Paul Delvaux (1897-1994). A fascinating and exciting journey into the labyrinths of the subconscious

Paul Delvaux - a native of the small Belgian town of Anteyt, a talented surrealist painter of the last century, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. In the 1920s, Delvaux was fond of post-impressionism, later he was seriously affected by expressionistic painting. The artist got acquainted with the work of the surrealists in 1936, when he was already about forty: he was captivated by the deceptive simplicity of specific concrete images of Magritte and the metaphysical detachment of paintings by De Chirico.

One of Delvo’s first surrealist paintings, “Night Beauty” (1936), bears the imprint of archaic, almost childish concern for the credibility of the artistic image, which is manifested in carefully drawn details on all planes of the painting. Delvo heroes, like the characters of De Chirico, live in a speculative, carefully built and written out surreal space. In his paintings, women are always naked, and men are dressed in formal suits.

The action of Delvo’s works develops slowly, the rhythms are smooth: everything resembles a smooth, bizarre dream. Often a human skeleton appears in his paintings, a kind of “memento mori” - a surreal symbol of the frailty of being and the vanity of human desires, the cruel antithesis of female beauty, which further exacerbates the gloomy, disturbing atmosphere of his works of art.

1940-1950s - the pinnacle of Delvo’s creative activity. At this time, the artist painted canvases that brought him fame: “Red City”, “Public Opinion” (1948), “Night Train” (1947), “Sleeping Venus” (1944). A retrospective exhibition of the master’s works, opened at the Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels, was an overwhelming success.

In 1950, the Brussels National School of Architecture and Art invited Delvo to teach monumental painting: the artist remained in this post until 1962. Officially, Delvaux was never a member of any surrealist group, either in Belgium or in Paris. He was a lonely genius, and, perhaps, such autonomy gave him a chance to preserve and increase his original personality.

However, one cannot ignore the fact that Andre Breton, the unquestioned authority of surrealism, repeatedly spoke of his work and talent as an artist in the most enthusiastic terms. Pictures Delvo - a fascinating and exciting journey into the labyrinths of the subconscious. The artist lived a long life, devoid of everyday shocks. Unlike many surrealists, he did not participate in scandals and high-profile actions, but led a quiet life of a provincial and a recluse, preferring painting classes to declarations and catchy statements.

Andrey Nikolaevich Malev