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The Offering

1891
Not on view
A nude woman makes an offering to a portrait bust on an altar. She looks out as though the viewer’s appearance has interrupted her ritual. Khnopff’s Symbolism mixed an admiration for medieval and Renaissance imagery with a fascination with the occult, ritual, and the dream world. The altar here resembles one in his home, created to revere Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. The blue cartouche at the center is inscribed with a partially effaced NEVER MORE—a quote from Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven. This soft pastel drawing is characteristic of Khnopff’s muted and hazy style.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Offering
  • Artist: Fernand Khnopff (Belgian, Grembergen 1858–1921 Brussels)
  • Date: 1891
  • Medium: Pastel, graphite, and chalk on paper
  • Dimensions: 13 3/4 x 29 1/2 in. (34.9 x 74.9 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of William S. Lieberman, 2005
  • Object Number: 2007.49.651
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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The Curtain, Fernand Khnopff Belgian, Drypoint
The Curtain
Fernand Khnopff
Société des Aquafortistes Belges
1904
An Offering, Fernand Khnopff Belgian, Drypoint on simili-Japan; second state
An Offering
Fernand Khnopff
1900
Bells (Une coiffure de grelots), Fernand Khnopff Belgian, Drypoint with touches of colored crayon
Bells (Une coiffure de grelots)
Fernand Khnopff
Société des Aquafortistes Belges
1905
Drawings for a "Sphinx" and "Victoria", Fernand Khnopff Belgian, Compressed charcoal and white pencil on gray-blue paper
On loan to The Met
Drawings for a "Sphinx" and "Victoria"
Fernand Khnopff
1889–92
In Fosset. Twilight (A Fosset. Un Crépuscule), Fernand Khnopff Belgian, Oil on canvas
On loan to The Met
In Fosset. Twilight (A Fosset. Un Crépuscule)
Fernand Khnopff
ca. 1890–95

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