Lot Essay
Delvaux's fascination with Surrealism was sparked by his exposure to the 'Minotaure' exhibition in Brussels in 1934 where he was particularly struck by the work of de Chirico, Dalí and Magritte. Magritte introduced him to the Surrealists and he participated in several of their exhibitions over the next few years and in 1940 his work appeared in the Belgian Surrealist Review, Invention Collective.
Both the disquieting perspectives and dream-like urban views of de Chirico and the incongruous juxtapositions of Magritte find echoes in Delvaux's works. The unreality in his paintings is a result of presenting groups of figures (mostly female nudes) in very carefully and academically rendered spaces which often contain elements of both modern and arcadian worlds. The present work is characteristic of this, and can be closely linked to several other paintings from this period. The image of the nude woman and an oil lamp is repeated in Les Lamps (B. 83) and La Dame à la Lampe (B. 162). "Le dialogue a commencé, interminable, indefinissable, par des chemins toujours paralleles. Les tableaux naissent les uns des autres, l'arrière-plan de l'un surgissant dans l'autre. Parfois, un détail, telle une clé magique, se retrouvera dans plusieurs oeuvres presque à l'insu de l'artiste ..." (ibid, p. 138).
In this particular work light falls strongly on the nude figure in the foreground, reflecting off her pale skin and contrasting sharply with the heavy blueish shadows that engulf the sharply receding passage behind. The clarity of each individual object carries a conviction of reality, and yet placed together in this scene they seem quite incongruous, and the blue colours only emphasise their other-worldly quality.
Both the disquieting perspectives and dream-like urban views of de Chirico and the incongruous juxtapositions of Magritte find echoes in Delvaux's works. The unreality in his paintings is a result of presenting groups of figures (mostly female nudes) in very carefully and academically rendered spaces which often contain elements of both modern and arcadian worlds. The present work is characteristic of this, and can be closely linked to several other paintings from this period. The image of the nude woman and an oil lamp is repeated in Les Lamps (B. 83) and La Dame à la Lampe (B. 162). "Le dialogue a commencé, interminable, indefinissable, par des chemins toujours paralleles. Les tableaux naissent les uns des autres, l'arrière-plan de l'un surgissant dans l'autre. Parfois, un détail, telle une clé magique, se retrouvera dans plusieurs oeuvres presque à l'insu de l'artiste ..." (ibid, p. 138).
In this particular work light falls strongly on the nude figure in the foreground, reflecting off her pale skin and contrasting sharply with the heavy blueish shadows that engulf the sharply receding passage behind. The clarity of each individual object carries a conviction of reality, and yet placed together in this scene they seem quite incongruous, and the blue colours only emphasise their other-worldly quality.