Jean Delville (1867-1953) was a Belgian artist who was seriously interested in mysticism and the occult, even being a member of the mystical order of the Rosencreutzers. His paintings are striking very complex, but at the same time pretentious and interesting symbolism, built on the study of the inner world of man, depicting the ideal embodiments of love, death and the possibility of achieving a state of enlightenment. He set himself a very difficult task to embody in his paintings something intangible, invisible, occult and unknown, through symbols and characters of all kinds of myths.
Death of Orpheus
Delvile left behind not so many paintings, but he did not have frankly passable artwork, such as many of the same type of portraits, painted solely to earn money. Each painting is an embodiment of the thoughts and philosophy of the artist himself. He was in some ways a typical representative of his era, at the end of the XIX century, the occult was interested in many people, spiritistic séances were a common form of leisure. Now it is even surprising how numerous scientific discoveries, the development of technology combined with medieval mysticism, and it succumbed to it and very educated and intelligent people, such as Jean Delville. Art historians wonder about the many mysteries of his paintings, as he never explained anything to anyone and left no explanatory notes about his artwork.
The School of Silence
Jean Delville was born in the town of Leuven, when he grew up, entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he proved to be a very gifted student. Without much difficulty received the prestigious Rome Prize and went to Rome at public expense to study Italian art. At first he was a realist, otherwise the young artist simply could not achieve any success, but after four years in Rome decided to move to the capital of painting at that time Paris, where he got together with the occultist Joseph Peladan and began to learn from him.
Parsifal
Peladan was a very peculiar person - he often allowed himself extravagant antics, praised his beloved self in every possible way, and asserted things that were quite logical for occultism, but did not fit well with science and commonplace logic. He wrote many occult plays and novels and organized his society in the manner of the medieval order of Rosencreutzers, of which Jean Delville became a member.
Peladan argued that art took on the role of religion, it allows you to join the beautiful, and beauty - a direct path to God, even if it is the beauty of naked girls.
Cycle of Passion
The society began to hold its own exhibitions, at which Jean Delville willingly presented his paintings, one of which some jokers called "Mona Lisa of the 1890s". It depicts a female medium in a trance state, which is why the look is so psychedelic.
Mystery. Portrait of Mrs. Stuart Merrill
Wondering if she will be able to keep her sanity after several such sessions, all the same occultism and belonging to totalitarian sects, and the Order of Rosencreutzers organized by Peladan her and was, is hardly conducive to mental health.
Perhaps it all realized and Jean Delville, because he in 1890, breaks all the vows and goes to Belgium. But even there he continued to stick to secret societies, in particular, the Masonic lodge. He becomes a member of it and reaches the highest, 33 steps of initiation. His ideas of occultism Jean Delvile in every way promoted in society, perhaps because so quickly and rose among the Masons.
He was a teacher, organizer of all sorts of societies, a person in European artistic circles very famous. For example, for Diaghilev he wrote the poster for the play Prometheus.
Prometheus
During the First World War he moved to London, organized there the "League of Patriots" - it is good to shout about patriotism, being thousands of kilometers away from the front line. After the war, everything went according to the usual pattern - teaching, participation in the affairs of the Masonic lodge, all promotion of the occult and his own philosophy.
A naked lie
However, at some point something went wrong, Jean Delvile found himself in the position of an outcast, lost all his posts in the Lodge, he turned away from all his former friends. Helped the novel with a student Emilie Leclerc, to her and went disgraced artist, despite the fact that he was married and had six children. To his wife and children, he later returned, but only after 15 years of trying to live on two families.
However, his last years were quiet, perhaps Delville himself was tired of too turbulent youth and maturity, it was time to collect stones and summarize life.
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