PAUL DELVAUX (1897-1994) - photo 1
PAUL DELVAUX (1897-1994) - photo 2
PAUL DELVAUX (1897-1994) - photo 3
PAUL DELVAUX (1897-1994) - photo 4

PAUL DELVAUX (1897-1994)

Lot 106
05.03.2025 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
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Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1380180
Lot 106 | PAUL DELVAUX (1897-1994)
Estimate value
£ 1 200 000 – 1 800 000
PAUL DELVAUX (1897-1994)
La ville endormie
signed and dated ‘P. DELVAUX 5-38.' (lower right); signed and inscribed 'P. DELVAUX 15 rue d'Ecosse, Bruxelles, Le Rêve' (on the stretcher bar)
oil on canvas
59 3/8 x 69 1/8 in. (150.7 x 175.7 cm.)
Painted in Brussels in May 1938




Provenance

Robert Giron, Brussels, by December 1944.
Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, London, 10 December 1969, lot 88.
N. Higgons, Paris, by whom acquired at the above sale.
Acoris, The Surrealist Art Centre, London, by 1972.
Ishizuka Research Institute, Kanagawa, by 1975; sale, Christie’s, New York, 8 May 1991, lot 32.
Acquired at the above sale, and thence by descent.



Literature

R. Giron et al, eds., Les Carnets du Seminaire des Arts, Brussels, no. 1, March 1945 (illustrated).
P. Fierens, ‘Petit bilan de la résistance artistique’ in Revue générale Belge, Brussels, November 1945, no. 1, p. 118.
Arts de France, vol. 5, Paris, 1946, p. 23.
P. Fierens, ‘Paul Delvaux’ in Cahiers d’Art, Paris,1945-1946, p. 250.
L.-L. Sosset, ‘Rétrospective Paul Delvaux’ in Les Beaux-Arts, Brussels, April 1957, no. 767, p. 5.
R. Genaille, La Peinture en Belgique de Rubens aux Surréalistes, Paris, 1958, p. 201 (with incorrect dimensions).
M. Jean, The History of Surrealist Painting, Paris, 1959, p. 373 (illustrated p. 278; with incorrect dimensions).
J.-P. Lenz, ‘Les six plus grands peintres surréalistes’ in Réalités: fémina, Paris, no. 219, April 1964, p. 46 (illustrated p. 45).
Les Beaux-Arts, Brussels, April 1964, no. 1050, p. 10.
D. Sylvester, Modern Art from Fauvism to Abstract Impressionism, New York, 1965 (illustrated p. 279, fig. e).
E. B. Henning, Fifty Years of Modern Art, 1916-1966, exh. cat., Cleveland, 1966 (illustrated fig. 71).
R. Lebel, ‘Il surrealismo all’approssimarsi della guerra’ in L’arte moderna, vol. VII, Brussels,1967, no. 62, p. 312.
E. Langui, ‘Paul Delvaux’s Verden - og vor egen’ in Louisiana Revy, Humlebaek, no. 4, March 1967, no. 11, p. 6 (illustrated; with incorrect date and dimensions).
P.-A. de Bock, Paul Delvaux: L’homme, le peintre, psychologie d’un art, Brussels, 1967, no. 78, p. 294 (illustrated p. 142; with incorrect dimensions).
R. Passeron, Histoire de la peinture surréaliste, Paris, 1968, p. 179.
J. Dypreau, ‘Le monde de Paul Delvaux’ in Panorama 68, XXe siècle, Milan, no. 30, June 1968, p. 59 (illustrated; with inverted dimensions).
Alpha Encyclopédie, vol. V, Paris, 1969, p. 1892.
Apollo, November 1969, vol. XC (illustrated p. xc).
The Burlington Magazine, November 1969 (illustrated p. xviii).
De Nieuwe Gids, Brussels, 21 December 1969 (illustrated).
‘La Côte’ in Les Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 17 January 1970, p. 15.
S. Alexandrian, Surrealist Art, London, 1970, p. 125.
W. Gaunt, The Surrealists, London, 1972, p. 216 (illustrated pl. 84, p. 217).
J. Vovelle, Le Surréalisme en Belgique, Brussels, 1972, pp. 177 & 189.
M. Butor, J. Clair & S. Houbart-Wilkin, Delvaux, Catalogue de l’oeuvre peint, Brussels, 1975, no. 90, p. 178 (illustrated).
M. Paquet, Paul Delvaux: L’essence de la peinture, vol. I, Saint-Idesbald, 1982, no. 28, pp. 35, 96 & 100 (with incorrect dimensions).
B. Emerson, Delvaux, Antwerp, 1985, pp. 225 & 231 (detail illustrated p. 224; illustrated p. 231).
B. Dieterle, Erzählte Bilder: Zum narrativen Umgang mit Gemälden, Berlin, 1988, pp. 199 & 200 (details illustrated fig. 99, p. 199).
B. Fürstenberger, Michel Butors literarische Träume: Untersuchungen zu Matière de rêves I bis V, Heidelberg, 1989, p. 109.
M. Rombaut, Paul Delvaux, Barcelona, 1990, no. 29, pp. 8, 48 & 126 (illustrated p. 48; with incorrect dimensions).
M. Debra, Promenades & entretiens avec Paul Delvaux, Paris & Louvain-la-Neuve, 1991, p. 104.
D. Scott, Paul Delvaux: Surrealizing the Nude, London, 1992, no. 16, p. 41 (illustrated).
V. Devillers, Paul Delvaux: Le théâtre des figures, Brussels, 1992, no. 22, pp. 41 & 139 (illustrated p. 114; with incorrect dimensions).
J. La Mothe, Architexture du rêve: La littérature et les arts dans Matière de rêves de Michel Butor, Amsterdam, 1999, p. 167.
G.-H. Dumont, Chronologie de la Belgique: de 1930 à nos jours, Brussels, 2003, p. 313.
A. Rivas & Y. Rodríguez, Antología conmemorativa: Nueva revista de filología hispánica, cincuenta tomos, vol. II, Mexico City, 2003, no. 9, p. 410 (illustrated p. 419).
E. Ramos-Izquierdo & A. Schober, L’espace de l’Eros: Représentations textuelles et iconiques, Limoges, 2007, p. 214.
Z. Barthelman & J. van Deun, Paul Delvaux: Odyssey of a Dream, Saint-Idesbald, 2007, p. 229.



Exhibited

Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Exposition d’Art Belge Contemporain, June - August 1938, no. 272, p. 67 (illustrated; with incorrect dimensions).
Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Paul Delvaux, February 1940, no. 10.
Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Rétrospective Paul Delvaux, December 1944 - January 1945, no. 4.
Knokke-le-Zoute, Casino Communal, Ve Festival Belge d’Eté, Exposition René Magritte, Paul Delvaux, August 1952, no. 1.
Liège, Musée des Beaux-Arts, L’apport wallon au Surréalisme: Peinture, Poésie, October - November 1955, no. 26, p. 16.
Charleroi, Salle de la Bourse, XXXIeme Salon, Rétrospective Paul Delvaux, March - April 1957, no. 33 (with incorrect dimensions).
São Paulo, Museu de Arte Moderna, IV Bienal, September - December 1957, no. 1, p. 116 (with incorrect dimensions).
Ostend, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rétrospective Paul Delvaux, June - August 1962, no. 7.
Vienna, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Belgische Malerei seit 1900, November - December 1962, no. 36, p. 15 (incorrectly dated '1948' and with incorrect dimensions).
Stuttgart, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Belgische Künstler von der Jahrhundertwende bis zur Gegenwart, October - November 1963, no. 66 (with incorrect dimensions).
Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Le Surréalisme, 1964, no. 97 (illustrated; with incorrect dimensions).
Humlebaek, Louisiana Museum, 6 Surrealister, March - April 1967, no. 11 (illustrated; incorrectly dated '1948' and with incorrect dimensions); this exhibition later travelled to Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Six peintres surréalistes, May - June 1967, no. 23 (incorrectly dated '1948' and with incorrect dimensions).
Venice, XXXIV Biennale, Pavillon Belge, Delvaux, 1968, no. II (with incorrect dimensions).
Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Peintres de l’imaginaire: Symbolistes et Surréalistes belges, February - April 1972, no. 82, p. 122 (illustrated; with incorrect dimensions).
London, Acoris, The Surrealist Art Centre, Surrealist Masters, 1972, no. 14, p. 30 (illustrated p. 31; with incorrect dimensions).
Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Paul Delvaux, April - June 1973, no. 13, p. 119 (illustrated pp. 51 & 119; with incorrect dimensions).
Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Paul Delvaux, March - May 1975, no. 6 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to Kyoto, National Museum of Modern Art, June - July 1975.
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