Leon
Spilliaert

The largest Belgian artist-symbolist, and designer.. Leon Spilliaert was the main representative of symbolism in the arts of Belgium, while known for his painting and graphic work. In the painting of Spilliaert is dominated by dark tones or well-defined contrasts between dark and light. Certain themes present throughout his oeuvre: the female figure, often grotesque; still life, very simple in composition and is designed in very strict tones; as simple landscapes, often with stairs or walkway light on the water. Around 1910 he was depicted airships.

It held the stories related to life and death, in particular, he repeatedly depicted the crucifixion. In the last period of his life Spilliaert all paid more attention to the landscape and during the war, wrote almost exclusively in the trees. His initial sources of inspiration were bottles and flasks, he had seen in a perfume shop of his father in Ostend. However, in 1889, he briefly Studied at Terenacademie in Bruges. His early work is steeped in symbolism and served His readings of Friedrich Nietzsche and Maurice Maeterlinck, for example. From February 1903 to January 1904 he worked for Edmond Deman, Brussels, the particular publisher Associated with Emile Verhaeren, who encouraged him. In 1904 Spilliaert remained in Paris, where he was on the edge of the circle of Picasso and discovered the work of Munch and Toulouse-Lautrec, Whose influence he acknowledged. He continued to spend most winters in Paris, to keep in touch with the cultural life of the city. Stomach ulcer That gave him insomnia turned him into a nocturnal stroller, gave rise to innumerable works in a mixture of watercolor, pastel, colored pencil and Chinese ink. They showed the beauty of Ostend by night: deserted embankments and dams, passages, street lights shining through the mist and fog. Ditch and casino at Ostend (1908. Brussels, own Colonel) prefigures de Chirico. Between 1907 and 1913 he developed the original form of symbolism, expressionism and painted is Regulated in the strict sense of synthesis. He painted Numerous self-portraits, works steeped in mystery and melancholy (e.g. woman in the train, 1908,.. Brussels, Mus A. Mod) and those inspired by the contrast between the solitary figures and the vastness of sea and sky ( g a Woman bather, 1910; Brussels, Mus A. Mod)... he Also created geometric landscapes that verge on abstraction and were unique for the period (e.g. woman on the Dyke, 1908.. Brussels, Mus A. Mod). At the same time he was developing art Nouveau motifs as in pietà (1910; Brussels, Mus Ixelles.), Where whiplash arabesques animate the waves. From 1912 he executed large-scale pastels (900 * 700 mm) of various harbour scenes, with large schematized figures that influenced constant Permeke (e.g. Fisherman's wife, 1912). He moved in literary and cultural circles and was a friend of the Belgian playwright Crommelynck and Stefan Zweig, who had followed his career from the beginning