a certain surge of mysticism on the verge of centuries.
Nature and a large number of plants were combined into new fan-tastic creatures: fl owers and birds, waves and horse, fi sh and man.
Artists turn to symbols through which the idea, the meaning that
is laid down when creating a painting is conveyed to the viewer.
Pans with horns, swan women, centaurs, sphinxes, huge butterfl ies,
dragonfl ies, pythons, snakes, lilies, poppies, roses, sunfl owers, sea
waves emphasize constant movement, self-renovation in paintings
of a new style [2, c. 181].
But artists depict not just the animal entirely, as animists do, but
only part of it (for example, a butterfl y) or a bird (only a form and
plumage), or just a horse’s torso. In addition, the animal is depicted
not in natural environment, but it becomes only a background or
it can only convey a certain element or a sign.
Let’s consider in detail what kind of meaning each modern symbol
has. The description is provided not in alphabetical order, but by
the frequency of usage.
Flowers:
Poppy.It has double symbols, it is the symbol of sleep and memory,
and both interpretations can mean death. Since poppy comes from
narcotic substances, in ancient Greece this fl ower was sacred to
Morpheus, the god of sleep and dreams.
Iris.Iris and lily have a lot in common in their symbolics (Iris is
a rival-competitor like a fl ower fl eur-de-lis), both of these fl ow-ers embody light and hope. Iris is associated with the grief of the
Virgin Mary because of its sharp leaves.
Lily.Lily is a symbol of purity, perfection, mercy and majesty in
most cultures. Once lily brought the meaning of light and (as a
consequence of phallic form of the fl ower core) of the male be-ginning. In Greco-Roman mythology, the lily was sacred fl ower
of Hera (Juno).
Sunfl ower.As we see from the name, symbolism of the fl ower is
associated with the sun: golden colour and the petal-rays, as well
as the characteristic feature of turning infl orescences to the sun
and it can be said that sunfl ower is a solar fl ower.
Харків 2018
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розділ
Mallow.Mallow leaves are more important than fl owers and they
are identifi ed in many cultures (in Christianity) with the thirst for
forgiveness. In China this fl ower is associated with peace, calm
and humility.
Rose.Rose is one of the most symbolic fl owers. This beautiful,
fragrant fl ower protected by spines, carries beauty, mystery, love,
life, blood, death and rebirth.
Birds:
Peacock.The beauty and magnifi cence of incredible peacock
feathers have become the cause of various associations.
Eagle.The majestic eagle fl ying high in the sky is a universal
symbol and embodies the all-seeing sky god, courage, victory,
strength, height, thunder and storm.
Insects:
Butterfl y.The butterfl y has three stages in its development: egg,
caterpillar and chrysalis. Primarily, butterfl y is a symbol of soul,
transformation of life from supposed death.
Dragonfl y. The Chinese consider the dragonfl y to be a personifi ca-tion of summer, unbalance (due to unpredictability of the fl ight)
and weakness. Dragonfl y is the national emblem of Japan.
Reptiles and sea creatures:
Snake.Snake is an international symbol with the most complex
and contradictory connotations.
Dolphin.The dolphin is associated with salvation, swiftness and
love. It is very popular symbol.
Octopus.This sea shellfi sh is the most widespread symbol of the
Mediterranean, where it is widely used as a decorative motif in
Mycenaean art.
Animals:
Horse.The horse was considered as a noble animal. It embodies
courage, grace, swiftness, as well as (in the western tradition)
male sexual power.
An analysis of works by Polish masters such as E. Okuna “War
and We” 1923; “Citrus Garden” 1923; K. Stavrovsky’s “The
History of the Waves” 1910, “Peacock on the background of the
stained glass” 1908; Yu. Mehofer “Amazing Garden” 1902–1903
shows how the world of symbols was revealed in the Polish art
of modern times.
Conclusions:
1. Main modernist symbols are analyzed in this publication;
2. Symbols appeared on canvases of the Polish secession masters
with their semantic meaning. They had their unique originality
and carried codifi ed representation of Poland;
3. Symbols conveyed the spirit, experience and patriotism of Polish
people to the spectator. They supported national consciousness.
Every symbol used by the Polish artist, performed a certain func-tion on the canvas, conveyed a certain context to the viewer and
formed a new worldview of the European culture;
4. With the help of symbols, artists of Polish secession broke from
classical compositional schemes and created their own interpreta-tion of the world around them.