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The Staircase, 1946

  • oil paint, plywood
  • 122 x 152.5 cm
  • Inv. 1950-U

© SABAM © Foundation Paul Delvaux, Sint-Idesbald - SABAM Belgium 2023

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Paul Delvaux, influenced by the work of Giorgio De Chirico, began to experiment with settings and perspective. From this time on, the same motifs often recurred in his work: expressionless figures, temples drawn from classical antiquity or the Renaissance with an explicit, sometimes complex perspective and bathed in an unnatural light. This setting, in grey tones with very few colour accents, heightens the unreal atmosphere evoked in such paintings as The Staircase. However Delvaux makes no use of irony, which is a typical feature of Surrealism. His art, which is solemn and rather detached, is more related to the Magic Realism of the Dutch artist Albert Carel Willink.

Artist

Paul Delvaux RKD VIAF Wikidata
Antheit 1897 - Furnes 1994
painters (artists)AAT

Title The Staircase
Date 1946
Period 20th century
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings signature, month and year bottom right: P. DELVAUX / 12-46
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number 1950-U
Current whereabouts Work on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1950-U
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/2161/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300056485 fantastic art AAT
300189808 figures (representations) AAT
300055865 Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT
300015571 cityscapes (representations) AAT
300124520 interior views AAT
Keywords Iconclass 12E61 temple, shrine ~ Greek religion Iconclass
22C light Iconclass
22C2 artificial light Iconclass
22C8 shadow Iconclass
25HH landscapes - HH - ideal landscapes Iconclass
25I city-view, and landscape with man-made constructions Iconclass
25I1 city-view in general; 'veduta' Iconclass
25I12 prospect of city, town panorama, silhouette of city Iconclass
25I13 public gardens, park Iconclass
25I14 public road Iconclass
25I141 street Iconclass
25I141(+0) street (+ variant) Iconclass
25I142 avenue, boulevard, promenade, esplanade Iconclass
25I144 square, place, circus, etc. Iconclass
31A25 postures and gestures of arms and hands Iconclass
31A2513 arm stretched sidewards Iconclass
31A252 postures and gestures of arms and hands in relation to each other Iconclass
31A2711 walking Iconclass
31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass
31AA the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31D15 adult woman Iconclass
41A2 interior of the house Iconclass
41A34 staircase Iconclass
41A34(+0) staircase (+ variant) Iconclass
41A341 stairwell Iconclass
41A4 decorations (interior of the house) Iconclass
41A421 curtains Iconclass
43A422 triumphal arch Iconclass
46C1113 stepping stones Iconclass
48C1633 Ionic order ~ architecture Iconclass
48C1634 Corinthian order ~ architecture Iconclass
48C24 piece of sculpture, reproduction of a piece of sculpture Iconclass
48C5142 picture within picture Iconclass
School / Style Surrealist AAT
Paul Delvaux (Fonds Richard de Moor). - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.]
D'Ensor à Magritte dans les collections du Musée de Gand (exposition Lodève, Musée de Lodève-Hôtel du Cardinal de Fleury, 19 novembre 2004 - 27 février 2005) / Maïthé Vallès-Bled, Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Helke Lauwaert, Bruno Fornari. - Lodève : Musée de Lodève, 2004 ; Milano : Mazzotta, 2004 (p. 275-277, cat. 76)
Paul Delvaux : De bronnen van het oeuvre / Laura Neve. - Tielt : Uitgeverij Lannoo, 2010
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. II, p. 127 (ill.))
Paul Delvaux : Paseo por el amor y la muerte (exposición Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, 24.02 - 07.06.2015) / Laura Neve, José Jiménez, Olivier Cousinou. - Madrid : Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2015
Belgische schone : Ensor tot Magritte ; Hoogtepunten uit de verzameling van het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent (tentoonstelling Laren, Singer Laren, 16.06 - 30.08.2015) / Johan De Smet, Jan Rudolph De Lorm. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2015 ; Laren : Singer Laren, 2015 ; Heule : Uitgeverij Snoeck, 2015 (cat. 66 (ill. p. 91))
Last Year in Marienbad (Alain Resnais) : A Film as Art (Exhibition Bremen, Kunsthalle, 14.11.2015 - 13.03.2016 ; Prague, Galerie Rudolfinum, 08.09.2016 - 27.11.2016) / Christoph Grunenberg, Eva Fischer-Hausdorf, Vito Acconci, Stefanie Diekmann, Michael Glasmeier. - Bremen : Kunsthalle Bremen, 2015
Antwerpen - Brugge - Gent : De musea en hun kunstschatten van Van Eyck tot Magritte ; ontdek het rijke erfgoed in drie Vlaamse steden ; de Vlaamse Kunstcollectie / Geert Souvereyns, Till-Holger Borchert, Paul Vandenbroeck. - Dijon : Éditions Faton, 2007 (p. 94 (ill.))
Brune - Blonde : la chevelure féminine dans l'art et le cinéma (exposition Paris, Cinémathèque française, 06.10.2010 - 16.01.2011) / Alain Bergala, Anne Marquez, Alice Anderson, Bernard Benoliel, Emmanuèle Bernheim. - Paris : Skira, 2010
Het sterrenalfabet van E.L.T. Mesens : Dada & Surrealisme in Brussel, Parijs & Londen (tentoonstelling Mu.Zee-Kunstmuseum aan zee, 06.07 - 17.11.2013) / Phillip Van den Bossche, Erich Weiss, Anouck Clissen, Christiane Geurts-Krauss, Virginie Devillez, Nele Bernheim. - Oostende : Mu.ZEE, 2013
Paul Delvaux : Le rêveur éveillé (exposition Marseille, Musée Cantini, 05.06 - 21.09.2014) / Georges Banu, Olivier Cousinou, Laura Neve, Régine Rémon, Baldine Saint Girons, Gaëtane Warzée. - Marseille : Musée Cantini, 2014
Last Year in Marienbad (Alain Resnais) : A Film as Art (Exhibition Bremen, Kunsthalle, 14.11.2015 - 13.03.2016 ; Prague, Galerie Rudolfinum, 08.09.2016 - 27.11.2016) / Christoph Grunenberg, Eva Fischer-Hausdorf, Vito Acconci, Stefanie Diekmann, Michael Glasmeier. - Bremen : Kunsthalle Bremen, 2015
Last Year in Marienbad : A Film as Art = Loni V Marienbadu : Film Jako Umení (Exhibition Prague, Galerie Rudolfinum, 08.09.2016 - 27.11.2016) / Zuzana Kosarová, Tomás Pospiszyl. - Prague : Galerie Rudolfinum, 2016
Paul Delvaux : Maître du rêve (exposition Évian, Palais Lumière, 01.07 - 01.10.2017) / William Saadé, Denis Laoureux, Laura Neve, Pierre Ghêne, Claire Leblanc. - Paris : Somogy éditions d'art, 2017 ; Évian : Palais Lumière, 2017 (p. 206-207)
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