Mystical symbolism. The Salon de la Rose + Croix in Paris 1892-1897

Pictures of fragile and fatal femme, androgynous creatures, chimeras and nightmares are at the base of the exposed works, as well as sinuous lines, stylized figures and anti-naturalistic shapes. On display, about forty important works, exhibited in the various Salons, of various artists, some others less known, who will invite to look and interpret with new eyes the artistic legacy left by the Symbolism of the end of the eighteenth century. In the spring of 1892 Joséphin Péladan (1858-1918), a critic and author of rosacrociano, inaugurated the first Salon de la Rose + Croix at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris as an extension of the secret Rose + Croix confraternity, which he establishes, an esoteric order with roots in mysticism and arcane rituals, considered by Péladan the means to understand universal truths and reach enlightenment. With an annual cadence, the Salons were on stage, precisely for the will of the eccentric Péladan, a kind of mystical-symbolist art, especially of hermetic and spiritual connotation. The Salons soon became a sort of cosmopolitan crossroads, featuring artists from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Holland, Spain and Switzerland. Thanks to the in-depth research carried out to track the works exhibited originally in the different Salons, exhibitions will be featured on paintings, paperwork and artist sculptures such as Antoine Bourdelle, Rogelio de Egusquiza, Jean Delville, Charles Filiger, Fernand Khnopff, Charles Maurin, Alphonse Osbert, Armand Point, Georges Rouault, Carlos Schwabe, Alexandre Séon, Jan Toorop, Ville Vallgren and Félix Vallotton. The Salons soon became a sort of cosmopolitan crossroads, featuring artists from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Holland, Spain and Switzerland. Thanks to the in-depth research carried out to track the works exhibited originally in the different Salons, exhibitions will be featured on paintings, paperwork and artist sculptures such as Antoine Bourdelle, Rogelio de Egusquiza, Jean Delville, Charles Filiger, Fernand Khnopff, Charles Maurin, Alphonse Osbert, Armand Point, Georges Rouault, Carlos Schwabe, Alexandre Séon, Jan Toorop, Ville Vallgren and Félix Vallotton. The Salons soon became a sort of cosmopolitan crossroads, featuring artists from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Holland, Spain and Switzerland. Thanks to the in-depth research carried out to track the works exhibited originally in the different Salons, exhibitions will be featured on paintings, paperwork and artist sculptures such as Antoine Bourdelle, Rogelio de Egusquiza, Jean Delville, Charles Filiger, Fernand Khnopff, Charles Maurin, Alphonse Osbert, Armand Point, Georges Rouault, Carlos Schwabe, Alexandre Séon, Jan Toorop, Ville Vallgren and Félix Vallotton.

The exhibition is curated by Vivien Greene, Senior Curator, 19th and Early 20th Century Art, with the support of Ylinka Barotto, Assistant Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is the second stage of Mystical Symbolism after the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, where it was exhibited from 30 June to 4 October 2017.