Hawkins rose to fame after his expositions in the Salon de la Société des Artistes Francais.

[2] He was also friendly with artists such as James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Auguste Rodin, whose portrait he painted.

Symbolism began as an artistic movement that developed from Romanticism in France in the second half of the 19th century, taking its themes of decadence, dandyism and mysticism.

Symbolist painting emphasized fantasy and imagination in their depiction of objects.

Symbolist artists often used metaphors and symbols to suggest a subject and favored mystical themes.