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Lot Essay
IN HER CATALOGUE OF BELGIAN ART 1880-1914 P. 89, GISELE OLLINGER-ZINGUE WRITES 'WITH THIS PAINTING (SIC.), DELVILLE ENTERED WHOLEHEARTEDLY INTO THE WORLD OF THE SYMBOLIST DISCIPLINE, PUTTING INTO PRACTICE ALL THE THEORIES OF SâR PéLADAN AND THE ROSE + CROIX. HERE WE PENETRATE WITH HIM INTO THE UNIVERSE OF MAGIC, OF THE KABBAL, OF OCCULTISM AND THE ESOTERIC. THE ICONOGRAPHY IS, HOWEVER, REDUCED TO ESSENTIALS: A WOMAN'S FACE AND A BOOK - WHICH FACE, WHAT BOOK, IS NOT IMPORTANT. THE EYES THAT STARE AT US ARE THOSE OF A MEDIUM; THEY DO NOT SEE, BECAUSE THEY ARE LOOKING ELSEWHERE, INTO AN INVISIBLE WORLD THAT ELUDES US. THE TOUSLED HAIR FORMS A HALO WHOSE LUMINOUS RAYS ENCIRCLE HER HEAD. THE HANDS, LONG AND DIAPHANOUS, BELONG MORE TO A SPECTRE THAN TO A SIMPLE WOMAN. THE BOOK, BOUND IN BLACK LEATHER, IS CLEARLY MARKED WITH AN EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE. IT IS THE SACRED BOOK SHOWING THE EMBLEM OF WISDOM - THE EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE BEING THE SYMBOL OF THREE, AS FOR THE TRINITY. THE WOMAN'S CHIN LEANS ON THE BINDING, LEADING US TO UNDERSTAND THAT HUMANS CAN ONLY ESCAPE THE WORLD OF DOUBT AND SHADOW BY LEANING ON WISDOM.'(P.89).
THE SITTER WAS THE WIFE OF THE AMERICAN POET STUART MERRILL. JULLIAN EXPLAINS THAT THIS WORK MAY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY VILLERS DE L'ISLE ADAMS'S L'EVE FUTURE, OF 1886.
THE SITTER WAS THE WIFE OF THE AMERICAN POET STUART MERRILL. JULLIAN EXPLAINS THAT THIS WORK MAY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY VILLERS DE L'ISLE ADAMS'S L'EVE FUTURE, OF 1886.