Women-Trees 1937

Curator: Paul Delvaux painted "Women-Trees" in 1937. It's oil on canvas and part of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. Editor: Whoa. The first thing that hits you is the strange tranquility, almost like a melancholic acceptance of something inevitable. Those figures rooted in the ground like… well, you know! Curator: Exactly, the combination of the female nude and the tree trunk is no accident, playing with classical allegories and mythologies and the earth as mother and the surrealists fascination for transformation. Editor: Yes and look closer at how Delvaux crafts those textures! The skin has a palpable softness, contrasted with the almost sculptural feel of the wood grain. How does the labor-intensive brushwork support the theme of metamorphosis? Curator: Absolutely, you can really sense Delvaux building up those surfaces, contrasting soft flesh against something static, yet alive. You also need to read the role of women in that period with surrealist artists to begin grasping that the male gaze here almost petrifies those beings... Editor: Right, this isn't some playful frolic in the woods. The subdued palette – the greys, ochres, and muted browns – creates a somber atmosphere that invites deeper reflection. The little mirror, for instance... Curator: The classical ruin setting contributes as well. Remember, Delvaux worked a bit as a decorator restoring murals so that sort of pastiche classical style had been a practice. Now he inverts and builds the uncanny. Editor: So there’s a consciousness imbued within Delvaux’s methods, and with it a tension between tradition and the avant-garde? You feel as if a veil of reality has been lifted, only to find an enigma waiting on the other side. Curator: Indeed. We find this oscillation from technique to symbolism here very strong... Editor: Ultimately it speaks to the silent yet undeniable power women exert over our human landscape. Beautiful. Curator: I agree, it offers much to think about on art making, context, intention and so many roads ahead, still now.