![]() As other artists did, he took himself several photographs. Photography As A Creative Support Memories (Du Lawn Tennis) by Fernand Khnopff, 1889, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brusselsįernand Khnopff did not paint from nature and loathed painting with models, so he used photography as a help. She represents the ideal woman yet out of reach. Marguerite stands in front of a closed door, looking in another direction. In 1887, Khnopff painted the “Portrait of Marguerite Khnopff.” Fernand always cherished this full-length portrait of his sister, illustrating their obsessive relationship. After getting married in 1890, Marguerite moved away – Fernand felt an additional abandonment experience. Khnopff transformed the shapes of his figures so they would look like Greek gods ‘ angular faces. He almost exclusively used her as a model to depict the ideal woman. The offended painter destroyed his canvas.Īfter that event, Khnopff worked with the collaboration of his beloved sister Marguerite. However, as she discovered her image at the exhibit of Belgian avant-garde group Les XX, which Khnoppf was a member of, she was horrified to see her head on a nude body. She worked at La Monnaie, Brussels’ opera house. Marguerite: Khnopff’s Beloved Sister And Muse Portrait of Marguerite by Fernand Khnopff, 1887, via Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brusselsįernand Khnopff painted the portrait of a famous French opera singer Rose Caron. Instead, the real important women in Khnopffs’ life were his mother and his sister. He married a widowed lady with two children at the age of 51. Generally speaking, in Khnopff’s art, women appear as distant and indifferent androgynous figures.Īs a true introvert, the painter rarely socialized with women. Fernand’s family name, “Khnopff,” translated in German, means knob, which in French can also mean bud. A red flower bud stands on the table, next to the vase. Faded Hydrangeas symbolize the unattainable woman and impossible love. Khnopff chose hydrangeas for their cold beauty, as defined by Charlotte De Latour. Symbolist artists like Khnopff abundantly used flowers to deliver a message. ![]() She describes the symbolic meaning of each flower. In 1819, French writer Louise Cortambert, also known as Charlotte De Latour, wrote Le Langage des Fleur ( The Language of Flowers ). Flowers always played a powerful symbolic role throughout history. In the 1884 Hortensia (Hydrangea) painting, we can see a bouquet of fading flowers at the forefront while a woman is reading in another room. Tall stern-looking women with pale and cold eyes populate his paintings and drawings. The Quest For Impossible Love And Idealized Femininity Hortensia by Fernand Khnopff, 1884, via The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkĪn essential feature in Fernand Khnopff’s work is the idealized feminine figure. The illustration of Fernand Khnopff dialog perfectly with the text of Georges Rodenbach.Īn Abandoned City by Fernand Khnopff, 1904, via Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels Rodenbach had a rather pessimistic vision of the world, while Khnopff depicts melancholic sceneries. Both spent their childhood in Bruges and were friends. Khnopff and Rodenbach shared several similarities in the ways they used to express themselves. Today, a hotspot of Belgian tourism, counting millions of visitors each year, 19th century Bruges was instead a real “dead” city. At the end of the 19th century, it became an ideal subject for symbolist artists : the abandoned city. In fact, the city lost its role when its direct access to the sea, the Zwin, slowly silted up, blocking the boats and merchandise away from the city. Once a flourishing harbor city, one of the largest in Medieval Europe, and an economic leader, Bruges declined from the 16th century onward. The city of Bruges plays a leading role in this story. ![]() This 1892 novel stands as a symbolist masterpiece. Khnopff illustrated Bruges-la-Morte ‘s cover page (The Dead Bruges), a short novel by Georges Rodenbach. The absence would always be an essential theme of his work.īruges had a strong influence on the painter’s work. He experienced it as being snatched from his hometown. The family lived in the city for five years before moving again, this time to Brussels, Belgium’s capital city. Edmond Khnopff, Fernand’s father, was appointed as a Royal Prosecutor. His family moved to the city in 1859, only one year after his birth. Fernand Khnopff’s Youth In A “Dead City” Frontispiece of Bruges-La-Morte (novel by Georges Rodenbach) by Fernand Khnopff, 1892, via Creature and Creatorīorn in Grembergen castle in 1858, in the Belgian East Flanders province, Fernand Khnopff was raised in the famous city of Bruges. ![]()
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