 fernand edmond jean marie khnopff (12 september 1858&nbsp;â 12 november 1921) was a belgian symbolist painter. == life == === youth and training === fernand khnopff was born to a wealthy family that was part of the high bourgeoisie for generations. khnopff's ancestors had lived in the vossenhoek area of grembergen flanders since the early 17th century but were of austrian and portuguese descent. most male members of his family had been lawyers or judges, and young fernand was destined for a juridical career. in his early childhood (1859â1864), he lived in bruges where his father was appointed substitut du procureur du roi. his childhood memories of the medieval city of bruges would play a significant role in his later work. in 1864, the family moved to brussels. in his childhood khnopff spent part of his summer holidays in the hamlet of tilletsince 1977 is tillet part of the sainte-ode commune. not so far from bastogne in the luxemburg province where his maternal grand parents owned an estate. he painted several views of this village.emile pirard. fernand khnopff (1858-1921) Ã  fosset, mÃ©nil, sprimont, hÃ©rompont. tapuscrit, 105pp a4. tillet 2012. to please his parents, he went to law school at the free university of brussels (now divided into the universitÃ© libre de bruxelles and the vrije universiteit brussel) when he was 18 years old. during this period, he developed a passion for literature, discovering the works of baudelaire, flaubert, leconte de lisle and other mostly french authors. with his younger brother georges khnopff â also a passionate amateur of contemporary music and poetry â he started to frequent jeune belgique ("young belgium"), a group of young writers including max waller, georges rodenbach, iwan gilkin and emile verhaeren. khnopff left university due to a lack of interest in his law studies and began to frequent the studio of xavier mellery, who made him familiar with the art of painting. on 25 october
1858_births 1921_deaths Alumni_of_the_AcadA(c)mie_Julian Belgian_Symbolist_painters Belgian_painters Belgian_printmakers Burials_at_Laeken_Cemetery Commanders_of_the_Order_of_Leopold_(Belgium) Officiers_of_the_LA(c)gion_d\'honneur