But what exactly *is* Symbolism?

"Symbolism" is a coffee table book showing (mostly ugly) art from the latter half of the 19th century. However, the book never really answers the question: What exactly *is* Symbolism?

After hundreds of pages of pseudo-erudition, I'm still not any wiser than before reading the book. There seems to be a total disconnect between the text and the paintings analyzed, nor do the works of art seem to have much in common with each other. And what on earth are the Pre-Raphaelites doing in this volume? Were they Symbolists? Nor do I understand the difference between Symbolism and Modernism, except that the artwork of the latter is even uglier.

If you want a colourful volume of ugly, incomprehensible art, I'm sure you are going to like "Symbolism". Otherwise, you might as well skip this one.