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Léon Spilliaert at the Royal Academy

24/02/2020

Photo by Caroline Banks
Self-portrait in mirror. 1908

This exhibition at the Royal Academy led me to discover the work of Belgian Symbolist Léon Spilliaert who I confess I’d never heard of before.

Photo by Caroline Banks
Self-portrait with masks. 1903

His brooding, melancholic paintings exude isolation, even anguish, but all in a rather beautiful way with masterful use of ink, gouache, charcoal and pastel.

Photo by Caroline Banks
The gust of wind – detail. 1904

These works ooze a sense of foreboding.

Photo by Caroline Banks
Hofstraat, Ostend. 1908
Photo by Caroline Banks
Storm at sea. 1908
Photo by Caroline Banks
Storm at sea – detail.
Photo by Caroline Banks
The shipwrecked man. 1926

Even a simple dip in the sea takes on a sense of existential crisis with the sea resembling the outline of a woman’s body.

Photo by Caroline Banks
Returning from a swim. 1907
Photo by Caroline Banks
The cloud. 1902.
Photo by Caroline Banks
Misery. 1909

This painting, which caught my eye from across the gallery, shimmers with a ghostly aura

Photo by Caroline Banks
Young woman on a stool. 1910

His work has such delicacy.

Photo by Caroline Banks
The blue bowl. 1907

It comes as no surprise to read that he was an admirer of Edgar Allen Poe, illustrating his work amongst that of other Symbolist writers.

Photo by Caroline Banks

You might think this would be depressing but I found it to be quite the opposite – perhaps the recognition that these emotions affect us all is life-affirming.

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