Paul Delvaux

The present work is an excellent example of Delvaux’s elusive and mysterious world and clearly presents many of the stylistic influences so important to the development of his œuvre. Early in his career Delvaux showed an interest in 19th century French and Belgian academic painting as represented by Ingres and Puvis de Chavannes. He had also visited Italy and shown a particular interest in the painters of the Quattrocento, indeed, the treatment of space and perspective in his work seems to be inspired by early Renaissance studies of perspective. With its architectural background and sharp, straight lines, Femmes en violet displays a typically linear perspective. The three women are depicted with meticulous attention to detail as is the wrought iron pier in the background, and with its play of light and its staged setting, the present work has an atmosphere of mystery and theatricality characteristic of Delvaux's works.

The present work clearly shows the women as the centre of the painter’s world and this is  the central motif throughout Delvaux’s work, as William S. Rubin observed: ‘Woman is the centre of Delvaux’s, woman in a sexual context that is wistful and passive […] Delvaux’s women sit silently and wait endlessly: they are never in dialogue with men, who enter their world only as old doctors […] Sometimes the male principle is suppressed in a literal sense to emerge only symbolically […] The environment in which these ladies sit seems a Flemish counterpart of a Chiricoesque piazza; elsewhere the ambiance suggests a Surrealist equivalent of the antique Hellenism of Puvis de Chavannes’ (W. Rubin, Dada and Surrealist Art, London, 1969, p. 315).

This work has been requested for an exhibition of works by Paul Delvaux, to be held at Kunsthalle, Bielefeld from October 2006 until January 2007.