Proposition Diurne (La femme au miroir)

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Proposition Diurne (La femme au miroir)

Paul Delvaux (Belgian, 1897–1994)

1937

Medium/Technique Oil on canvas

Dimensions 105.4 x 130.2 cm (41 1/2 x 51 1/4 in.)

Credit Line Melvin Blake and Frank Purnell Collection

Accession Number2003.32

NOT ON VIEW

CollectionsEurope

ClassificationsPaintings

Delvaux and René Magritte (1898-1967) were the major Belgian exponents of Surrealism. Dating from the period when Delvaux arrived at his signature style, the hallucinatory quality of this scene is enhanced by his precise, almost hyper-realist, technique. Here, as if in a dream, an idealized nude woman examines a mirror that does not reflect her face, but remains as empty as her expression.

ProvenanceEdouard Léon Théodore Mesens (b. 1903 - d. 1971), Brussels. By 1938, Claude Spaak (b. 1904 - d. 1990), Saint Cloud, France. By 1965, Frank M. Purnell (b. 1930 - d. 1994) and Melvin N. Blake (b. 1927 - d. 1999), New York; 2003, gift of the estate of Melvin Blake to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 22, 2003)