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Provenance: Fernand Khnopff sale, Brussels, 1922, lot 62.
Anonymous sale, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 27 March 1985, lot 760 (illustrated on the cover, titled L'ange du mal).
Piccadilly Gallery, London.
Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 1985.
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Exhibited: Brussels, Salle Studio, Salon d'été, 1915, no. 45.
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Literature: 'Dior, Cartier en Khnopff in het Paleis voor Schone Kunsten' in Financieel, Economische Tijd, Antwerp, 22 March 1985 (illustrated). R.L. Delevoy, C. de Croës & G. Ollinger-Zinque, Fernand Khnopff, Catalogue de l'oeuvre, Brussels, 1987, no. 526 (illustrated p. 479).
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Notes: No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
The vast majority of Fernand Khnopff's work showcases his talent as a draughtsman and his small-scale works on paper are among the most celebrated in his oeuvre. The subtle nuances and gradations of tone on paper endow Des cheveux noirs with a heavy and mysterious atmosphere, perfectly suited to the femme fatale he depicts. Although she bares the characteristic traits of one of Khnopff's archetypal heroines - fair-eyed, distant and supremely elegant - the provocatively posed figure has an aggressive sexuality that marks her out as a somewhat sinister seductress.
As a key figure of the Symbolist Movement in Europe, Khnopff transformed the Realist genre far beyond its descriptive powers, creating symbolic images portraying his private world, his memories and his obsessions. The philosophical underpinnings of the movement advocated a reaction against the direct imitation of Nature in favor of a return to the spiritual realm, the world of dreams, allegories and the fantastical. Khnopff's frequent depiction of women as erotically charged mythological beings represent his desire to portray mysticism, emotionalism and the loss of intellectual control - all characteristics that he aligned with the feminine. Like his images of the fabled Sphinx and Medusa, the vampish creature of Des cheveux noirs is a sharp contrast to the traditional representation of woman as a symbol of virginal innocence, suggesting the darker side of femininity and the threat of unchecked sexual desire.
