Léon Spilliaert, light and loneliness

Léon Spilliaert is a man of disturbing solitudes and infinite perspectives. Between metaphysical questioning and Flemish culture, he surprises and baffles with unclassifiable works, inventing a symbolism of the inner night that will leave its mark on Belgian art. He drew inspiration from the pictorial works of Odilon Redon and James Ensor, but also from the writings of Emile Verhaeren and Maurice Maeterlinck. However, although he was influenced by symbolism at the end of the century, his work extended beyond this. His hallucinated faces flirt with expressionism; his refined landscapes seem to herald minimalism. The exhibition, the first in France for almost 40 years, will focus on the years 1900 to 1919, Spilliaert's most intense years, and will present his most radical works. Curators Leïla Jarbouai, graphic arts curator at the Musée d'Orsay Anne Adriaens-Pannier, honorary curator at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium Exhibition organised by the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, and the Royal Academy, London.
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