Focus on this artwork and explore the Themes.
The central theme is the muse, the female figure as the force behind inspiration. The central woman is depicted as beautiful but inaccessible. According to the Paul Delvaux Foundation, "she not so much evokes sexuality as refers to a troubling aesthetic physicality". Delvaux was largely influenced by Italian painters, but the cold colour scale relates to his identity as a Northern European. The scenery relates to Brussels, the Wallonian countryside as well as Delvaux's interest in classical antiquity. By juxtaposing classical and modern elements, Delvaux tried to create a sense of timelessness.Although others frequently have called Delvaux a surrealist, he repeatedly stressed that he was not an adherent of Sigmund Freud's teachings, nor did he put any psychoanalytical references in his paintings.
Wallonia surrealist Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytical muse Sigmund Freud classical antiquity Paul Delvaux