131 - Léon SPILLIAERT (1881–1946)

Léon SPILLIAERT (1881–1946) Avenue de la Reine in Ostend / Koninginnelaan in Ostend, 1909 Indian ink wash, brush, oil pastel, watercolor, gouache, and scraping on paper Signed and dated lower right: "L. Spilliaert 09" 65 x 50 cm Provenance: - Christian Fayt Gallery, Knokke-Paris (1976–1981) - Christie’s London, Modern Belgian Paintings, Drawings, and Sculptures, auction of October 19, 1989 (cat. 23, illustrated) -Ronny Van de Velde Gallery, Antwerp (1998) -Imelda Delvaux Art Gallery, Knokke (2001) -Maurice Verbaet Collection, Antwerp (1998–2003) -Collection of a major Belgian financial institution, Brussels Exhibitions: -Paris, “Hommage à Léon Spilliaert,” Christian Fayt Art Gallery, October 16–December 19, 1981 (cat. 14, illustrated) - Ostend, “Van Ensor tot Delvaux,” PMMK Museum voor Moderne Kunst, October 5, 1996, through February 2, 1997 (cat. p. 191, reproduced) - Antwerp, “Léon Spilliaert (1881–1946),” Ronny Van de Velde Gallery, November 14, 1998–January 23, 1999, (cat. 61, p. 133, reproduced) - Knokke-Le-Zoute, Imelda Art Gallery, OFFA, August 3–September 30, 2001 (cat. 84, pp. 44–45, reproduced) - Tokyo, “Léon Spilliaert,” Bridgestone Museum of Art, April 9–June 6, 2003 (cat. 84, pp. 170–171, reproduced) - Himeji, “Léon Spilliaert,” Himeji City Museum of Art, June 14–July 27, 2003 (cat. 84, pp. 170–171, reproduced) - Nagoya, “Léon Spilliaert,” Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, August 5–September 23, 2003 (catalog, p. 170–171, reproduced) - Ostend, “Ostend Breeze: Léon Spilliaert at the Oostende Venetiaanse Gaanderijen,” June 3–September 17, 2006 (no catalog) Bibliography: - Francine-Claire Legrand, Léon Spilliaert and His Era, Antwerp, Fonds Mercator / Léon Spilliaert in zijn tijd, Lannoo, Tielt, 1981, cat. 87, reproduced - Michael Palmer, *From Ensor to Magritte: Belgian Art 1880–1940*, Éditions Racine, Brussels, 1994, p. 128, reproduced - Xavier Tricot, *Léon Spilliaert, the Years 1900–1915*, Crédit Communal, Brussels, 1996, p. 125, reproduced - Anne Adriaens-Pannier, Léon Spilliaert: The Beauty of Intelligence and the Heart, Pandora-Ronny Van de Velde, Antwerp, 1998, p. 111, reproduced on p. 133 This work will be included, based on current knowledge, in the Léon SPILLIAERT catalog raisonné currently being prepared by Dr. Anne ADRIAENS-PANNIER. A copy of the notice of inclusion in the catalog raisonné will be provided to the purchaser. The year 1909 was marked by Léon Spilliaert’s first exhibition at the Salon de Printemps in Brussels. Originally from Ostend, the painter lived there until 1917. He would take long, regular walks there; suffering from insomnia, his wanderings often took place at night. Spilliaert was an observer; he painted what surrounded him. Reality is his subject; he isolates it and then illuminates it with his inner world, rendering it mysterious, even fantastical, and imbued with solitude. During this period, his views of Ostend depict desolate and enigmatic places that he strips down to their very essence. His seawalls, his Royal Galleries, his beaches, and his lighthouses become timeless places. This significant stripping-down results in a simplification of space and volume; Léon Spilliaert schematizes forms and carves out spaces. Here, he treats Avenue de la Reine with this same extreme minimalism. He eliminates buildings, streetlights, and human figures. He also employs a vanishing perspective toward the horizon to unite sky and earth, and a rhythmic division of spaces, much as he did in his 1909 seawalls. A straight line constructed by man, Spilliaert’s rectilinear seawall contrasts with the curved lines of natural elements such as the waters and winds of the Belgian coast. Avenue de la Reine appears here as an immense expanse, much like the infinite waters of the North Sea. Note that this avenue is blue, punctuated by curves; it resembles water rippled by the wind. One also notices the significance of the trees, which punctuate and define the composition. Their trunks and curved branches are natural elements that echo the water. Léon Spilliaert was 28 years old when he painted this *Avenue de la Reine* in Ostend; he would later admit that by the age of 30, he had already said everything he had to say.