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Dimensions: measurements 36 1/2 by 48 1/4 in. alternate measurements 92.5 by 122.5 cm
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Provenance: André Delvaux, Rhode-Saint-GenèseStaempfli Gallery, New YorkRichard S. Zeisler, New York (acquired from the above on May 19, 1965)National Gallery of Art, Washington (a gift from the above)
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Exhibited:
Venice, XXV Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d'Arte , 1950, no. 337
Anvers, Meir, Salle des fêtes, L'Art contemporain Salon 1951 , 1951, no. 180
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Dertien belgische schilders , 1952, no. 36
Charleroi, Salle de la Bourse, XXXIe Salon du Cercle Royal Artistique Littéraire de Charleroi, Rétrospective Paul Delvaux , 1957, no. 56
Boitsfort, Maison Haute, XIIe Salon , 1957, no. 10
Ostende, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Paul Delvaux , 1962, no. 37
Arnheim, Gemeentemuseum, Surréalistes Belges , 1964, no. 11
New York, Staempfli Gallery, Paul Delvaux, 1965, no. 11
Mons, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Hainaut Cinq. Hommage à Paul Delvaux , 1965, no. 5
New York, Staempfli Gallery, Paul Delvaux , 1969, no. 9
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Paul Delvaux: Women and Dreams , 1969
Rotterdam, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Paul Delvaux , 1973, no. 47
Tokyo, Isetan Museum; Hiroshima Museum; Yokohama Museum; Yamanashi, Prefectural Museum; Asahikawa Museum; Osaka City Museum, The Surrealism Exhibition , 1983
Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Rétrospective Paul Delvaux , 1997, no. 78
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Literature: Paul-Aloïse De Bock, Paul Delvaux. Der Mensch. Der Maler, Hamburg, 1965, illustrated pl. 30Paul-Aloïse De Bock, Paul Delvaux, Brussels, 1967, illustrated pl. 101Paul Caso, "Le Cercle Hainaut Cinq au Musée de Mons. Un Hommage à Paul Delvaux," Le Soir, Brussels, March 18, 1965Peter Sager, "Paul Delvaux," Das Kunstwerk, Stuttgart, Berlin, Cologne and Mayence, May 1973, p. 41 Jose Vovelle, Le Surréalisme en Belgique, Brussels, 1972, p. 187Michel Butor, Jean Clair and Suzanne Houbart-Wilkin, Delvaux, Catalogue de l'oeuvre peint, Lausanne & Paris, 1975, no. 199, illustrated p. 230 (catalogued with incorrect measurements 80 by 100 cm)Paul Delvaux, Tokyo, 1986, illustrated Jacques Sojcher, Paul Delvaux ou la passion puérile, Paris, 1991, no. 87, illustrated p. 63
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Notes: PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF RICHARD S. ZEISLER, TO PROVIDE FUNDS FOR THE ACQUISITION OF ART BY THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C.
The mysterious paintings of Paul Delvaux are regarded as some of the most alluring examples of late Surrealist art. Although his paintings are renowned for their hallucinatory scenarios and dream-like imagery, the artist claimed not to be a proponent of the writings of Sigmund Freud and did not invest his compositions with the psychoanalytic references that were favored by Dalí, Miró and his fellow Belgian, René Magritte. Delvaux's approach to painting was more subtle in its representation of the uncanny: without being overtly grotesque or offensive with his imagery, he would interrupt the peacefulness and banality of a given scene with instances of the bizarre. Many of these pictures present a conventional architectural setting, like a railway station or a street corner, that is populated by mysterious women. The passivity of these women recalls the gentle beauty of a Botticelli or the flawlessness of a Bouguereau and adds a certain sense of timelessness to an otherwise localized scene. As with most of his pictures, the meaning behind this scene is somewhat unclear, and several hypotheses can be made about the symbolism of three disaffected women flying kites. But throughout his lifetime, the artist was resistant to provide any sort of narrative for these pictures, stating quite clearly "I do not feel the need to give a temporal explanation of what I do, neither do I feel the need to account for my human subjects who exist only for the purpose of my painting. These figures recount no history: they are. Further, they express nothing in themselves..." (quoted in Rétrospective Paul Delvaux, 1897-1984 (exhibition catalogue), op. cit., p. 22).
