Lot no. 7
Fernand KHNOPFF (Grembergen, 1858 - Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, 1921)
La défiance (Lilie)
Enhanced pastel and coloured pencil photograph
Signed 'F ERNAND KHNOPFF' at bottom
Original mounting, monogrammed 'FK' at bottom
Distrust, pastel and coloured pencil photograph, signed, by F. Khnopff
6.5 x 6.5 in.
16.5 x 16.5 cm
Provenance: Paul Sachs Collection, Munich (Lugt 2113) ;
Collection E. S. Collection, Brussels;
W. O. R. Collection, Amsterdam;
Anonymous sale; Lokeren, De Vuyst, December 2009, no. 539 ;
Collection Galerie belge, Wadrin ;
Catherine Gilson de Rouvreux, Brussels;
Galerie Alexis Bordes, Paris, September - October 2011 ;
Acquired from the latter in September 2011 by Gérard Lévy;
Gérard Lévy Collection;
Then by descent
Bibliography: related :
Robert L Delevoy, Catherine De Croës, Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque, Fernand Khnopff : catalogue de l'œuvre, Bruxelles, Lebeer-Hossmann, 1987, cat. n° 221 bis p. 438
Fernand Khnopff is one of the most important representatives of Belgian Symbolism. After studying painting at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels under Xavier Mellery, he helped found the XX group in 1883 alongside Octave Maus. Also a founding member of the Libre Esthétique ten years later, Khnopff, who had been associated with Joséphin Péladan since 1885, took part in the Salon de la Rose+Croix from 1892. After a long stay in England, his participation in the first exhibition of the Viennese Secession in 1898 was noticed by Gustave Klimt and marked a turning point in his career. Although reality is generally treated in a mimetic way, Khnopff's art contains a large element of mystery and interiority. Beyond reality, beyond objects or beings, he questions the hidden face of the world of the soul, where doubt, bitterness and melancholy reign, and is thus part of an approach that is as spiritual as it is aesthetic.
Although Khnopff often modelled his work on his sister Marguerite, as the muse of a feminine ideal, in our drawing he portrays Lilie Maquet, a young English girl whose family lived in Brussels. Based on a photograph taken by the photographer Alexandre from an original drawing by the painter, he fixes the almost inexpressive face of his model, paying particular attention to the two eyes, in the depths of which we don't know whether to detect disdain, reverie or candour. The gaze, so important in Khnopff's work, immediately exerts its power of fascination. The whiteness of the cyclamen, meticulously transcribed in the lower part, adds a discreet symbol of purity and defiance to the figure. The oval of the face, barely marked, is only supported by the chin. The whole is bathed in a cameo of grey, made possible by the velvety texture of the original pencil. With the evocative title "La Défiance", the original drawing now belongs to a private collection<a href="#_ftn1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a>. According to Gisele Ollinger Zinque, a specialist on the artist, around ten enhanced photos of almost identical composition exist, but each has subtle variations in Khnopff's own hand (fig. 1). However, our version stands out for its circular framing, like a Renaissance tondo. There is no doubt that this circular format was intentional, as the artist affixed his monogram to the original yellow/gold passe-partout and signed the enhanced photo in the composition, under the model's chin. Enigmatic and seductive, Lilie seems to embody the principles of Symbolism in a striking icon, in an attempt to restore a lost ideal.
Fig. 1: Fernand Khnopff, La Défiance (Lilie), photograph enhanced with pastel and coloured pencil mounted on paper by the artist (29.3 x 20.8 cm), Brussels, Musée d'Ixelles (RW 19).
<a href="#_ftnref1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> La défiance (Lilie), Original work, 1893, black pencil and coloured pencils on paper, 25.5 x 17.5, in Robert L Delevoy, Catherine De Croës, Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque,
F
e
r
nand Khnopff: catalogue of work
Brussels, Lebeer-Hossmann, 1987, cat. no. 221 p. 438.
Fernand KHNOPFF (Grembergen, 1858 - Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, 1921)
16.5 x 16.5 cm
Fernand Khnopff is one of the most important representatives of Belgian Symbolism. After studying painting at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels under Xavier Mellery, he helped found the XX group in 1883 alongside Octave Maus. Also a founding member of the Libre Esthétique ten years later, Khnopff, who had been associated with Joséphin Péladan since 1885, took part in the Salon de la Rose+Croix from 1892. After a long stay in England, his participation in the first exhibition of the Viennese Secession in 1898 was noticed by Gustave Klimt and marked a turning point in his career. Although reality is generally treated in a mimetic way, Khnopff's art contains a large element of mystery and interiority. Beyond reality, beyond objects or beings, he questions the hidden face of the world of the soul, where doubt, bitterness and melancholy reign, and is thus part of an approach that is as spiritual as it is aesthetic.
Although Khnopff often modelled his work on his sister Marguerite, as the muse of a feminine ideal, in our drawing he portrays Lilie Maquet, a young English girl whose family lived in Brussels. Based on a photograph taken by the photographer Alexandre from an original drawing by the painter, he fixes the almost inexpressive face of his model, paying particular attention to the two eyes, in the depths of which we don't know whether to detect disdain, reverie or candour. The gaze, so important in Khnopff's work, immediately exerts its power of fascination. The whiteness of the cyclamen, meticulously transcribed in the lower part, adds a discreet symbol of purity and defiance to the figure. The oval of the face, barely marked, is only supported by the chin. The whole is bathed in a cameo of grey, made possible by the velvety texture of the original pencil. With the evocative title "La Défiance", the original drawing now belongs to a private collection<a href="#_ftn1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a>. According to Gisele Ollinger Zinque, a specialist on the artist, around ten enhanced photos of almost identical composition exist, but each has subtle variations in Khnopff's own hand (fig. 1). However, our version stands out for its circular framing, like a Renaissance tondo. There is no doubt that this circular format was intentional, as the artist affixed his monogram to the original yellow/gold passe-partout and signed the enhanced photo in the composition, under the model's chin. Enigmatic and seductive, Lilie seems to embody the principles of Symbolism in a striking icon, in an attempt to restore a lost ideal.
Fig. 1: Fernand Khnopff, La Défiance (Lilie), photograph enhanced with pastel and coloured pencil, mounted on paper by the artist (29.3 x 20.8 cm), Brussels, Musée d'Ixelles (RW 19).
<a href="#_ftnref1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> La défiance (Lilie), Original work, 1893, black pencil and coloured pencils on paper, 25.5 x 17.5, in Robert L Delevoy, Catherine De Croës, Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque,
F
e
r
nand Khnopff: catalogue of work
Brussels, Lebeer-Hossmann, 1987, cat. no. 221 p. 438.
