Surrealist artist Paul Delvaux presents an ethereal cityscape in this original pen and ink study entitled Les Belles de Nuit (Beauties of the Night). Walking down a moonlit boulevard, the elegant women appear to be in a dream-like state, with their forms mingling with the shadows of the trees in a mysterious and sensual display.



Paul Delvaux's earliest and most lasting influence in his art were the futuristic writings of Jules Verne and the mythos of Homer. A student of painitng and architecture at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, his early works show elements of Expressionism and Post-Impressionism. However, after discovering the paintings of legends including Salvador Dalí in the 1930s, Delvaux converted to the Surrealist style. He blended his subconscious themes, which frequently included the nude female form, with the loose concepts of form and perspective found in the 16th-century Mannerist paintings he studied in Italy before World War II to create a singular style that makes his works so highly desired in the realm of modern art.