Interior spaces in Belgian art and architecture (1880-1914): domesticity, materiality and intimacy

By investigating the work of Louise De Hem, James Ensor, Fernand Khnopff, Georges Le Brun, Henry van de Velde, Théo Van Rysselberghe and Rik Wouters, I show how it mirrored the wider fascination with the interior in ways which reinforced or subverted the trope of the domestic interior as a refuge, its increasing commodification and its evolving gender and class dynamics. This thesis contributes to the emerging field of interior studies.

With a view to uncovering relationships between interior spaces and representations of interiors, I link the visual and the material, shedding light on the meanings of specific artworks and broader cultural changes in late-nineteenth-century Belgium. By bringing together house plans, paintings, photographs and texts, a new picture of the interior emerges, which embraces its cultural contradictions as well as its artistic and aesthetic potentialities.<br><br><i>Thesis embargoed until 31 July 2027</i>