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Hortensia

1884
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 829
Hortensia, the French word for hydrangea, also evokes a woman’s name. Khnopff’s play on words underscores the visual connection between the plant, shown from an unconventional, close-up viewpoint, and the female figure in the background. A single red blossom on the tabletop punctuates the space between the hydrangea and the sitter. The artist was only twenty-six years old when he painted this scene, but he was already a key member of the artistic vanguard that arose in Belgium in the 1880s and 1890s.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hortensia
  • Artist: Fernand Khnopff (Belgian, Grembergen 1858–1921 Brussels)
  • Date: 1884
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 18 13/16 × 23 1/2 in. (47.8 × 59.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Julia W. Emmons, by exchange, and Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, and Gift of Charles Hack and the Hearn Family Trust, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.263
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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The Offering, Fernand Khnopff Belgian, Pastel, graphite, and chalk on paper
The Offering
Fernand Khnopff
1891
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

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