Dictionary
Belgian Symbolism
The young state of Belgium experienced both an economic as well as a cultural boom in the second half of the 19th century. Its strategic position within Europe had a positive effect on the country as it incorporated influences from France, England and the German speaking countries. The development of Belgian art in those days was also strongly characterized by an exalted Catholicism, which has to be regarded as a reaction to the long time Belgium had been under a Dutch Calvinist influence. The Catholic belief dominated the range of topics of Belgian Symbolism as well as their individual treatment. Brussels, where many art magazines were published, was the movement's center. The last two decades of the 19th century are regarded as the heyday of Symbolism, they were characterized by a great variety of styles. Accordingly, Belgian Symbolism played an important model role for Art Nouveau as well as for Expressionism and Surrealism. Beyond the different schools and artist personalities, the woman, sexuality, the world of dreams, death and religion are favored topics, which are often worked up in pictures that are hard to interpret. The compositions often, but not exclusively, show few dreamful and self-contained figures.
The transition to Symbolism is characterized by a mixture of an academic style with an unconventional topic, as the work of Antoine Wiertz (1806-65) clearly shows. His painting "Die schöne Rosine" (The Pretty Raisin, from 1847) shows a traditional concept of a female nude inspired by the great Italians. The woman quietly stands in front of a skeleton, a label with the picture's title attached to the skull. The topic of beauty's perishableness was not new and had been depicted as early as in the 16th century. However, it was not part of the academy's range of topics at that time. This way Wiertz anticipated one of Symbolism's favorite topics, especially of the Belgian's: Eros and Thanatos, sexuality and death.
Félicien Rops (1833-98) was a master of this theme. Rops created elaborate pictures with a remarkably satirical sense, causing great controversy and earning him the reputation of a pornographer. His version of "The Temptation of St. Anthony" (1878) and "Pornokrates" (1878) depict the triumph of a demonic female sexuality in a shocking explicitness with heretic allusions to religion.
The paintings by another main representative of Belgian Symbolism Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921) emanate a less polemic and more melancholic atmosphere. Dreamy, almost sleeping women are the protagonists of his calm compositions, which call reminiscence of the English Pre-Raffaelites. They attained great success in Europe, particularly with the Vienna Secession.
Other important artists of the movement were Xavier Mellery, Henry de Groux, Emile Fabry, Jean Delville, Georg Minne, William Degouve de Nuncques, Léon Spilliaert and also James Ensor.
The young state of Belgium experienced both an economic as well as a cultural boom in the second half of the 19th century. Its strategic position within Europe had a positive effect on the country as it incorporated influences from France, England and the German speaking countries. The development of Belgian art in those days was also strongly characterized by an exalted Catholicism, which has to be regarded as a reaction to the long time Belgium had been under a Dutch Calvinist influence. The Catholic belief dominated the range of topics of Belgian Symbolism as well as their individual treatment. Brussels, where many art magazines were published, was the movement's center. The last two decades of the 19th century are regarded as the heyday of Symbolism, they were characterized by a great variety of styles. Accordingly, Belgian Symbolism played an important model role for Art Nouveau as well as for Expressionism and Surrealism. Beyond the different schools and artist personalities, the woman, sexuality, the world of dreams, death and religion are favored topics, which are often worked up in pictures that are hard to interpret. The compositions often, but not exclusively, show few dreamful and self-contained figures.
The transition to Symbolism is characterized by a mixture of an academic style with an unconventional topic, as the work of Antoine Wiertz (1806-65) clearly shows. His painting "Die schöne Rosine" (The Pretty Raisin, from 1847) shows a traditional concept of a female nude inspired by the great Italians. The woman quietly stands in front of a skeleton, a label with the picture's title attached to the skull. The topic of beauty's perishableness was not new and had been depicted as early as in the 16th century. However, it was not part of the academy's range of topics at that time. This way Wiertz anticipated one of Symbolism's favorite topics, especially of the Belgian's: Eros and Thanatos, sexuality and death.
Félicien Rops (1833-98) was a master of this theme. Rops created elaborate pictures with a remarkably satirical sense, causing great controversy and earning him the reputation of a pornographer. His version of "The Temptation of St. Anthony" (1878) and "Pornokrates" (1878) depict the triumph of a demonic female sexuality in a shocking explicitness with heretic allusions to religion.
The paintings by another main representative of Belgian Symbolism Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921) emanate a less polemic and more melancholic atmosphere. Dreamy, almost sleeping women are the protagonists of his calm compositions, which call reminiscence of the English Pre-Raffaelites. They attained great success in Europe, particularly with the Vienna Secession.
Other important artists of the movement were Xavier Mellery, Henry de Groux, Emile Fabry, Jean Delville, Georg Minne, William Degouve de Nuncques, Léon Spilliaert and also James Ensor.
Offers for Symbolism