Mystical Symbolism: The Salon de la Rose+Croix in Paris, 1892–1897

Art, occultism and decadence from late 19th-century France

Mystical Symbolism: The Salon de la Rose+Croix in Paris, 1892–1897 accompanied the first-ever museum presentation examining the Salon de la Rose+Croix, a series of annual exhibitions established by eccentric French author, critic, occultist and Rosicrucian Joséphin Péladan. The Rose+Croix convened an international group of Symbolist artists around a shared refutation of Realist aesthetics and philosophy, frequently in favor of the ideal and the mystical. Among the participants were Pierre Amédée Marcel-Béronneau, Jean Delville, Fernand Khnopff, Charles Maurin, Armand Point, Alexandre Séon and Félix Vallotton.

Bound in red velvet with gold-stamped lettering to conjure the evocative atmosphere of the Salons, the catalog features essays about the history, themes and often spiritual aims of the Rose+Croix (Vivien Greene), its reception by the press and the public in the 1890s (Jean-David Jumeau-Lafond) and the importance of spiritualism to early 20th-century abstraction (Kenneth E. Silver). This richly illustrated volume also contains 46 color plates, entries on each exhibited artist and a bibliography of contemporary sources on Symbolist art.