European symbolism has been much investigate, and some British exponents of the movement have been given a place in those accounts. But it has always been assumed that Symbolism was essentially a Continental phenomenon, having only marginal links with what happened in Great Britain in the late 19th century. This text reverses that view by focusing on key British artists, some of whom predate their Continental colleagues in dealing with the characteristic themes of Symbolism and showing their close links with European centres such as Brussels and Paris. Often the Europeans were a decade or more behind their British counterparts, and it has been overlooked that both Watts and Burne-Jones exhibited in Paris to critical acclaim, that the young Picasso was an ardent admirer of Burne-Jones and that Fernand Khnopff wrote articles for "The Studio". There was in fact a far greater exchange of ideas between British and Continental artists than at first might be imagined. This catalogue examines the major themes of Symbolist art and includes important works by Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Watts, Whistler, Beardsley, Khnopff, Moreau, Klimt and Picasso.