Paul D (4)

He painted Le Mus Spitzner (The Spitzner Museum), more than ten years after the first picture to bear that title. From 16 December to 14 January the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels organised a Paul Delvaux retrospective exhibition. He made a contract with Claude Spaak. Between May and June, in the same Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the exhibition Jeune Peinture franise (Young French Painting) was held which included works by Edouard Pignon and AndrFougeron. Delvaux stayed several times at the home of the sculptor Georges Grard in Saint-Idesbald. He lived for a while in Paris and made a series of drawings illustrating texts by Claude Spaak. In London he met Paul Eluard at the house of Roland Penrose. In May twenty-seven works by Pablo Picasso were shown at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. According to Barbara Emerson, Delvaux visit to this exhibition as well as to the Jeune Peinture franise show of the preceding year explain a sudden but short-lived change of style on the part of the artist. This change can be observed in a series of pictures from that time, such as Les cariatides (The Caryatids) and Lscalier (The Staircase). In this year Guy de Maupassant novel Bel Ami was adapted for the cinema. Hollywood organised a competition on the theme of the temptation of St. Anthony. Delvaux entered together with other famous artists such as Salvador Dali and Max Ernst. Ernst was the winner. Paul Delvaux one-man show held in October at the Julien Levy Gallery, New York, met with a very favourable reception from the critics. Two pictures sent to the exhibition were, however, seized by the American customs because of their allegedly obscene character. A third canvas was damaged by nails during the customs formalities. Carelessness? Delvaux executed the scenery for Jean Genet ballet dame Miroir whose first performance was given at the Marigny Theatre in Paris. On 13 August he encountered by chance at Saint-Idesbald Anne-Marie de Martelaere, who had remained unmarried. The passage of time had evidently not affected their mutual love. In January and February he exhibited at the Galerie RenDrouin in Paris. The show was not a complete success. The first film devoted to Delvaux, Le monde de Paul Delvaux (The World of Paul Delvaux), gained a prize at the Venice Festival. It was made by Henri Storck, the Belgian film director. The script was by RenMicha, the musical accompaniment by AndrSouris and the narration by Paul Eluard. Claude Spaak devoted one of the Monographies de lrt belge (Monographs of Belgian Art), published by the Ministry of Public Instruction, to Delvaux. The publisher Trois Collines (Geneva - Paris) published Poes, peintures et dessins (Poems, Paintings and Drawings) which took the form of a collection of poetry by Paul Eluard with drawings and pictures by Paul Delvaux. He took part in the XXIVth Biennial of Venice . The work he sent in, Pygmalion, was not to the taste of the Patriarch of Venice and was charged with being immoral. On the facade of the house and studio of Georges Grard he painted a large mermaid. No trace of the fresco remains. Emile Langui book on Paul Delvaux was published by Alfieri in Venice. Delvaux stayed for several months with his friend Claude Spaak at Choisel in the Chevreuse Valley to the southwest of Paris. He returned to Brussels and installed himself with Tam in a small flat opposite Boitsfort Church. Delvaux was appointed Professor of Painting at the Ecole Nationale Supieure drt et drchitecture at La Cambre in Brussels. He taught at La Cambre until 1962.