Girls 1929

Paul Delvaux made this painting, Girls, using oil on canvas. The matte colours and the stark figures remind me of early Renaissance painting. There's a stillness about the subjects, as if Delvaux mixed his pigment with a kind of quietness, don't you think? Look closely and you'll see the flat application of colour. It’s almost chalky, and gives the whole piece a dreamlike quality. The figures in the background seem unaware of the ones in the foreground, and vice versa. It’s as if they’re each living in their own separate worlds. The red lips seem to be the only part of the painting with any animation. I see something of Balthus here, perhaps, with their enigmatic subjects and quiet intensity. But Delvaux is all his own; creating dreamscapes that invite you to wander and wonder.