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    Sale 6062

    20th Century Art Pt.II

    London

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    9 December 1998

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    • Paul Delvaux (1897-1994)
    Lot 673

    Paul Delvaux (1897-1994)

    Les demoiselles du téléphone

    Price realised

    GBP 265,500

    Estimate

    GBP 180,000 - GBP 220,000

    Follow lot

    Paul Delvaux (1897-1994)
    Les demoiselles du téléphone
    signed and dated 'P. DELVAUX 3-51' (lower right)
    oil on panel
    30 1/4 x 44in. (76.5 x 112cm.)
    Painted in March 1951

    Provenance

    René and Ghislaine Micha, Brussels
    Ellen Melas Kyriazi, Lausanne
    Billy Wilder, Los Angeles
    His sale, Christie's New York, 13 November 1989, lot 66

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    Literature and exhibited

    Literature

    P. Caso, 'Les Expositions d'Art - Paul Delvaux', Le Soir, Paris 29 November 1957, p. 5.
    S. Rey, 'Les Expositions - Delvaux, Gilsoul, Peeters et Londot', Le Phare Dimanche, 8 December 1957, p. 7.
    Paris-Match, no. 1045, Paris 17 May 1969, (illustrated in colour p. 109).
    J. Clair, 'Paul Delvaux (Rétrospective du Musée des Arts Décoratifs)', La Nouvelle Revue Française, no. 200, Paris 1 August 1969, p. 280.
    H. Bauchau, 'Les Demoiselles du Téléphone (poème)', Ecriture 9, 1973, p. 147.
    M. Butor & J. Clair and S. Houbart-Wilkin, Delvaux catalogue de l'oeuvre peint, Paris 1975, no. 205 (illustrated pp. 232 & 141).


    Exhibited

    Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Dertien Belgische Schilders, October-November 1952, no. 35 (titled De juffers van de telefoon).
    Boitsfort, Brussels, Maison Haute, XIIe Salon, Paul Delvaux, November-December 1957, no. 13. This exhibition later travelled to Sofia and Budapest.
    Bucharest, Sala Dalles, 45 ani de Arta Contemporana Belgiana, November-December 1967 (illustrated). This exhibition later travelled to Mcsarnok, Hungary, February 1968, no. 25.
    Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Rétrospective Paul Delvaux, May-July 1969, no. 43 (illustrated).
    Recklinghausen, Ruhrfestpiele, Gliegen ein traum, 1977.


    Lot Essay

    For a few years before executing the present painting, Paul Delvaux's world had been dominated by mermaids, referred to as L'Epoque des Sirènes.
    A new theme appeared in 1951, in Les demoiselles du téléphone. In a large and pure blue sky, three towering telephone poles veer over three young women in a kind of supernatural oppression. All of them are seen from the waist up, two in profile, and the third facing us directly exposing her breasts. They are dressed in flowing costumes inspired by the Italian Renaissance, which stand in sharp contrast to the austere, linear symbols of contemporary life.
    Henri Bauchau, the celebrated writer and poet, wrote the following poem for the present work:
    "Loin des gares buissonières
    Des matins de cerfs-volants
    Les nuits dans le songe blanc
    Des fenêtres d'écolières

    Va le rouge-gorge au vent
    Douce gorge des amants
    O la fuite librement
    Des trains de mélancolie"

    (H. Bauchau, Ecriture 9, Lausanne 1973, p. 147)

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