Dawn, 1897

In their quest for the refinement of form, the symbolists often abandoned oil painting in favour of soft techniques such as pencil and chalk drawing, pastels and watercolour. The lightness, transparency and velvety texture of these materials lent themselves perfectly to the depiction of the imaginary. This trend is particularly obvious in the work of William Degouve de Nuncques. This self-taught artist, who had no formal training or tutor, described his art as follows: ‘All it takes to produce a painting is to pick enough colours, draw lines and fill in the gaps with feeling.’ The artist was particularly fond of evenings, nights and early mornings and painted many surprising landscapes enveloped in darkness, devoid of any kind of movement and dominated by a mysterious, melancholic stillness.