Paul DELVAUX (1897-1994)

Paul DELVAUX (1897-1994) Place Sainte Croix (Place Flagey, Ixelles), 1921 Oil on panel Signed and dated lower left: "P.D 11-21". 40 x 60 cm Provenance - Former Paul Crokaert Collection (1875-1955), Brussels - Maitre Binoche, Paris Hôtel Drouot, sale December 16, 1974, lot no. 51 - Servarts, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, November 1996 sale, lot no. 427 - Galerie Harold t'Kint de Roodenbeke, Brussels - Private collection, Brussels Bibliography: M. Butor, J. Clair, S. Houbart-Wilkin, Delvaux: Catalogue de l'oeuvre peint, La bibliothèque des arts, Lausanne- Paris, 1975, n°10, reproduced p.150 Our painting most probably depicts the start of the morning market on Place Sainte-Croix, one of Ixelles' most popular markets at the time. Paul Delvaux liked to stroll around Brussels, in 1921, at the age of 24. His interest in, and fascination with, railway stations began to emerge. The 1920s were a key period in his work. Delvaux was not yet a dream painter (he would become one in 1935 after discovering De Chirico), but the essential elements of his aesthetic vocabulary and artistic identity were gradually established. He painted many views of the capital, with trains and streetcars making an indelible impression. He had already mastered a certain technique and was nourished by his artistic encounters. In our painting, the Impressionist influence and that of Alfred Bastien, whom he met at the Rouge-Cloître, are obvious. The composition, an essential aspect of this painting, is carefully crafted, harmonious and dynamic, Delvaux has also inscribed a street perspective here that invites the viewer in. The vanishing-point perspective is one of Delvaux's great trademarks, and is to be found in the majority of his paintings right up to the end of his career.