Faun by Moonlight by Léon Spilliaert - 1900 - 49 x 63 cm private collection Faun by Moonlight by Léon Spilliaert - 1900 - 49 x 63 cm private collection

Faun by Moonlight

Indian ink wash, brush, black chalk, and coloured pencil on paper • 49 x 63 cm
  • Léon Spilliaert - July 28, 1881 - November 23, 1946 Léon Spilliaert 1900

Léon Spilliaert was a Belgian symbolist painter and graphic artist. I fell in love with his art when I saw his piece entitled Vertigo (you can check it in our Archive). From childhood, he displayed an interest in art and drawing. A prolific doodler and autodidact, he was predominantly a self-taught artist. Sickly and reclusive, he spent most of his youth sketching scenes of ordinary life and the Belgian countryside.

When he was 21, Spilliaert went to work in Brussels for Edmond Deman, a publisher of the works of symbolist writers, which Spilliaert was to illustrate. He especially admired the work of Edgar Allan Poe. He frequently depicted a lone figure in a dreamlike space and most of his masterpieces convey a sense of melancholy and silence—like this mysterious drawing that haunted me for days.  ; )

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

P.S. Here you can get to know more about this striking artist and see the most amazing of his works!