Paul Delvaux Biography

A Belgian painter of international fame, Paul Delvaux is considered one of the great masters of Surrealism, alongside Dalí and Magritte. His style, almost academic, stands in contrast to his interest in mysterious and dream-like themes. His pieces often depict women in an unsettling atmosphere marked by a certain eroticism.

At the age of twenty one, Delvaux entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he was later professor. He started his career almost exclusively painting landscapes and later practiced a kind of impressionist realism. In the 30s and 40s his work left behind the earlier Flemish influences as he began to participate in Surrealist exhibitions, greatly influenced by De Chirico and René Magritte.

Because of his declining eyesight, Paul Delvaux stopped painting in 1986, and celebrated his great retrospective exhibition in Paris in 1992.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

2006
- PicassoMio.com
- Das Geheimnis der Frau - Paul Delvaux und der Surrealismus. Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld.
- Exhibition of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium. National Museum of Western Art. Tokyo, Japan.
- Verrückte Liebe: Von Dalí bis Bacon. Die Sammlung Ulla und Heiner Pietzsch. BA-CA Kunstforum Wien, Vienna, Austria.

2004
- The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.
- A Century of Belgian Painting. Frissiras Museum, Athens, Greece.
- La ciudad que nunca existió. Arquitecturas fantásticas en el arte occidental. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain.

2003
- Die Sammlung Wald - Glanzstücke der Malerei des 20. Jahrhunderts. Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg.
- A Singular Vision: The Melvin Blake and Frank Purnell Legacy. MFA - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA.

2001
- Surrealism: Desire Unbound. Tate Modern, London, England.

2000
- Cosmos - From Goya to De Chirico from Friedrich to Kiefer. Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy.

1999
- Paul Delvaux - Acuarelas y Dibujos. Museu d’Art Espanyol Contemporani (Fundación Juan March), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

1998
- Forma y Figuración - Obras maestras de la Colección Blake-Purnell. Museo Guggenheim de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Bilbao, Spain.
- Paul Delvaux. Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain.

SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS:

- Groeninge Museum, Brujas, Belgium.
- Musée d´Art Moderne Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
- Musée d'Ixelles - Museum van Elsene, Brussels, Belgium.
- Museo Botero, Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia.
- Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy.
- Scheringa Museum voor Realisme, Spanbroek, Holland.
- Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain.
- Tate Britain, London, England.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA.
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA.
- Kreeger Museum, Washington, USA.