Drawing by Belgian artist Léon Spillaert acquired by King Baudouin Foundation to go on public show

Belgian philanthropy institution, the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF), has acquired a 1907 drawing by influential Belgian expressionist Léon Spilliaert.

Created as a cover for The Sculptor of Masks, a play by Belgian writer Fernand Crommelynck, the work is an example of Spillaert’s first ‘black period’ during his early years as an artist.

It typifies his characteristic dark expressionist atmosphere, but Brussels publisher Edmond Deman did not like the illustration and the commission was never finalised.

This original work is therefore a unique testimony to Spillaert’s early career as a book illustrator, says the foundation in a statement. A second drawing he created for the play was also never published and belongs to the Musée d’Ixelles.

The KBF drawing was purchased with the support of the Marie-Jeanne Dauchy Fund. It has been entrusted to the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR)’s print department, which will make it accessible to the public. The library boasts the largest public collection of Spilliaert’s work with over 150 drawings.

Spilliaert (1881-1946) was born in Ostend, the eldest of seven children. Interested in art and drawing since his early childhood, he never received any formal academic training. Self-taught, he developed his own melancholy and enigmatic style. Within the darkness of the artist’s explorations of human existence though, lies an often eerie beauty and light. Today, Spilliaert is recognised as one of the most influential Belgian artists of the early 20th century.

Photo: ©Léon Spilliaert, dessin de couverture pour Le Sculpteur de masques, 1907, KBR, Cabinet des estampes