Lot Essay
Dr. Charles van Deun has confirmed the authenticity of this watercolor.
The work of Delvaux's maturity all have in common certain "constants," or components, which throughout his oeuvre have remained the same and which, in their repetition, contribute to the paintings' poetic atmosphere. One of the quintessential constants is the feminine presence. His women are the essence, as well as the catalyst, of the poetic mystery he sought to evoke. "The Delvaux woman is not just any woman: she is sphinx-like, having no past and no future. She is fixed in her immobility, indifferent to the people around her; she waits for something that does not happen and will never happen." (G. Ollinger-Zinque, "The Making of a Painter-Poet," Paul Delvaux 1897-1994, exh. cat., Brussels, 1997, p. 22). Delvaux's women embody the anticipation of desire as opposed to its fulfillment.
Like Magritte, Delvaux rendered the components of his paintings realistically; and similarly, the completed image is not realistic but instead a complex visual poem, often with personal references. Memory held great importance for Delvaux, and it has been said that he possessed a faultless visual memory. The title of this watercolor, Le Bain des Dames Chez Georges Grard, makes reference to a real person --Georges Grard was a sculptor and friend of Delvaux from the town of St. Idesbald-- but it is unlikely that this bath was an actual room in his home. Instead, Delvaux's memories and feelings towards his friend provided the inspiration for this enigmatic scene.
Delvaux once called his watercolors "a pastime, a moment of freedom" (quoted in Paul Delvaux dans les Collections prives, exh. cat., Brussels, 1990, p. 33) The immediacy of the watercolor medium fulfilled a desire to express himself with paint freely and spontaneously. In Le Bain des Dames Chez Georges Grard, the actual surface of the watercolor and the painted illusion of the women in their bath becomes almost blurred, as if the images exist in a shadowy world of memory. This is achieved partially by the speed of execution, and partially through Delvaux's cross-hatching technique, which obscures the space between figure and object, light and shade.
Although the stage-like compositions of Delvaux's paintings initially suggest a narrative reading, the artist was, like many of his contemporaries, rejecting traditional history painting. When asked to explain meaning behind his art, Delvaux once replied, "I do not feel the need to give a temporal explanation of what I do, neither do I feel the need to account for my human subjects who exist for the purpose of the painting. These figures recount no history: they are." (quoted in Ollinger-Zinque, ibid. p. 22)
The work of Delvaux's maturity all have in common certain "constants," or components, which throughout his oeuvre have remained the same and which, in their repetition, contribute to the paintings' poetic atmosphere. One of the quintessential constants is the feminine presence. His women are the essence, as well as the catalyst, of the poetic mystery he sought to evoke. "The Delvaux woman is not just any woman: she is sphinx-like, having no past and no future. She is fixed in her immobility, indifferent to the people around her; she waits for something that does not happen and will never happen." (G. Ollinger-Zinque, "The Making of a Painter-Poet," Paul Delvaux 1897-1994, exh. cat., Brussels, 1997, p. 22). Delvaux's women embody the anticipation of desire as opposed to its fulfillment.
Like Magritte, Delvaux rendered the components of his paintings realistically; and similarly, the completed image is not realistic but instead a complex visual poem, often with personal references. Memory held great importance for Delvaux, and it has been said that he possessed a faultless visual memory. The title of this watercolor, Le Bain des Dames Chez Georges Grard, makes reference to a real person --Georges Grard was a sculptor and friend of Delvaux from the town of St. Idesbald-- but it is unlikely that this bath was an actual room in his home. Instead, Delvaux's memories and feelings towards his friend provided the inspiration for this enigmatic scene.
Delvaux once called his watercolors "a pastime, a moment of freedom" (quoted in Paul Delvaux dans les Collections prives, exh. cat., Brussels, 1990, p. 33) The immediacy of the watercolor medium fulfilled a desire to express himself with paint freely and spontaneously. In Le Bain des Dames Chez Georges Grard, the actual surface of the watercolor and the painted illusion of the women in their bath becomes almost blurred, as if the images exist in a shadowy world of memory. This is achieved partially by the speed of execution, and partially through Delvaux's cross-hatching technique, which obscures the space between figure and object, light and shade.
Although the stage-like compositions of Delvaux's paintings initially suggest a narrative reading, the artist was, like many of his contemporaries, rejecting traditional history painting. When asked to explain meaning behind his art, Delvaux once replied, "I do not feel the need to give a temporal explanation of what I do, neither do I feel the need to account for my human subjects who exist for the purpose of the painting. These figures recount no history: they are." (quoted in Ollinger-Zinque, ibid. p. 22)