Bruges mystique et sensuelle
The print series Bruges mystique et sensuelle blends art and literature in an exceptional manner. De Feure did not intend to transpose Georges Rodenbach’s novel Bruges-la-morte literally, he preferred to create a parallel, mysterious dreamworld in subtle colour lithographs.
His questionable representation of woman as nun or prostitute is very much of its time. With its mystical character, the print series is a magnificent example of Symbolist printmaking.
Georges de Feure, Nocturnal Landscape (Le paysage nocturne) from the series Bruges mystique et sensuelle, 1899
Georges de Feure, Bizarre landscape (Paysage bizarre) from the series Bruges mystique et sensuelle, 1899
Femme fatale
De Feure was a familiar sight in Montmartre. The district was home to a large community of liberated women who went drinking and dancing together, often dressed in men’s clothes. Many of his prints in this period drew inspiration from these free-living women. But he also was influenced by contemporary anti-feminism through the figure of the femme fatale, the well-endowed but dangerous woman.
The writer Octave Uzanne described De Feure’s fascination for the femme fatale in the following terms:
‘One feels that he loves womankind in its supreme beauty, which is the supreme evil itself.’
Georges de Feure, Sheet music Illusions de poète by Dalleroy and Louis Byrec, performed by Harry Fragson, 1893
Further reading
- Ian Millman, Georges de Feure: maître du symbolism et de l’art nouveau, Paris 1992
- Ian Millman, Georges de Feure 1868-1943, Amsterdam 1993
- Octave Uzanne, ‘On the drawings of M. Georges de Feure’, The Studio (November 1897), no. 12, pp. 95-102