Dirk Braeckman / Léon Spilliaert – Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Netherlands

In the exhibition Dirk Braeckman / Léon Spilliaert,   Kunstmuseum Den Haag confronts the oeuvres of two defining Belgian artists: Léon Spilliaert (1881-1946) and Dirk Braeckman (1958). Although one artist is not yet born when the other dies, and although Spilliaert often worked with ink, pencil and pen and Braeckman mainly uses photography as a medium, there are numerous visual and thematic similarities to be discovered in their oeuvres. Stillness, absence, isolation and suggestion are central themes. Shades of grey dominate and there always seems to be an atypical framing. Their work has clear roots in the symbolist tradition, but above all they share an emotional affinity in expressing the mysteries of life – a affinity that can hardly be captured in words. All the more reason to investigate this in more detail in a major exhibition.