Patti Smith

We didn't have the phrase 'style icon' when I was young, but I have to say, I really copied Bob Dylan when I was younger: a little bit of Bob Dylan or a lot of Bob Dylan and the French symbolist poets - I liked how they dressed - and Catholic school boys.

American Musician

Henry Adams

I am an anarchist in politics and an impressionist in art as well as a symbolist in literature. Not that I understand what these terms mean, but I take them to be all merely synonyms of pessimist.

American Historian

Relates to a specific 19th-century art and literature movement focusing on using symbolic imagery.

Historical Movement

Symbolists aimed to express emotions and the mystical through their use of symbols.

Emotional Expression

Symbolist works are not meant to be taken literally; they hold deeper meanings.

Not Literal

Describes an artistic style that evokes emotions through symbolic figures and scenes.

Emotive Imagery

Symbolist works often explore themes that are abstract, like dreams or the unconscious.

Abstract Themes

Symbolist pieces could include cultural or religious symbols known to have specific meanings.