Abandonment 1964

Paul Delvaux made this painting, Abandonment, which is quite big, using oils to create this dream-like world. I can imagine Delvaux setting up his easel, maybe with a coffee, contemplating that cavernous blue room with its strange occupants and that body, draped across the rug. The air feels thick with humidity, doesn't it? There’s a sense of unease created by the juxtaposition of the figures and the uncanny architecture. The blue almost vibrates, and that strange, cool light, seems to emanate from everywhere and nowhere. The way Delvaux layered the paint, thinly in some areas and thickly in others, adds to the surface tension. I wonder, what does the artist mean by Abandonment? Was he thinking of the Surrealist movement in the 1930s, and how that affected the way he saw the world? The artist is trying to tell a story, but one that remains elusive and open to our interpretation. Maybe that’s the abandonment, the refusal to give a clear answer. Artists are always inspiring each other, across time, in a constant exchange.