Posts in Category: september 12

Fernand Khnopff

On July 26, 2026 - 19th Century, 20th Century, Belgian, september 12

Fernand Khnopff, September 12, 1858 – November 12, 1921, was a Belgian painter, draftsman, printmaker, photographer, sculptor, and writer associated with Symbolism. Born in Grembergen, he spent part of his childhood in Bruges before his family moved to Brussels. He began legal studies at the Université libre de Bruxelles and entered the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1876; he also worked in Paris from 1879 to 1880.

Khnopff was a founding member of Les XX in 1883 and exhibited with the group. He met Joséphin Péladan in 1885 and later exhibited with the Salon de la Rose+Croix. From 1892 until 1914, he wrote the Brussels correspondence for *The Studio*; in the following decade, he designed costumes and sets for productions at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels.

His works are held by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Groeningemuseum, the Neue Pinakothek, the Musée d'Orsay, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, and other public collections.

George Hendrik Breitner

On July 25, 2026 - 19th Century, 20th Century, Dutch, september 12

George Hendrik Breitner, September 12, 1857 – June 5, 1923, was a Dutch painter, draftsman, printmaker, and photographer. Born in Rotterdam, he received drawing instruction from Christoffel Neurdenburg and studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague from 1876 to 1880. He then lived chiefly in The Hague and Amsterdam; Amsterdam was his principal base from 1886 until his death, apart from 1903–1906 in Aerdenhout.

Breitner joined the artists’ society Pulchri Studio in 1880 and contributed to the Panorama Mesdag in 1880–1881. In The Hague he associated with artists of the Hague School, including Jozef Israëls, Jacob Maris, and Anton Mauve, and he worked alongside Vincent van Gogh in 1882–1883. In Amsterdam he was associated with Amsterdam Impressionism and the Tachtigers; Arti et Amicitiae gave him a retrospective exhibition in 1902. His students included Kees Maks and Marie Henri Mackenzie.

Principal museum collections of Breitner’s work include the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Centraal Museum, Utrecht; Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp; Dordrechts Museum; and RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, The Hague.