The oeuvre of Fernand Khnopff constitutes a major contribution to European Symbolism. In Secret-Reflet, Khnopff turns to two motifs that are characteristic of Symbolism. ‘Secret’ is an image of silence, seeing that no verbal communication is possible between a woman and a mask. Khnopff’s Symbolism is not about visualising reality as a material form, but about expressing one’s highly personal and idealised memories. The city of Bruges was one of his favourite subjects. ‘Reflet’ shows, in a cut-out, a part of the Gothic façade of the St John’s Hospital, reflected on the surface of a typical Bruges canal, evoking the symbolism of the mirror. ‘Secret’ and ‘Reflet’ were mounted in a vertical diptych by Khnopff himself. The separate motifs are also found in his other work, but with Secret-Reflet, he went one step further. The key to the symbolic meaning of the whole lies in the combination of these two seemingly unconnected drawings.
