Pompei 1970

Paul Delvaux made Pompei using oil on canvas; a pretty classic choice of materials and the cool hues are very distinctive. The composition is, well, it’s a process of layering and arranging figures in a very deliberate way. Delvaux’s surfaces tend to be smooth, and there is the slightest hint of visible brushwork, which seems very intentional, like he’s inviting us to inspect the artifice of the dream, rather than try to convince us its real. Take the central figure, standing nude with her arms slightly raised. It’s fascinating how her pallid skin tone contrasts with the architectural grey shades and the soft blush tones in the flowers, and these are echoed in the flesh tones of the other figures. You can’t help but think of Magritte, or maybe de Chirico, but there’s something unique to Delvaux here. Art is, after all, an ongoing conversation, and it’s often in the gaps and questions, not the definitive answers, that its true power lies.