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.
His brooding, melancholic paintings exude isolation, even anguish, but all in a rather beautiful way with masterful use of ink, gouache, charcoal and pastel.
These works ooze a sense of foreboding.
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.
This painting, which caught my eye from across the gallery, shimmers with a ghostly aura
His work has such delicacy.
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.
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.
