Belgium Symbolism
Jan Frans De Boever was a Belgian Symbolist painter. He received his training in Ghent at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He became a recognised celebrity at official exhibitions in Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, and Liège. From 1909 onwards, he modified his style radically, painting women and prostitutes in morbid and bizarre settings, with skeletons, diabolism, subservient men and eroticism dominating his paintings. These paintings were allegorical and mythological, reflecting romantic imagery and depicting the universal struggle of good against evil. In 1914, he started to illustrate Charles Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du mal" for the wealthy art-collector Speltinckx. Up to 1924, he made approximately 157 gouaches for the poems, though only 86 have been recovered. Once he had discovered his style, a form of Symbolism belonging to the decadent movement, he ignored ongoing artistic developments and drew his inspiration from literature, music, and mythology. He was still inspired by patriotism, creating several paintings concerning the World Wars, displaying death and catastrophe in the Symbolist style.
Henry Jules Charles Corneille de Groux was a Belgian Symbolist painter, sculptor and lithographer. His 1889 painting Christ attacked by a mob made when he was only 22 years old established his reputation as an innovative Symbolist painter and ensured his admission to the progressive artistic circles in Brussels. He spent most of his active career in Paris. He produced many works depicting the horrors of the First World War in the latter part of his career.
Gustave Franciscus De Smet was a Belgian painter. Together with Constant Permeke and Frits Van den Berghe, he was one of the founders of Flemish Expressionism. In 1908, he and his wife followed Léon to the artists' colony in Sint-Martens-Latem. There, they initially came under the influence of Luminism and the painter Emile Claus, who lived in nearby Astene. At the beginning of World War I, he and his family joined his friend, Van den Berghe, and fled to the Netherlands. From 1914 to 1922, they moved about, visiting and staying at the art colonies in Amsterdam, Laren and Blaricum.[2] His meeting with the Expressionist painter Henri Le Fauconnier marked a turning point in his style which, up until then, owed much to Cubism. In 1927, he settled in Deurle. It was there that his mixture of Expressionism and Cubism peaked, with a series of works depicting circus, fairground and village scenes. After his death in Deurle at the age of sixty-six, his house was preserved as a local museum.
Marc Eemans was a Belgian painter, poet and art historian, one of the pioneers of constructivist abstraction.
In 1925, Eemans joined the Surrealist artists Dali and Magritte, with whom he held joint exhibitions. And soon the poet's fame eclipsed his success as a painter. In 1930, Eemans made his debut as a poet in Vergeten te worden: 10 lijnvormen, beïnvloed Door 10 woordvormen. Influenced by Symbolism, he calls his poetry "gnostic surrealism". In 1938 he publishes a collection of poems, Visioen Woli, and others.
His artistic and political stance during World War II led to a break with Magritte and others.
In addition to poetry collections, Eemans wrote essays on a variety of subjects, including modern painting and architecture.
Fernand Khnopff, full name Fernand-Edmond-Jean-Marie Khnopff, was a Belgian Symbolist painter, graphic artist, sculptor and art historian.
Born into a wealthy family, Fernand attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he studied painting with Xavier Mellerie. Throughout his years at the academy, Khnopff spent summers in Paris studying art, and at the 1878 World's Fair he saw the works of Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones and Symbolist Gustave Moreau, which had a decisive influence on his work.
In the early 1880s Khnopff began to exhibit his Symbolist works, often inspired by literary works, particularly by Gustave Flaubert. His paintings combined precise realism with an ethereal fairy-tale atmosphere, and he also painted portraits.
In 1883 Khnopff co-founded Les Vingt, a group of Belgian avant-garde artists. From the early 1990s, he collaborated regularly with the Brussels opera house Royal de la Monnaie, designing costumes and sets for many productions. He also designed the interiors of Brussels' landmark buildings: the Maison Stoclet and the Hôtel de Ville in Saint-Gilles.
Constant Montald was a Belgian painter, muralist, sculptor, and teacher. In 1874, while receiving an education in decorative painting at the technical school of Ghent during the day, Montald also enrolled in the evening-classes of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. There he won in 1885 a competition and received a grant from the city which enabled him to live and study briefly in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts. In Paris he painted his first monumental canvas, The Human Struggle. In 1886, Montald went on to win the Belgian Prix de Rome. He then went on a grand tour of Italy. He traveled extensively until he eventually settled in Florence, where he made preparations for a Grand work he eventually completed in Rome. This grand work, titled "Social Contradictions", was kept in the basement of the Royal Museum of Art and History of Brussels after it was displayed there in 1890 after being sent over from Rome. The First World War prevented Montald from painting Monumental works, instead he focused on painting on an easel. Montald co-founded the group L'art monumental. This group promoted a decorative monumental style connected to architecture.
Gabrielle Montald (Canivet) is a Belgian painter. Nothing is known of the artistic training of Canivet, obviously a self-taught artist. On August 9, 1892, Canivet married Constant Montald in Ghent. At that time, Montald was already a renowned painter who won several prizes with his canvases and murals. Unlike Montald, Canivet painted on silk and exhibited only briefly, between 1906 and 1934. Her presence in the art world was rather limited and she was invariably linked to her husband. Canivet knew different materials and techniques such as textiles, pencil, book binding and painting on silk and ceramics. She is known for her paintings on fabric, which she transforms into clothing accessories, but at the same time she also paints porcelain dishes. Mainly during the First World War, she worked on a series of ornamental fish, mushrooms and birds on silk, according to a process known only to her and which allows the fabric to retain all its flexibility. His compositions often include exotic flowers and a snail, which is almost his signature. Symbolism and Art Nouveau, which reached their peak at the end of the century, had a major influence on the conception of his work. His style therefore presents similarities with the idealistic aspirations of the art of the time.
Léon Spilliaert was a Belgian artist. He is known for his unique style of symbolism, with many of his works featuring dream-like landscapes, eerie still lifes, and enigmatic figures.
Spilliaert grew up in a wealthy family, and he initially studied architecture before turning to art. He was largely self-taught, and his work was heavily influenced by the Belgian symbolist movement, as well as the works of artists such as James Ensor and Edvard Munch.
Spilliaert was particularly interested in exploring the mysteries of the human psyche, and many of his works reflect a sense of unease or uncertainty. He often used strong contrasts of light and shadow to create a sense of drama and tension in his works, and his use of color was often muted and subdued.
Despite his success as an artist, Spilliaert was a deeply private individual, and he rarely exhibited his work during his lifetime. He continued to work throughout his life, however, producing a large body of haunting and enigmatic works that continue to captivate audiences today.
Marguerite Verboeckhoven was a Belgian painter known for her seascapes. She was educated in a wealthy and cultural environment. She received her artistic education at Ernest Blanc-Garin, who had specially opened a workshop for women and girls. Afterwards she became a teacher at the Ernest Blanc-Garin's workshop. In 1888, she was co-founder of the Cercle des Femmes Peintres in Brussels. Her painting "Coastal Landscape" sold for over $1000 in 2005.
