Christa Giles

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creating a union of idealism and realism. The frozen
photographic image became not only a hieroglyph calling
for interpretation, but also served to evoke a sense of stasis.
Indeed, the very ˝realism˝ of the photographic image was
used to call into question the reality of the material world.
Khnopff was deeply influenced by Moreau, and the quiet
portentous sense of stasis in the latter’s work is reflected in
Khnopff’s paintings. His world was one of private recondite
symbols that contained some psychological or spiritual
import, as was consistent with the decadent approach. He
was much admired by Maurice Maeterlinck as well as
Wilde, who was familiar with his work from a London
exhibition. It is hardly surprising that Wilde should been
impressed by a painter who utilized obscure personal motifs
to evoke intellectual and emotional associations in order to
create a sense of mystery. Indeed, he was Wilde’s second
choice after Beardsley to illustrate ˝The Ballad of Reading
Gaol,˝ although no such drawings were ever made. Redon,
Des Esseintes favourite painter, also uses naturalistic detail,
evocative and dreamlike though his paintings are. He even
used a microscope (although he denied this) as a means of
obtaining ideas for fantastic creatures based on the natural
world.
Thus the artist re-created the natural according to his
own personal vision. This synthesis of idealism and realism