Paul Delvaux

Paul Delvaux was a Belgian surrealist painter whose artworks portray surreal scenes that amalgamate nonsensical elements. His highly naturalistic painting technique enhances the unsettling atmosphere of these scenes.

Biography of Paul Delvaux

Born into a family of lawyers, Paul Delvaux initially pursued a classical education, kindling his imagination with Ancient Greek myths, particularly the tale of Odysseus. Delvaux was born into the era of technological advancements, invention, and imagination. His fascination extended to trains and trams, but his paramount passion was reserved for Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1864), cherished for its fantastical worlds and haunting illustrations by Édouard Riou. Childhood memories, such as a fearsome skeleton in his school's music room, fueled his active imagination, leaving enduring impressions that, as he explained, continued to influence him throughout life.

From 1920 to 1924, Delvaux attended the Belgian Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, yielding to familial pressure to pursue architecture before ultimately transferring to Constant Montald's painting workshop. Life drawing and landscape painting in the ancient Forêt de Soignes, or Sonian Forest, on the outskirts of the city, became integral to his education. Reflecting on this period later in life, he humorously termed his practice of painting nudes in the morning and landscapes in the afternoon as his "complete education."

His landscapes bore the influence of Expressionists Constant Permeke and Gustave de Smet, and by the early 1930s, he began incorporating nudes into his landscapes. This coincided with a phase of personal suffering for Delvaux, marked by a passionate but thwarted romance with Anne-Marie de Martelaere, as his mother compelled him to break off the relationship.

In 1934, Delvaux's imagination was ignited when he encountered the "Surrealist Minotaure" exhibition. Exposure to Surrealist art and ideas brought about a revolution in his perspective on painting. Delvaux's great interest in his childhood desires and fears began to spill onto his canvases: nudes, skeletons, temples, trains, myths, and Jules Verne characters all made their appearances. 

In the late 1930s, Delvaux adopted the Surrealist technique of "poetic shock" in his paintings, a method used by Surrealists for creating "cut-up" poems through the literal cutting and rearranging of text in a collage-like fashion. Seeking a visual equivalent, Delvaux brought together unrelated forms, subjects, and ideas in his paintings.

André Breton admired Delvaux's bizarre worlds, and in 1936, the artist gained broader exposure by exhibiting alongside René Magritte. Autonomous Surrealist groups had formed in Belgium, and Delvaux, while maintaining relationships with Surrealist painters, remained independent and did not identify himself as a Surrealist.

In 1937 and 1939, Delvaux toured Italy, finding inspiration in the architecture of Florence, Rome, and Pompeii. These historic settings, coupled with his distinctive use of light, provided a backdrop against which his nudes could convey emotion. The juxtaposition of nudes against architecture created a fusion of contradictory elements: lifeless stone and living flesh, public and private, the restrained and the erotic. The artist aimed for a "poetic shock" through these juxtapositions, further intensified by the inclusion of a man wearing a bowler hat alongside the nudes. These men sometimes symbolized the everyman or were based on real individuals Delvaux had observed on the street.

The influence of Magritte, known for depicting men in bowler hats, is apparent in Delvaux's work. Interestingly, Delvaux's men do not engage with other characters in his paintings, perhaps reflecting the turbulence in the artist's life during that period. His marriage faced challenges, and by 1940, Belgium was under Nazi occupation. Confronted with these hardships, Delvaux sought solace in the realm of his paintings.

The post-war years marked a notably happier chapter in Delvaux's personal life. A fortuitous encounter with his first love, Anne-Marie de Martelaere, allowed them to reignite their romance. Delvaux divorced his first wife, Suzanne Purnal, and married Anne-Marie.

In 1946, Delvaux became the subject of an iconic art film titled "The World of Paul Delvaux," directed by Henri Storck and narrated by Surrealist poet Paul Eluard. This period witnessed the resurgence of his childhood preoccupations. What had once been a childhood fear of skeletons transformed into a source of fascination. Delvaux meticulously studied and sketched them at the Museum of Natural History, expressing that he had now 'grasped the beauty and expression' they held. Similar to his approach with nudes, Delvaux purposefully placed his skeletons in bizarre settings, depicting them in lifelike poses, even in a controversial series on the Passion of Christ, believing they brought a living quality when juxtaposed with fantastical scenes.

In his later years, Delvaux received numerous honors and appointments while continuing to create various works, such as murals at the Palais des Congrès (1959), the painting "Genesis" (1960) at the Liège Institute of Zoology, and the 13-meter piece "Our Old Trams of Brussels" (1978) in the Bourse station in Brussels. In 1981, he encountered Andy Warhol, who crafted a silkscreen portrait of him.

As his eyesight declined in his final years, forcing him to abandon painting, Delvaux maintained a zest for life, reflecting on the continued enjoyment of life's pleasures, remarking, "drinking a glass of wine, for example. It is not necessary to see to do that." The artist passed away in 1994 at 96.

Paul Delvaux's Art Style

Paul Delvaux's artistic career developed in the shadow of Nazi Germany, resulting in a body of work characterized by a distinct sense of anxiety and unease. Notably, this anxiety is not overtly manifested in political subjects. Instead, Delvaux focused on exploring humanity and the concealed recesses of the subconscious.

Initially influenced by European Expressionism, his mature style drew inspiration from an entirely different source: The Surrealists. Although not an official member of the Surrealists, Delvaux shared their interest in delving into the depths of the mind. Similar to contemporaries Giorgio de Chirico and René Magritte, Delvaux used bizarre subject matter, eschewing abstraction, to convey expressiveness. In doing so, he crafted uncomfortable scenes intended to emotionally shock the viewer.

The architectural settings in Delvaux's paintings transcended mere background; indeed, they constituted some of his most captivating subjects. This is unsurprising, considering his initial artistic training in architecture. The Classical buildings, city squares, and train stations that provided the backdrop for his enigmatic scenes played a crucial role in capturing his distinctive moods.

Nude women feature prominently in Delvaux's oeuvre. Occupying a space between statuary and objects of desire, their inherent ambiguity stands out as one of the most arresting and perplexing aspects of his paintings.