Xavier Mellery

A Belgian artist, illustrator and graphic artist.

His father was a gardener. His son, who showed art skills, became a student of decorator Carl Albert.

Xavier Mellery is not as well known as his famous student Fernand Khnopff; his creative legacy is small; however, he is rightly considered one of the founders of Belgian Symbolism, who made a huge contribution to its development. The works of Mellery are distinguished by their monumentality, although they are small in size and have a deep allegorical content. The artist created a large number of outstanding graphic works and was known as a talented illustrator. He was also a member of the famous Belgian “20” (Les XX) – an association of artists that promoted modernist art and contributed to the formation of many talented artists of the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Key ideas:

– Canvases of Xavier Mellery are distinguished by a deep symbolism and allegorical images. Impressed by the monumental frescoes of Puvis de Chavannes and the works of Renaissance masters, the artist created a project of murals of the largest public buildings in Brussels. Unfortunately, his plan was not implemented and Mellery took up easel painting and embodied his ideas in canvases. Allegorical paintings, made on a solid basis, often with the use of gold leaf, concern such global themes as death and immortality, the flow of time and the secrets of the human soul.

– Looking at the philosophical canvases of the Belgian painter, you unwittingly reflect on the meaning of being and the incomprehensibility of the universe. The unusual combination of realistic images in a classic manner and fabulous, fantastic plots are a kind of “calling card” of the author. Many papers contain a text that explains their content.

– The artist belonged to the type of people who prefer silence and loneliness. The feeling of emptiness, which he called the “silent soul of things”, is felt in his chamber paintings depicting interiors. Empty stairs, doors and rooms give a chance to stay alone with yourself and completely plunge into your own inner world. A vivid example of such a work is the Kitchen Interior, created in 1890.

– In general, Mellery’s works express the aesthetics of the end of the century, when the mystical and mysterious were central in art, anticipating the emergence of new art movements of the next century.