Birth of Venus 1947

Paul Delvaux made this Birth of Venus with oil on canvas, and what strikes me first is this sense of stillness. It’s as though everything is holding its breath. The color palette is muted, almost dreamlike, and the paint is applied in these smooth, even layers. There’s a real attention to detail, like he's trying to capture every ripple in the water, and every shadow on the women's skin. The surface is so smooth, you can hardly see any brushstrokes at all, which gives it this otherworldly, almost photographic quality. Delvaux’s work often has this enigmatic, theatrical feel, and you see that here, with the figures posed so precisely, against this strangely deserted backdrop. There's a similar feeling in the work of Giorgio de Chirico, where everyday scenes become unsettling and surreal. Neither artist gives you any easy answers, or resolutions, and that’s kind of the point. They embrace ambiguity, inviting us to bring our own interpretations, and experiences, to the work.