Paul Delvaux

(Belgian, 1897–1994)

Paul Delvaux was a Belgian Surrealist painter and printmaker. He is best known for his images of nude women—characterized by their hypnotized stares and mysterious gestures— often depicted alongside unusual settings and characters, including train stations, skeletons, men in bowler hats, or scientists inspired by the stories of Jules Verne. Born on September 23, 1897 in Antheit, Belgium, he studied architecture at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels while simultaneously attending painting classes taught by Constant Montald and Jean Delville. He began creating work influenced by Post-Impressionism and Expressionism, and by 1925 had his first solo exhibition. After discovering the work of Giorgio de Chirico and Salvador Dalí, he began developing the Surrealist aesthetic for which he became best known. In 1936, his paintings were shown at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels alongside René Magritte, a fellow member of the Belgian group Les Compagnons de l’Art. He was subsequently named director of the Académie Royale des Beaux-Art in 1965, and the Paul Delvaux Museum opened in Saint-Idesbald, Belgium in 1982. His works were the subject of major retrospectives at both the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and the National Museum of Modern Art of Kyoto in 1975. He died on July 20, 1994 in Veurne, Belgium.