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Fine art

The Caress

Fernand Khnopff

1896 · Oil on canvas · Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels

Size3:2 ratio

Will it fit? See it to scale above your sofa, bed or mantel

Frame

$79Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

The Caress

Odysseus and Calypso

Odysseus and Polyphemus

3 × $79 at 36 × 24 in, unframed = $237 → $213.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

Choose different prints →

Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Fernand Khnopff (1858–1921)
Year: 1896
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 50.5 × 151 cm
Collection: Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
Movement: Symbolism

On a sunlit plain a young man with red-gold hair, bare-chested and holding a winged staff, stands cheek to cheek with a creature that has a woman's face and a leopard's spotted body; she presses against him with half-closed eyes. Behind them rise dark cypresses, a pale inscribed stele and two thin blue columns on a rust-red heath. Khnopff signed and dated it 1896, and it is also known as Art. It reinterprets Gustave Moreau's Oedipus and the Sphinx of 1864. The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium bought it from the Galerie L.T. Neumann in Vienna in 1956.

This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

Sand, rust red and leopard spots in a long, low strip suit the wall above a sofa, sideboard or bed head in an adult room. Pair it with The Kiss by Klimt, whom Khnopff influenced, at 36×24 in a dark wood frame.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Symbolism painting
Era: 19th century (1896)
Orientation: Landscape
Mood: grand
Rooms: living room, dining room
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 36×24. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.

Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; dark wood warms it.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from the original painting — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or dark wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The image fills the print at the painting's own proportions; nothing is trimmed to fit a frame.

Is The Caress in the public domain?

Yes. Fernand Khnopff (1858–1921) died more than 70 years ago and the work was made and first published more than 95 years ago, so the painting itself is public domain in the US and Europe. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 18×12, 24×16 and 36×24 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or dark wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was The Caress painted, and in what medium?

The Caress dates from 1896 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 50.5 × 151 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 36×24 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 24×16 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For The Caress we'd choose 36×24. It is a landscape print, wider than it is tall, at the painting's own proportions.

About this design

The Caress (Fernand Khnopff) — The Caress · Fernand Khnopff · 1896. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or dark wood. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

Secure checkout. Payments handled by Stripe; we never see or store your card.

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