Fernand Khnopff

Khnopff was always deeply inspired by the theme of womanhood in all its forms. She is both a ‘chimera’ and an enigmatic beauty, embodying both perversity and the ideal.He most often used his sister Marguerite as a model. She is a redhead, as are often the female figures in Fernand Khnopff’s work, and she is reminiscent of the women of Dante Gabriel Rossetti or Edward Burne-Jones, Pre-Raphaelite painters and precursors of Symbolism. The Chimera we see here is not that of Greek mythology. Her form has been adapted to better serve the artist’s intention. Thus, she is no longer a half-lion, half-goat monster, but a half-woman, half-lion creature. As a Symbolist painter, Khnopff draws on mythological themes and an atmosphere of mystery to escape everyday reality in favour of an inner reality. The intriguing composition and the washed-out tones he employs help to further submerge all potential interpretations in a hazy uncertainty that is dear to him. Beyond reality, he seeks to capture the multiplicity of meanings and the inner lives of his characters. By deliberately excluding the viewer.

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