Fernand Khnopff

Fernand Edmond Jean Marie Khnopff ( born September 12, 1858 in Grembergen in Dendermonde, Flanders, † November 12, 1921 in Brussels) was a Belgian painter, printmaker, sculptor, photographer and writer. He is next to James Ensor as the main representative of the Belgian Symbolism.

Life

Khnopff came from a German - Austrian in origin family who had come in 1600 from around Vienna with Albert VII of Austria in the southern Netherlands. He grew up in Bruges. After his parents had moved to Brussels, he studied here first on his father's urging law, but changed already with twenty years at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts, where he among his teachers Mellery Xaver (1845-1921) and Jean -François Portaels (1818-1895 ) his painting career began with naturalistic landscapes and portraits. On a trip to Paris in 1877, he was influenced by Eugène Delacroix and learned in England know the Pre-Raphaelites. He was in touch with Maurice Maeterlinck and Emile Verhaeren, who wrote a book about him. In 1878 he began in Paris with Jules -Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger to study at the Académie Julian. At the Paris World Exhibition in 1878 ( Exposition Universelle de Paris) left with him the works shown, the English Pre-Raphaelites by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne -Jones with their mystical themes a great impression, which impressed him particularly Burne -Jones ' ideal woman. He became acquainted with the painter Gustave Moreau and devoted himself increasingly in the wake of the symbolism. In 1883 he was one with James Ensor of the founders of the Société des Vingt. Khnopff presented for the first time in 1884 at the Paris Salon and was now the favored painter of bourgeois society. Between 1884 and 1890, 34 portraits, among other portrait Jeanne kefer ( Getty ) and Portrait of Marie Monnom emerged ( Musée d' Orsay ). But his preferred model always remained his own sister Marguerite, with whom he lived in a self-designed, richly furnished house. " The touch of incest, which appears to float over the whole art of the late 19th century, is also visible in the life and works of Khnopff. "

In 1889 Khnopff had his first contacts to Britain, where he lived and exhibited regularly. British artists such as William Holman Hunt, George Frederic Watts, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown and Edward Burne -Jones were now his friends. In 1892 he exhibited at the Paris Salon de la Rose- Croix. From 1895 Khnopff worked as a correspondent for the art magazine "The Studio ".

Until the outbreak of World War I in 1914 Khnopff was responsible for the rubric " Studio - Talks -Brussels " in which he reported on the artistic developments in Belgium and Continental Europe. In March 1898 Khnopff had a selection of 21 works to the first exhibition of the Vienna Secession. In Vienna his work was received enthusiastically. His works on display there had a big influence on the oeuvre of the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt.

Khnopff had a passion for theater and opera. So he designed in 1903 sets the stage for Georges Rodenbach's play Le Mirage at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, which was performed under the direction of Max Reinhardt. In 1904 he designed for the wealthy banker Adolphe Stoclet decorative panels for the music room of the Palais Stoclet. Here Khnopff met again on prominent artists of the Vienna Secession as the architect of the Palais Stoclet Josef Hoffmann, and Gustav Klimt who had designed a mosaic for the dining room.

Performance

His color choice consisted of dark, morbid tones, with which he has captured mystical fantasies onto the canvas. He influenced by his style, especially the German symbolism, such as in the form of Franz von Stuck, as well as Art Nouveau. In the pictures of Khnopff especially women are emerging that are displayed in the form of chimeras, harpies, and sphinxes. This refers to the Sleeping around 1885 resulting work harpy, The loneliness of 1894 as well as The Art or The Caresses ( 1896). In addition, he created portraits and landscapes, as well as illustrations for works by other artists of his time.

Works (selection)

  • 1885: Sleeping harpy
  • 1887: Marie Monnom, 49,5 x50 cm, Paris, Musée d' Orsay
  • 1891: I lock my door upon myself ( I include myself in myself a ), oil on canvas, 72.7 x 141 cm, Munich, Neue Pinakothek ( Inv. No. 7921 )
  • 1894: Non-moving water - The Pond of Menil, oil on canvas, 53.5 x 114.5 cm, Vienna, Belvedere ( Inv. No. 7753 ),
  • 1894: Solitude
  • 1896: Half-length figure of a nymph - Vivien plaster, 99 cm, Vienna, Belvedere ( Inv. No. 4431 )
  • 1896: The Art or The Caresses, oil on canvas, 50 x 150 cm Brussels, Musées des Beaux -Arts Royaux
  • 1904: L' Incense ( Frankincense ), Oil on wood, Neuss, Clemens- Sels-Museum
  • 1904: A Bruge. Un Portail ( Brügge. The church of Notre Dame), oil on canvas, Neuss, Clemens- Sels-Museum
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