Bruges, D'Autrefois, Triptyque avec Trois Dessins: Un Canal [left panel]; D’Autrefois [center panel]; Le Tombeau de Marie de Bourgogne [right panel] (Bruges of Yesteryear, Triptych with Three Drawings: A Canal [left panel]; Of Yesteryear [central panel]; The Tomb of Mary of Burgundy) [right panel]

Public Domain

Artist Fernand Khnopff (Belgian, 1858–1921)Belgian, 1858–1921

CultureBelgian

Titles

Bruges, D'Autrefois, Triptyque avec Trois Dessins: Un Canal [left panel]; D’Autrefois [center panel]; Le Tombeau de Marie de Bourgogne [right panel] (Bruges of Yesteryear, Triptych with Three Drawings: A Canal [left panel]; Of Yesteryear [central panel]; The Tomb of Mary of Burgundy) [right panel]
Souvenir of Bruges, Once Upon a Time

Date1905

MediumLeft panel: Black chalk, charcoal, and pastel on wove paper; central panel: black chalk, colored pencil, and pastel, with scraping on wove paper; right panel: black chalk and pastel on wove paper; artist’s frame.

DimensionsOpen: 47 11/16 × 111 1/4 × 4 1/2 in. (121.2 × 282.6 × 11.4 cm)
Closed: 47 11/16 × 69 3/4 × 4 3/4 in. (121.2 × 177.2 × 12 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment

Object number2025.409

Not on view

Explore Further

Department

Prints and Drawings

Object Type

DRAWINGS, PASTELS & WATERCOLORS

ProvenanceStudio of the artist until at least 1912; Georgette Aimée Nugier (1906-1979), Ivry-sur-Seine; by decent to her son, Pierre Nugier (1932-2017), Paris, 1979-2015; Private collection, Europe, 2015-2025; [Etienne Breton, Saint-Honoré Art Consulting, Paris, 2025]; purchased by MFAH, 2025.
Exhibition HistoryBruxelles, Musées royaux de Peinture, Les Aquarellistes, 1905, Cat. 60.

Bruxelles, Cercle artistique et littéraire de Bruxelles, Les Aquarellistes, 1906, Cat. 239.

Venise Biennale, Pavillon belge, Exposition internationale d’art contemporain de la Biennale de Venise,
1907, p. 136, Cat. 35.

Bruges, Exposition internationale de Beaux-Arts, Bruges, ses peintres, 1908, Cat. 101 (the central
drawing illustrated).

Paris, Galerie des artistes modernes, Quatrième exposition de la société internationale de la peinture à
l’eau, 1909, Cat. 53.

Munich, Königlicher Glaspalast, Der X. Internationale Kunstausstellung, 1909, Cat. 1851.

Liège, Salle des Fêtes du Journal de Liège, Fernand Khnopff, 1912, no. 8.

Published References E.J., “Fernand Khnopff,” Journal de Bruxelles, December 5, 1905. O.M., “L'Exposition des Aquarellistes,” L'Art Moderne, Brussels, 50, December 10, 1905, p. 401. H.N., “Von Ausstellungen und Sammlungen. Brüssel”, Die Kunst für Alle, Munich, XXI, 10, February 15, 1906, p. 239. Sarfatti, M.G. “Profili d'Artisti. Fernand Khnopff,” Il Rinascimento, Milan, 1906, pp. 65-66. Picard, E. “Retrospective exhibition of the Royal Belgian Society of Watercolorists”, La Belgique Artistique et Littéraire, Brussels, no. 4 (July-August-September 1906), p. 154. Sarfatti, M.G. “Profili d’Artisti. Fernand Khnopff,” Il Rinascimento, April 20, 1906, pp.57-66. Dumont-Wilden, L. Fernand Khnopff. Brussels: 1907, p. 50 (left drawing illustrated), 54 (central drawing illustrated) and 72. Ojetti, U. “Venice Exhibition,” in La Fédération Artistique, Brussels, no. 33 (May 19, 1907), p. 250. Biermé, M. “Fernand Khnopff,” La Belgique Artistique et Littéraire, July-September 1907, pp. 101-107. Pica, V. L’Arte Mondiale alle VII Esposizione di Venezia. Bergamo: 1907, p. 17 (the left drawing illustrated), pp. 25-26, 46 (the central drawing illustrated), p. 67 (the full tryptic). Wolf, G.J. "Die X. Internationale Kunstausstellung im Münchener Glaspalast,” in Die Kunst für Alle, Munich, vol. XXV, nº 3 (November 1909), p. 56. Fernand Khnopff 1858-1921, Paris, Musée des Arts décoratifs, 10 October-31 December 1979; Bruxelles, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, 18 January-13 April 1980 ; Hamburg, Kunsthalle, 25 April-16 June 1980, p. 80. Howe, Jeffrey. “Fernand Khnopff’s Depiction of Bruges: Medievalism, Mysticism and Socialism,” Arts Magazine, LV, no. 4 (December 1980), pp.126-131. Howe, Jeffrey. The Symbolist Art of Fernand Khnopff. Ann Arbor: 1982, p. 16, 34-36, p. 158-159, fig. 6 (the left drawing), fig. 7 (the central drawing). Delevoy, R., C. De Croës and G. Ollinger-Zinque, Fernand Khnopff. Lausanne and Paris: 1987, p. 86-87 (the central drawing illustrated), p. 94 (the left drawing illustrated), p. 345-346, Cat. 413. Pudles, Lynne. “Fernand Khnopff, Georges Rodenbach and Bruges, the Dead City,” The Art Bulletin, LXXIV, n°4 (December 1992), pp.637-654. Draguet, M. Khnopff ou L’ambigu poétique, Paris, Flammarion, 1995, pp. 177, 195, 209, 222-223 illustrated (ill.229), 330, 349, 360-365 illustrated (ill. 353), 404, 410. Draguet, M. Fernand Khnopff, Brussels, Fonds Mercator, 2018. p. 206, p. 207 (the central drawing). Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Recto [left drawing]: Signed in black chalk/charcoal, lower left edge: FERNAND KHNOPFF
Verso [left drawing]: [inaccessible]
Recto [center drawing]: Signed in black chalk/charcoal, lower right edge: FERNAND KHNOPFF
Verso [center drawing]: Inscribed: 2673 [chalk]; Attention / Glace [gray chalk, cursive]; N1151a [white chalk]; A [black charcoal]; 75 [black charcoal]
Recto [right drawing]: Signed in black chalk/charcoal, lower left edge: FERNAND KHNOPFF
Verso [right drawing]: [inaccessible]

Verso of each drawing lined with newsprint from L’Éventail, a Brussels newspaper (1907-1910), with labels: Maison Fx.Mommen & / … couleurs panneaux … et …; Fernand Khnopff / Avenue des Courses/ … /D’autrefois; Société nationale de la / peinture à l’eau / Rue de Caumartin (?) Paris / Fernand Khnopff/ Avenue des courses. 41 / Bruxelles; Souvenirs de Bruges / D’autrefois; VII. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte / della Città di Venezia – 1907 / 977

Catalogue raisonnéDumont-Wilden, L. Fernand Khnopff. Brussels: 1907, p. 50 (left drawing illustrated), 54 (central

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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