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L’homme lisant (Man Reading)

Paul Delvaux

Artwork Details

L’homme lisant (Man Reading)
circa 1940
Paul Delvaux
pen and brown ink and grayish-brown wash on cream wove paper
13 in. x 15 11/16 in. ( 33 cm x 39.8 cm )
Gift of the Lannan Foundation in Honor of the Pelham Family
1997/1.78

Description

The date assigned to this work, ca. 1940, is derived from its connection to the 1940 painting, L'homme de la rue (reproduced in Butor, p. 186)
This drawing is related to the same painting as The Loves of the Poet, displayed nearby. The figures of the two standing women in both drawings are closely associated with vegetation. Vines growing around the central figure in each work give a temporal aspect, as if, as has been suggested, the woman has been waiting for the man. Her contemplative gaze contributes to a sense of reverie.
Label copy from exhibition "Dreamscapes: The Surrealist Impulse," August 22 - October 25, 1998

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