Fernand Khnopff

Youth and training

Fernand Khnopff was born to a wealthy family that had been part of the high bourgeoisie for generations. Khnopff's ancestors had lived in the Vossenhoek area of Grembergen, Flanders, since the early 17th century but were of Austrian and Portuguese descent. Most male members of his family had been lawyers or judges, and young Fernand was destined for a juridical career. In his early childhood (1859–1864), he lived in Bruges, where his father was appointed substitut du procureur du roi (deputy public prosecutor). His childhood memories of the medieval city of Bruges would play a significant role in his later work. In 1864, the family moved to Brussels. In his childhood Khnopff spent part of his summer holidays in the hamlet of Tillet, not far from Bastogne in the Luxemburg province, where his maternal grandparents owned an estate. He painted several views of this village.

To please his parents, he went to law school at the Free University of Brussels (now divided into the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel) when he was 18 years old. During this period, he developed a passion for literature, discovering the works of Baudelaire, Flaubert, Leconte de Lisle and other mostly French authors. With his younger brother Georges Khnopff – also a passionate amateur of contemporary music and poetry – he started to frequent Jeune Belgique ("Young Belgium"), a group of young writers including Max Waller, Georges Rodenbach, Iwan Gilkin, and Emile Verhaeren.

Khnopff left university for lack of interest in his law studies and began to frequent the studio of Xavier Mellery, who introduced him to painting. On 25 October 1876, he enrolled in the cours de dessin après nature ("course of drawing after nature") at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts. At the Académie, his most famous fellow student was James Ensor, whom he disliked from the start. Between 1877 and 1880, Khnopff made several trips to Paris, where he discovered the work of Delacroix, Ingres, Moreau and Stevens. At the Paris World Fair of 1878 he became acquainted with the work of Millais and Burne-Jones. During his last year at the Académie in 1878–1879 he neglected his classes in Brussels and lived for a while in Passy, where he attended the open courses of Jules Joseph Lefebvre at the Académie Julian.

Early career with Les XX

In 1881, he presented his works to the public for the first time at the "Salon de l'Essor" in Brussels. The critics' appraisal of his work was very harsh, with the exception of Emile Verhaeren, who wrote a commending review. Verhaeren would remain a lifelong supporter and would write the first monograph on the painter. In 1883, Khnopff was one of the founding members of the group Le Groupe des XX. Khnopff exhibited regularly at the annual "Salon" organised by Les XX.

In 1885, he met the French writer Joséphin Péladan, the future grandmaster of the Rosicrucian "Ordre de la Rose + Croix". Péladan asked Khnopff to design the cover for his new novel Le Vice suprême. Khnopff accepted this commission but destroyed the work later because the famous soprano Rose Caron was offended by the imaginary portrait of Leonora d'Este (a character in Péladan's Le Vice suprême) that Khnopff had designed to adorn the cover, in which Caron thought she recognised her own face. The vehement reaction of "La Caron" caused a scandal in the Belgian and Parisian press and helped to establish Khnopff's name as an artist. Khnopff continued to design illustrations for the works of Péladan, most notably for Femmes honnêtes (1888) and Le Panthée (1892). On several occasions (1892, 1893, 1894 and 1897) Khnopff was invited as guest of honour at the exhibitions of the Parisian "Salon de la Rose + Croix" organised by Péladan.

Later years

In 1889, Khnopff made his first contacts with England, where he would stay and exhibit regularly in the future. British artists such as Hunt, Watts, Rossetti, Brown and Burne-Jones became friends. From 1895 Khnopff worked as a correspondent for the British art journal The Studio. Until the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Khnopff was responsible for the column "Studio-Talks-Brussels", in which he reported on artistic developments in Belgium and continental Europe. In March 1898 Khnopff presented a selection of 21 works at the first exhibition of the Vienna Secession. In Vienna his work was received with great admiration. The works he presented at the Secession were a major influence on the work of Gustav Klimt.

From 1900 onwards, Khnopff was engaged in the design of his new home and studio in Brussels (demolished). The house, which he shared with his sister Marguerite, was inspired by the Vienna Secession, in particular the architecture of Joseph Maria Olbrich. To the sober architecture and decoration Khnopff added a highly symbolic, spatial and decorative concept that turned his home into a "Temple of the self". The house functioned as a shrine in which the genius of the painter could flourish. His motto "On a que soi" (One has but oneself) was inscribed above the entrance door, and in his studio he painted in the middle of a golden circle inscribed on the white mosaic floor. This almost theatrical setting reflected Khnopff's passion for theatre and opera. Khnopff's first designs for the theatre date from 1903, when he sketched the sets for a production of Georges Rodenbach's play Le Mirage at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. This production was directed by Max Reinhardt, and the sets, evoking the gloomy streets of the mysterious city of Bruges where Khnopff had spent his early childhood, were much appreciated by the Berlin public and critics. After Khnopff was engaged to design the costumes and sets for the world premiere of Ernest Chausson's opera Le Roi Arthus at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels in 1903, he collaborated on more than a dozen opera productions given at "La Monnaie" in the following decade. In 1904 the city council of Saint-Gilles commissioned him to decorate the ceilings of the "Salle des Marriages" (Wedding Room) of the new Municipal Hall, and in the same year he was approached by the banker Adolphe Stoclet to design decorative panels for the music room of the Stoclet Palace. Here Khnopff again came into contact with prominent artists from the Vienna Secession: the architect of the Stoclet Palace, Josef Hoffmann, and Gustav Klimt, who had designed a decorative mosaic for its dining room.

Although reserved and secluded by nature, Khnopff achieved cult status during his lifetime. He received the Order of Leopold. His most famous painting is probably Caress of the Sphinx ("L'Art ou Des Caresses").

Khnopff is buried in Laeken Cemetery.