The Lady of Loos 1969

Paul Delvaux made this painting of an enigmatic nude in a landscape, called ‘The Lady of Loos,’ with oil on panel. She's caught in a strangely lit garden with a church behind her. It looks like a dreamscape, or maybe a stage set. The kind of light that washes over the scene seems so unreal. Delvaux's known for these surreal juxtapositions, right? I can imagine him mixing the paint, building up the layers to get that smooth surface, almost like a fresco. The way she's reading that book, with that faraway look in her eyes, it's like she's in her own world. Or maybe she's about to burst out laughing, I don’t know! That gesture she makes with her hand seems so full of possibility, and yet it is undefined, kind of incomplete. Delvaux’s work reminds me of other artists who played with dreamlike imagery and strange, poetic combinations, like Magritte or de Chirico. There's this silent dialogue happening between artists across time, and it’s so cool to consider how their imaginations spark off one another.