Book excerpt: "Enigmatic magic, erotic sensuality and dark dreamworlds all characterise Symbolism, which evolved as an art current from the 1880s on - with Brussels advancing to become a centre of activity in the development of European art. The tendency towards the morbid and the decadent was most pronounced in Belgian Symbolism. Many of the impulses for this avant-garde came from Belgian artists, such as the disreputable Félicien Rops, the subtle Fernand Khnopff, the occult Jean Delville and the eccentric Léon Spilliaert and James Ensor."--back cover.