Lot Essay
Charles van Deun has confirmed the authenticity of this work after first hand examination.
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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE BELGIAN COLLECTION
During his life Delvaux produced many drawings and sketches. This collection consists of preliminary studies for compositions he would later use for his paintings, and sometimes of small details that can be traced back to his impressive oil paintings of the 1960's and 1970's. In these works we find his well-known subjects such as the mysterious nudes who wander around in deserted cities. They are beautiful, erotic, distant and unreachable. Often these nudes are placed in classical architectual surroundings. We also come across trains and trainstations, a subject he has used since the 1920's. Delvaux loved this subject for nostalgic reasons. '..I loved trains and its nostalgia never left me...I paint the trains of my youth and so my infancy'. (see: Jacques Meuris, 7 dialogues avec Paul Delvaux. Accompagnés de 7 lettres imaginaires, Parijs, 1976, p. 120-122) All these elements are characteristic for Delvaux's surrealist atmosphere. This collection gives us a unique insight of the origins of some of Delvaux's masterpieces from this period.
Paul Delvaux (1897-1994)
A study for Rosine (1968)
Details
Paul Delvaux (1897-1994)
A study for Rosine (1968)
signed, inscribed and dated 'P. Delvaux/St.Idesbald 8-'68' (lower right)
ink and wash and watercolour on paper
24 x 19.5 cm.;
and Another ink and wash on paper, depicting Two nudes, inscribed and dated 'La Croix Rouge/5-68.' (lower right), 28.5 x 21.5 cm.; and Another ink and wash and watercolour on paper, a study for Le rendez-vous d'Ephèse (1967), signed and dated 'P. Delvaux/15-2-68' (lower right), 24 x 19.5 cm., all by the same hand, all in one frame. (3)
A study for Rosine (1968)
signed, inscribed and dated 'P. Delvaux/St.Idesbald 8-'68' (lower right)
ink and wash and watercolour on paper
24 x 19.5 cm.;
and Another ink and wash on paper, depicting Two nudes, inscribed and dated 'La Croix Rouge/5-68.' (lower right), 28.5 x 21.5 cm.; and Another ink and wash and watercolour on paper, a study for Le rendez-vous d'Ephèse (1967), signed and dated 'P. Delvaux/15-2-68' (lower right), 24 x 19.5 cm., all by the same hand, all in one frame. (3)
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the parents of the present owner, and thence by descent.
Literature
Jacques Meuris, 7 dialogues avec Paul Delvaux. Accompagnés de 7 lettres imaginaires, Parijs, 1976, p.120-122.
Brought to you by
Else Valk