Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921)

Details
Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921)

A Fosset. Un Crépuscule

signed with monogram on the reverse; oil on canvas
14¾ x 26¼in. (37.5 x 66.7cm.)
Painted circa 1890-1895
Provenance
The artist's studio sale; Galerie Georges Giroux, Brussels, 27 Nov. 1922, lot 19
Gaffé Collection, Brussels
Georges Willems-Giroux, Brussels
Galerie Georges Giroux; sale, Brussels, 18-19 Oct. 1957, lot 15
Literature
R. L. Delevoy, C. de Croes and G. Ollinger-Zinque, Fernand Khnopff. Catalogue de l'Oeuvre, Brussels, 1987, pp. 220-221 and 430, no. 165 (illus. p. 221)

Lot Essay

Unlike the many figurative works which dominate much of Khnopff's oeuvre, the artist would periodically turn to landscape painting throughout his career. These landscapes, devoid of the overtly symbolist sentiments prevalent at the time, were executed in Fosset, a small village in the Belgian Ardennes where the Khnopff family kept a summer home (another picture from the series was sold in these Rooms, 17 Nov. 1995, lot 100). In his masterful use of light and tonality, as well as subtle depiction of nature, Khnopff inherently elevated the genre of landscape to a higher spiritual order.

Sold with the artist's studio sale catalogue of 1922.

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