Léon Spilliaert

Léon Spilliaert was a Belgian draughtsman, illustrator, lithographer and painter. In his early career, he contributed to the development of symbolism in the visual arts in Belgium. He frequented the milieu of Belgian symbolist writers, of which Maurice Maeterlinck and Émile Verhaeren were the best known members. His work was inspired by visual and literary works by Edvard Munch, Fernand Khnopff, Edgar Allan Poe, Nietzsche and Lautréamont.