Fernand Khnopff
Encyclopedia
Fernand Edmond Jean Marie Khnopff (12 September 1858 in Grembergen
near Dendermonde
, Belgium
– 12 November 1921 in Brussels
) as a Belgian
symbolist
painter
.
for generations. Khnopff's ancestors had lived in Flanders
since the early 17th century but were of Austrian
and Portuguese
descent. Most male members of his family had been lawyers or judges, and young Fernand was destined for a juridical career. In his early childhood (1859–1864) he lived in Bruges
where his father was appointed Substitut Du Procureur Du Roi. His childhood memories of the medieval city of Bruges
would play a significant role in his later work. In 1864 the family moved to Brussels.
To please his parents he went to law school at the Free University of Brussels
(now divided into the Université Libre de Bruxelles
and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
) when he was 18 years old. During this period he developed a passion for literature, discovering the works of Baudelaire, Flaubert, Leconte de Lisle and other mostly French authors. With his younger brother Georges Khnopff – also a passionate amateur of contemporary music and poetry – he started to frequent Jeune Belgique ("Young Belgium"), a group of young writers including Max Waller, Georges Rodenbach
, Iwan Gilkin and Emile Verhaeren
.
Khnopff left University due to a lack of interest in his law studies and began to frequent the studio of Xavier Mellery
, who made him familiar with the art of painting. On 25 October 1876, he enrolled for the Cours De Dessin Après Nature ("course of drawing after nature") at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts
. At the Académie, his most famous fellow student was James Ensor
, whom he disliked from the start. Between 1877 and 1880 Khnopff made several trips to Paris where he discovered the work of Delacroix
, Ingres
, Moreau
and Stevens
. At the Paris World Fair
of 1878 he became acquainted with the oeuvre of Millais and Burne-Jones. During his last year at the Académie in 1878–1879 he neglected his classes in Brussels and lived for a while in Passy
, were he visited the Cours Libres of Jules Joseph Lefebvre
at the Académie Julian
.
who writes a commending review. Verhaeren would remain a lifelong supporter and would write the first monography of the painter. In 1883, he was one of the founding members of the group Le Groupe des XX
. Khnopff exhibited regularly at the annual "Salon" organised by Les XX. In 1885 he met the French novelist Joséphin Péladan
the future grandmaster of the Rosicrucian
"Ordre de la Rose + Croix". Péladan asked Khnopff to design the cover for his new book "Le Vice suprême". Khnopff accepted this commission but destroyed the work later because the famous soprano Rose Caron
was offended by the imaginary portrait of Leonora d'Este that Khnopff had designed to adorn the cover and in which Caron believed to recognise her own face. The vehement reaction of "La Caron" on this occasion made a scandal in the Belgian and Parisian press and would help to establish Khnopff's name as an artist. Khnopff continued to design illustrations for the works of Péladan, most notably for "Femmes honnêtes" (1888) and "Le Panthée" (1892). On several occasions (1892, 1893, 1894 and 1897) Khnopff was invited as guest of honour on the exhibitions of the Parisian "Salon de la Rose + Croix" organised by Péladan.
, Watts
, Rossetti
, Brown
and Burne-Jones would become friends. From 1895 Khnopff worked as a correspondent for the British art journal "The Studio". Until the outbreak of World War I
in 1914 Khnopff would be responsible for the rubric "Studio-Talks-Brussels" in which he reported about the artistic evolutions in Belgium and continental Europe. In March 1898 Khnopff presented a selection of 21 works on the first exhibition of the Vienna Secession
. In Vienna
his work was received with massive admiration. The works he presented at the Secession would form a major influence on the oeuvre of Gustav Klimt
.
From 1900 onwards Khnopff is engaged in the design of his new home and studio in Brussels
(demolished). The house was inspired by the Vienna Secession
and more in particular by the architecture of Joseph Maria Olbrich
. To the sober architecture and decoration Khnopff added a highly symbolic, spatial and decorative concept that turned his home into a "Temple of the self". The house functioned as a shrine in which the genius of the painter could flourish. His motto "On a que soi" (=One has but oneself) was inscribed above the entrance door, in and his studio he painted in the middle of golden circle inscribed on the white mosaic floor. This almost theatrical setting was undoubtedly a reflection of Khnopffs passion for theatre and opera. Khnopff's first designs for the theatre date from 1903 when he sketched the sets for a production of Georges Rodenbach
's play "Le Mirage" at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. This production was directed by the famous Max Reinhardt
, and the sets evoking the gloomy streets of the mysterious city of Bruges where Khnopff had spent his early childhood, were much appreciated by the Berlin public and critics. After Khnopff had been engaged to design the costumes and the sets for the World premiere of Ernest Chausson
's opera Le Roi Arthus
at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie
in Brussels
in 1903, he collaborated on more than a dozen opera productions given at "La Monnaie" in the following decade. In 1904 the city council of Saint Gilles
commissioned him to decorate the ceilings of the "Salle des Marriages" (=Wedding Room) of the new Town Hall, and in the same year he was approached by the wealthy banker Adolphe Stoclet
to design decorative panels for the music room of the Palais Stoclet
. Here Khnopff came in touch again with prominent artists from the Vienna Secession
; the architect of the Palais Stoclet
Josef Hoffmann
, and Gustav Klimt
who had designed a decorative mosaic for its dining room.
Although not a very open man and a rather secluded personality, he already achieved cult status during his life. Acknowledged and accepted, he received the Order of Leopold. His sister, Marguerite, was one of his favorite subjects. His most famous painting is probably The Caress ("L'Art ou Des Caresses"). His art often portrayed a recurring theme found in symbolist art: the dualistic vision of woman as either 'femme fatale' or angelic woman.
Khnopff is buried in Laeken Cemetery
.
The numbers accompanied by the abbreviation: "dCOZ" refer to the catalogue of the works of Khnopff by Catherine de Croës and Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque (1987). See bibliographie.
The titles between quotation marks are the original titles given by Khnopff himself.
-Portrait of the violinist Achille Lerminiaux, 1885. (dCOZ 75)
-Portrait of Edmond Khnopff, father of the painter, 1881. (dCOZ 33)
-"Secret-Reflect" (Secret-Reflection), 1902. (dCOZ 378)
-"En écoutant Schumann" (listening to Schumann
), 1883. (dCOZ 52)
-Portrait of Marguerite Khnopff, sister of the painter, 1887. (dCOZ 100)
-"Du silence" (Silence), 1890. (dCOZ 151)
-"A Fosset, sous les sapins" (In Fosset, under the firs), 1894. (dCOZ 242)
-"Des Caresses" (The Caresses), 1896. (dCOZ 275)
-"Memories" or "Lawn Tennis", 1889. (dCOZ 131)
-Posthumous portrait of Marguerite Landuyt, 1896. (dCOZ 280)
-Portrait of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold of Belgium
, 1912. (dCOZ 499)
-Portrait of Miss Van der Hecht, 1883. (dCOZ 57)
-Portrait of Germaine Wiener, 1893. (dCOZ 237)
-"Blanc, noir et or" (White, black and gold), 1901. (dCOZ 365)
-"Un masque de jeune femme anglaise" (A mask of a young English woman), 1891. (dCOZ 181) Sculpture (bust
) in polychromed plaster.
-"Sous les arbres" (Under the trees), 1894. (dCOZ 253)
-"Une ville abandonnée" (An abandoned city), 1904. (dCOZ 401)
-Portrait of a man, ca. 1885. (dCOZ 89)
-"A Fosset, un ruisseau" (In Fosset, A brook), 1897. (dCOZ 285)
-"Paysage à Fosset", ca. 1894. (dCOZ 254)
-Portrait of Charles Maus (father of Octave Maus
, secretary of Les XX
), 1885. (dCOZ 84)
-"Chimère" (Chimaera
), ca. 1910. (dCOZ 470)
-"A Fosset, Le garde qui attend" (In Fosset, The forrester who waits), 1883. (dCOZ 49)
-"L'Encens" (incense), ca. 1898. (dCOZ 325)
-"A Fosset, Un sentier" (In Fosset, a track), ca. 1890-'95. (dCOZ 170)
-"Des yeux bruns et une fleur bleue", 1905. (dCOZ 415)
-"Un Masque" (A mask), 1897. (dCOZ 299) Sculpture in polychromed plaster.
-Portrait of the mother of the artist, 1882. (dCOZ 39)
-"Orphée" (Orpheus
), 1913. (dCOZ 519)
-"l'Isolement" (the Isolation, triptych consisting of: "Acrasia
", "Solitude" and "Brittomart
"), ca. 1890-1894.
Part II, "Solitude" is not in Liège but property of the Neumann Foundation in Gingins
.
-"Les cheveux" (Hair), 1892. (dCOZ 218bis)
-Portrait of Jeanne Kéfer, 1885. (dCOZ 82)
-"I lock my door upon myself", 1891. (dCOZ 174)
-"A Bruges, un portail" (In Bruges, a portal), ca. 1904. (dCOZ 405)
-"l'Offrande" (The offering), 1891. (dCOZ 187)
-View from the bridge at Fosset, ca. 1882-1883. (dCOZ, 41bis)
-Portrait of Marie Monnom (Later wife of Théo van Rysselberghe
), 1887. (dCOZ 98)
-"A Bruges, une église" (In Bruges, a church), 1904. (dCOZ 393)
-"l'Eau immobile" (The immobile water), ca. 1894. (dCOZ 247)
-"Tête de jeune femme anglaise" (Head of a young English woman), 1895. (dCOZ 265) Drawing in red chalk.
In the The Folding Star
, a novel by Alan Hollinghurst
, Edgard Orst, a symbolist painter whose work and life are crucial for the story, is modelled on Khnopff and James Ensor
.
Grembergen
Grembergen is a town in the municipality of Dendermonde in the Denderstreek in the province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is not to be confused with the municipality of Grimbergen in the province of Flemish Brabant....
near Dendermonde
Dendermonde
Dendermonde is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde proper and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
– 12 November 1921 in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
) as a Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
symbolist
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
Youth and Training
Fernand Khnopff was born to a wealthy family that was part of the high bourgeoisieBourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
for generations. Khnopff's ancestors had lived in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
since the early 17th century but were of Austrian
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
and Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
descent. Most male members of his family had been lawyers or judges, and young Fernand was destined for a juridical career. In his early childhood (1859–1864) he lived in Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
where his father was appointed Substitut Du Procureur Du Roi. His childhood memories of the medieval city of Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
would play a significant role in his later work. In 1864 the family moved to Brussels.
To please his parents he went to law school at the Free University of Brussels
Free University of Brussels
The Free University of Brussels was a university in Brussels, Belgium. In 1969, it split into the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel....
(now divided into the Université Libre de Bruxelles
Université Libre de Bruxelles
The Université libre de Bruxelles is a French-speaking university in Brussels, Belgium. It has 21,000 students, 29% of whom come from abroad, and an equally cosmopolitan staff.-Name:...
and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is a Flemish university located in Brussels, Belgium. It has two campuses referred to as Etterbeek and Jette.The university's name is sometimes abbreviated by "VUB" or translated to "Free University of Brussels"...
) when he was 18 years old. During this period he developed a passion for literature, discovering the works of Baudelaire, Flaubert, Leconte de Lisle and other mostly French authors. With his younger brother Georges Khnopff – also a passionate amateur of contemporary music and poetry – he started to frequent Jeune Belgique ("Young Belgium"), a group of young writers including Max Waller, Georges Rodenbach
Georges Rodenbach
Georges Raymond Constantin Rodenbach was a Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist.- Biography :Georges Rodenbach was born in Tournai to a French mother and a German father from the Rhineland . He went to school in Ghent at the prestigious Sint-Barbaracollege, where he became friends with the poet...
, Iwan Gilkin and Emile Verhaeren
Emile Verhaeren
Emile Verhaeren was a Belgian poet who wrote in the French language, and one of the chief founders of the school of Symbolism....
.
Khnopff left University due to a lack of interest in his law studies and began to frequent the studio of Xavier Mellery
Xavier Mellery
Xavier Mellery was a Belgian Symbolist painter.The son of a gardener at the Royal Palace of Laeken, Mellery initially worked with the painter-decorator Charles Albert. He attended the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels from 1860 to 1867, one of his professors being Jean-François Portaels...
, who made him familiar with the art of painting. On 25 October 1876, he enrolled for the Cours De Dessin Après Nature ("course of drawing after nature") at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts
Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts
The Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels is an art school, founded in 1711.The faculty and alumni of ARBA include some of the most famous names in Belgian painting, sculpture, and architecture: James Ensor, Rene Magritte, and Paul Delvaux...
. At the Académie, his most famous fellow student was James Ensor
James Ensor
James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor was a Flemish-Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for almost his entire life...
, whom he disliked from the start. Between 1877 and 1880 Khnopff made several trips to Paris where he discovered the work of Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Ingres
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was a French Neoclassical painter. Although he considered himself to be a painter of history in the tradition of Nicolas Poussin and Jacques-Louis David, by the end of his life it was Ingres's portraits, both painted and drawn, that were recognized as his greatest...
, Moreau
Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau was a French Symbolist painter whose main emphasis was the illustration of biblical and mythological figures. As a painter of literary ideas, Moreau appealed to the imaginations of some Symbolist writers and artists.- Biography :Moreau was born in Paris. His father, Louis Jean Marie...
and Stevens
Alfred Stevens (painter)
Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens was a Belgian painter.Alfred Stevens was born in Brussels. He came from a family involved with the visual arts: his older brother Joseph and his son Léopold were painters, while another brother Arthur was an art dealer and critic...
. At the Paris World Fair
World fair
World Fair can refer to:* Expo , a large public exhibition* This World Fair, an American rock band...
of 1878 he became acquainted with the oeuvre of Millais and Burne-Jones. During his last year at the Académie in 1878–1879 he neglected his classes in Brussels and lived for a while in Passy
Passy
Passy is an area of Paris, France, located in the XVIe arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is traditionally home to many of the city's wealthiest residents.Passy was formerly a commune...
, were he visited the Cours Libres of Jules Joseph Lefebvre
Jules Joseph Lefebvre
Jules Joseph Lefebvre was a French figure painter.Lefebvre entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in 1852 and was a pupil of Léon Cogniet. He won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1861. Between 1855 and 1898, he exhibited 72 portraits in the Paris Salon...
at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
.
Early career with Les XX
In 1881 he presents his works to the public for the first time at the "Salon de l'Essor" in Brussels. The critics' appraisal of his work is very harsh, with the exception of Emile VerhaerenEmile Verhaeren
Emile Verhaeren was a Belgian poet who wrote in the French language, and one of the chief founders of the school of Symbolism....
who writes a commending review. Verhaeren would remain a lifelong supporter and would write the first monography of the painter. In 1883, he was one of the founding members of the group Le Groupe des XX
Les XX
Les XX was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years 'Les Vingt' , as they called themselves, held an annual exhibition of their art; each year twenty international artists were also...
. Khnopff exhibited regularly at the annual "Salon" organised by Les XX. In 1885 he met the French novelist Joséphin Péladan
Joséphin Péladan
Joséphin Péladan was a French novelist and Martinist. His father was a journalist who had written on prophecies, and professed a philosophic-occult Catholicism.-Biography:...
the future grandmaster of the Rosicrucian
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...
"Ordre de la Rose + Croix". Péladan asked Khnopff to design the cover for his new book "Le Vice suprême". Khnopff accepted this commission but destroyed the work later because the famous soprano Rose Caron
Rose Caron
Rose Caron was a French operatic soprano.Rose Caron was born at Monnerville . She studied at the Paris Conservatoire but was not taken on at the Paris Opera; her husband, an accompanist, encouraged her to take lessons from Marie Sasse who helped her to get engagements at the opera in Brussels...
was offended by the imaginary portrait of Leonora d'Este that Khnopff had designed to adorn the cover and in which Caron believed to recognise her own face. The vehement reaction of "La Caron" on this occasion made a scandal in the Belgian and Parisian press and would help to establish Khnopff's name as an artist. Khnopff continued to design illustrations for the works of Péladan, most notably for "Femmes honnêtes" (1888) and "Le Panthée" (1892). On several occasions (1892, 1893, 1894 and 1897) Khnopff was invited as guest of honour on the exhibitions of the Parisian "Salon de la Rose + Croix" organised by Péladan.
Later years
In 1889 Khnopff laid his first contacts with England where he would stay end exhibit regularly in the future. British artists such as HuntWilliam Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt OM was an English painter, and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Biography:...
, Watts
George Frederic Watts
George Frederic Watts, OM was a popular English Victorian painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical works, such as Hope and Love and Life...
, Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
, Brown
Ford Madox Brown
Ford Madox Brown was an English painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painting was Work...
and Burne-Jones would become friends. From 1895 Khnopff worked as a correspondent for the British art journal "The Studio". Until the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914 Khnopff would be responsible for the rubric "Studio-Talks-Brussels" in which he reported about the artistic evolutions in Belgium and continental Europe. In March 1898 Khnopff presented a selection of 21 works on the first exhibition of the Vienna Secession
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
. In Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
his work was received with massive admiration. The works he presented at the Secession would form a major influence on the oeuvre of Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects...
.
From 1900 onwards Khnopff is engaged in the design of his new home and studio in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(demolished). The house was inspired by the Vienna Secession
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
and more in particular by the architecture of Joseph Maria Olbrich
Joseph Maria Olbrich
Joseph Maria Olbrich was an Austrian architect and co-founder of the Vienna Secession.-Life:Olbrich was born in Opava, Austrian Silesia .He was the third child of Edmund and Aloisia Olbrich. He had two sisters who died before he was born, and two younger brothers John and Edmund...
. To the sober architecture and decoration Khnopff added a highly symbolic, spatial and decorative concept that turned his home into a "Temple of the self". The house functioned as a shrine in which the genius of the painter could flourish. His motto "On a que soi" (=One has but oneself) was inscribed above the entrance door, in and his studio he painted in the middle of golden circle inscribed on the white mosaic floor. This almost theatrical setting was undoubtedly a reflection of Khnopffs passion for theatre and opera. Khnopff's first designs for the theatre date from 1903 when he sketched the sets for a production of Georges Rodenbach
Georges Rodenbach
Georges Raymond Constantin Rodenbach was a Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist.- Biography :Georges Rodenbach was born in Tournai to a French mother and a German father from the Rhineland . He went to school in Ghent at the prestigious Sint-Barbaracollege, where he became friends with the poet...
's play "Le Mirage" at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. This production was directed by the famous Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt (theatre director)
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
, and the sets evoking the gloomy streets of the mysterious city of Bruges where Khnopff had spent his early childhood, were much appreciated by the Berlin public and critics. After Khnopff had been engaged to design the costumes and the sets for the World premiere of Ernest Chausson
Ernest Chausson
Amédée-Ernest Chausson was a French romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.-Life:Ernest Chausson was born in Paris into a prosperous bourgeois family...
's opera Le Roi Arthus
Le roi Arthus
Le roi Arthus is an opera in three acts by the French composer Ernest Chausson to his own libretto. It was composed between 1886 and 1895, but only first performed on 30 November 1903 at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, after long delays...
at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie
La Monnaie
Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in 1903, he collaborated on more than a dozen opera productions given at "La Monnaie" in the following decade. In 1904 the city council of Saint Gilles
Saint-Gilles, Belgium
Saint-Gilles or Sint-Gillis is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.Saint-Gilles has a multicultural identity stemming from its diverse population...
commissioned him to decorate the ceilings of the "Salle des Marriages" (=Wedding Room) of the new Town Hall, and in the same year he was approached by the wealthy banker Adolphe Stoclet
Adolphe Stoclet
Adolphe Stoclet was a Belgian engineer and financier. Today, however, he is most famous as the man who commissioned the Palais Stoclet, a mansion in Brussels, Belgium, between 1907 and 1911.-Life:...
to design decorative panels for the music room of the Palais Stoclet
Palais Stoclet
The Stoclet Palace is a private mansion built by architect Josef Hoffmann between 1905 and 1911 in Brussels, Belgium, for banker and art lover Adolphe Stoclet. Considered Hoffman's masterpiece, the Stoclet's house is one of the most refined and luxurious private houses of the twentieth century.The...
. Here Khnopff came in touch again with prominent artists from the Vienna Secession
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
; the architect of the Palais Stoclet
Palais Stoclet
The Stoclet Palace is a private mansion built by architect Josef Hoffmann between 1905 and 1911 in Brussels, Belgium, for banker and art lover Adolphe Stoclet. Considered Hoffman's masterpiece, the Stoclet's house is one of the most refined and luxurious private houses of the twentieth century.The...
Josef Hoffmann
Josef Hoffmann
Josef Hoffmann was an Austrian architect and designer of consumer goods.- Biography :...
, and Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects...
who had designed a decorative mosaic for its dining room.
Although not a very open man and a rather secluded personality, he already achieved cult status during his life. Acknowledged and accepted, he received the Order of Leopold. His sister, Marguerite, was one of his favorite subjects. His most famous painting is probably The Caress ("L'Art ou Des Caresses"). His art often portrayed a recurring theme found in symbolist art: the dualistic vision of woman as either 'femme fatale' or angelic woman.
Khnopff is buried in Laeken Cemetery
Laeken Cemetery
The Laeken Cemetery , located in Laeken in the northern part of Brussels, is one of the major cemeteries in Belgium.-Description:...
.
List of some works in public collections
The numbers accompanied by the abbreviation: "dCOZ" refer to the catalogue of the works of Khnopff by Catherine de Croës and Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque (1987). See bibliographie.
The titles between quotation marks are the original titles given by Khnopff himself.
- AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Van Gogh MuseumVan Gogh MuseumThe Van Gogh Museum is an art museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, featuring the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. It has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world.-Background:...
-Portrait of the violinist Achille Lerminiaux, 1885. (dCOZ 75)
- Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen:
-Portrait of Edmond Khnopff, father of the painter, 1881. (dCOZ 33)
- BrugesBrugesBruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
, GroeningemuseumGroeningemuseumThe Groeningemuseum is a municipal museum of Bruges, Belgium.It houses a comprehensive survey of six centuries of Flemish and Belgian painting, from Jan van Eyck to Marcel Broodthaers...
-"Secret-Reflect" (Secret-Reflection), 1902. (dCOZ 378)
- BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of BelgiumRoyal Museums of Fine Arts of BelgiumThe Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium , is one of the most famous museums in Belgium.-The museum:...
:
-"En écoutant Schumann" (listening to Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
), 1883. (dCOZ 52)
-Portrait of Marguerite Khnopff, sister of the painter, 1887. (dCOZ 100)
-"Du silence" (Silence), 1890. (dCOZ 151)
-"A Fosset, sous les sapins" (In Fosset, under the firs), 1894. (dCOZ 242)
-"Des Caresses" (The Caresses), 1896. (dCOZ 275)
-"Memories" or "Lawn Tennis", 1889. (dCOZ 131)
-Posthumous portrait of Marguerite Landuyt, 1896. (dCOZ 280)
-Portrait of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold of Belgium
Leopold III of Belgium
Leopold III reigned as King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951, when he abdicated in favour of the Heir Apparent,...
, 1912. (dCOZ 499)
-Portrait of Miss Van der Hecht, 1883. (dCOZ 57)
-Portrait of Germaine Wiener, 1893. (dCOZ 237)
-"Blanc, noir et or" (White, black and gold), 1901. (dCOZ 365)
-"Un masque de jeune femme anglaise" (A mask of a young English woman), 1891. (dCOZ 181) Sculpture (bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
) in polychromed plaster.
-"Sous les arbres" (Under the trees), 1894. (dCOZ 253)
-"Une ville abandonnée" (An abandoned city), 1904. (dCOZ 401)
- BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Collection of the BOZAR:
-Portrait of a man, ca. 1885. (dCOZ 89)
- BudapestBudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Museum of Fine Arts:
-"A Fosset, un ruisseau" (In Fosset, A brook), 1897. (dCOZ 285)
- DendermondeDendermondeDendermonde is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde proper and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde...
, Stedelijke Musea:
-"Paysage à Fosset", ca. 1894. (dCOZ 254)
- Elsene/Ixelles, Musée d'Ixelles/Museum van Elsene:
-Portrait of Charles Maus (father of Octave Maus
Octave Maus
Octave Maus was a Belgian art critic, writer, and lawyer.Maus worked with fellow writer/lawyer Edmond Picard, and they together with Victor Arnould and Eugène Robert founded the weekly L'Art moderne in 1881....
, secretary of Les XX
Les XX
Les XX was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years 'Les Vingt' , as they called themselves, held an annual exhibition of their art; each year twenty international artists were also...
), 1885. (dCOZ 84)
-"Chimère" (Chimaera
Chimaera
Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes, known informally as ghost sharks, ratfish , spookfish , or rabbitfishes...
), ca. 1910. (dCOZ 470)
- Frankfurt-am-Main, Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie:
-"A Fosset, Le garde qui attend" (In Fosset, The forrester who waits), 1883. (dCOZ 49)
- GhentGhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, Museum of Fine Arts, GhentMuseum of Fine Arts, GhentThe Museum of Fine Arts ) in Ghent, Belgium, is situated at the East side of the Citadelpark .The museum holds a large permanent collection of art from the Middle Ages until mid 20th Century. The collection focuses on Flemish Art but also has several European- especially French- paintings...
:
-"L'Encens" (incense), ca. 1898. (dCOZ 325)
-"A Fosset, Un sentier" (In Fosset, a track), ca. 1890-'95. (dCOZ 170)
-"Des yeux bruns et une fleur bleue", 1905. (dCOZ 415)
- HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Kunsthalle HamburgKunsthalle HamburgThe Hamburger Kunsthalle is an art museum in Hamburg, Germany. The art museum focuses on painting in Hamburg in the 14th century, paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, French and German paintings of the 19th century, modern, and contemporary art...
:
-"Un Masque" (A mask), 1897. (dCOZ 299) Sculpture in polychromed plaster.
- LiègeLiègeLiège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporainMusée d'art moderne et d'art contemporainThe Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain, also known as MAMAC, is a museum dedicated to modern art and contemporary art, opened on 21 June 1990, in Nice.-Location:...
:
-Portrait of the mother of the artist, 1882. (dCOZ 39)
-"Orphée" (Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
), 1913. (dCOZ 519)
-"l'Isolement" (the Isolation, triptych consisting of: "Acrasia
The Faerie Queene
The Faerie Queene is an incomplete English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. The first half was published in 1590, and a second installment was published in 1596. The Faerie Queene is notable for its form: it was the first work written in Spenserian stanza and is one of the longest poems in the English...
", "Solitude" and "Brittomart
The Faerie Queene
The Faerie Queene is an incomplete English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. The first half was published in 1590, and a second installment was published in 1596. The Faerie Queene is notable for its form: it was the first work written in Spenserian stanza and is one of the longest poems in the English...
"), ca. 1890-1894.
Part II, "Solitude" is not in Liège but property of the Neumann Foundation in Gingins
Gingins
Gingins is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-History:Gingins is first mentioned around 1144-59 as Gingins. In October 1535, a major battle was fought in that locality between the forces of the republic of Geneva and Charles III, Duke of Savoy, which ended...
.
-"Les cheveux" (Hair), 1892. (dCOZ 218bis)
- Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, J. Paul Getty MuseumJ. Paul Getty MuseumThe J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...
:
-Portrait of Jeanne Kéfer, 1885. (dCOZ 82)
- MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Neue PinakothekNeue PinakothekThe Neue Pinakothek is an art museum in Munich, Germany. Its focus is European Art of the 18th and 19th century and is one of the most important museums of art of the nineteenth century in the world...
:
-"I lock my door upon myself", 1891. (dCOZ 174)
- NeussNeussNeuss is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district and owes its prosperity to its location at the crossing of historic and modern trade routes. It is primarily known...
, Clemens Sels Museum:
-"A Bruges, un portail" (In Bruges, a portal), ca. 1904. (dCOZ 405)
- New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
-"l'Offrande" (The offering), 1891. (dCOZ 187)
- OstendOstendOstend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
, Museum voor Schone Kunsten:
-View from the bridge at Fosset, ca. 1882-1883. (dCOZ, 41bis)
- ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Musée d'OrsayMusée d'OrsayThe Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...
:
-Portrait of Marie Monnom (Later wife of Théo van Rysselberghe
Théo van Rysselberghe
Théo van Rysselberghe was a Belgian neo-impressionist painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the century.-Early years:...
), 1887. (dCOZ 98)
- VerviersVerviersVerviers is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. The Verviers municipality includes the old communes of Ensival, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Heusy...
, Musées Communaux:
-"A Bruges, une église" (In Bruges, a church), 1904. (dCOZ 393)
- ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Österreichische Galerie BelvedereÖsterreichische Galerie BelvedereThe Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is a museum housed in the Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria.The art collection includes masterpieces from the Middle Ages and Baroque until the 21st century, though it focuses on Austrian painters from the Fin de Siècle and Art Nouveau period...
:
-"l'Eau immobile" (The immobile water), ca. 1894. (dCOZ 247)
- ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Graphische Sammlung Albertina:
-"Tête de jeune femme anglaise" (Head of a young English woman), 1895. (dCOZ 265) Drawing in red chalk.
Trivia
- His painting of The Caress is a central focus in a Greg EganGreg EganGreg Egan is an Australian science fiction author.Egan published his first work in 1983. He specialises in hard science fiction stories with mathematical and quantum ontology themes, including the nature of consciousness...
short story of the same name.
In the The Folding Star
The Folding Star
-Plot summary:The novel is the story of an English gay man, Edward Manners, who, disaffected with life, moves to a town in Flanders where he teaches two students English. One, Marcel, is good but ugly while the other, Luc, is bad but, to the protagonist, deeply beautiful...
, a novel by Alan Hollinghurst
Alan Hollinghurst
Alan Hollinghurst is a British novelist, and winner of the 2004 Man Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty.-Biography:Hollinghurst was born on 26 May 1954 in Stroud, Gloucestershire, the only child of James Hollinghurst, a bank manager, and his wife, Elizabeth...
, Edgard Orst, a symbolist painter whose work and life are crucial for the story, is modelled on Khnopff and James Ensor
James Ensor
James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor was a Flemish-Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for almost his entire life...
.