Art | Léon Spilliaert

Spilliaert produced an impressive body of work between about 1898 and 1946, an estimated 5,000 works. His oeuvre largely consists of works on paper, some drawings in pencil or Indian ink, many more composed of mixed techniques including watercolour, gouache, pastel or other materials.

Spilliaert also created graphic works and a number of oil paintings. Today, his works belong to various public and private collections, scattered around Belgium and far beyond. Delve into these collections here, and soon into Spilliaert's various materials, techniques, motifs and genres.

Foto : Steven Decroos

Collections

An introduction to the most prominent Spilliaert collections.

Léon Spilliaert, Woman at an Exhibition, 1912, [Indian ink, brush, coloured chalk, pastel, coloured pencil] watercolour and coloured pencil on paper, 81 x 66.5 cm. Ostend, Mu.ZEE, Collection of the Flemish Community, inv. no. K000436. Photo Cedric Verhelst.

Exhibitions

This is an overview of all exhibitions featuring Léon Spilliaert.

Madeleine Spilliaert and Anne Adriaens-Pannier in Uccle (Brussels) with in the background Fishergirl (1910), Tree in Summer (1942), Ferns on a Blue Background (1917), and holding Young Woman Sleeping. Rachel Spilliaert, (1917), July 1997, photo archive A. Adriaens-Pannier, Kraainem.

Catalogue raisonné

of Spilliaert's oeuvre.

Léon Spilliaert, Permeke Painting in Sint-Martens-Latem in April 1912, 1912, charcoal and pastel on paper, 44.5 x 47.5 cm. Mu.ZEE, Collection of the City of Ostend, inv SM000663. Here Spilliaert depicts Permeke as a confident painter at the end of his period in Latem.

Materials and techniques

Here you will soon be able to read more about the many materials and techniques Spilliaert, a self-taught artist, used and applied in his art.

Léon Spilliaert, View of Visserskaai from the Studio, Ostend, 1909, watercolour, Indian ink and oil stick on paper, 65.3 x 50 cm. De Vuyst, Lokeren.

Motifs and genres

Here you will soon be able to read more about the various genres and motifs that crop up in Spilliaert’s art.

The Spilliaert collection at Mu.ZEE

Mu.ZEE preserves the largest collection of Spilliaert’s works in the world. You can search the entire collection here. Read a brief introduction to the collection here. Discover the detailed history of its origins here.

Discover the works (only in Dutch)

Spilliaert in Ostend

Léon Spilliaert’s life and art is inextricably linked to his home town, Ostend. He was an artist who rendered his highly personal vision of the sea, the town and its people on paper, and he lived and worked there most of his life. Find out here where you can discover Spilliaert in Ostend today.

Léon Spilliaert, De duizeling, 1908.

Discover the Spilliaert collection at Mu.ZEE

Explore the largest collection of Spilliaert’s works in the world, preserved by Mu.ZEE in Ostend.

Walking with Spilliaert in his hometown of Ostend

During a digital walk, get to know all the facets of the painter Léon Spilliaert and his relationships with artists such as Permeke and Ensor.

Discover here The Ostend City Walks