Expo: Discover The Worlds of Paul Delvaux at La Boverie

A leading figure in 20th century Belgian painting, Paul Delvaux (1897-1994) will be honoured in a major exhibition at La Boverie in Liège, from 4 October, 2024. The exhibition promises to be a landmark event, presenting masterpieces that have not been seen or brought together for many years.

Taking a novel approach, this retrospective embraces the whole of Paul Delvaux’s work with three itineraries – thematic, interactive and multimedia, exploring his contribution to Surrealism and art history in general. The show will also reveal little-known facets of this artist, widely known as the painter of women and railway stations. Visitors will be invited to discover the significant elements of Paul Delvaux’s worlds through paintings, drawings and objects placed alongside each other or alongside the work of other artists.

Paul Delvaux (1897-1994) developed a distinctive universe featuring strong iconographic elements that are repeated from one work to the next, like a pictorial conversation. Thanks to the exhibition Les Mondes de Paul Delvaux, which brings together over 150 works and objects, the dialogue is resumed once again, by playing a game of visual ricochets between paintings and drawings.

Following on from the major exhibition held at the Belgian Royal Museums of Fine Arts in 1997 to mark the centenary of Paul Delvaux’s birth, this retrospective is a unique opportunity to see the painter’s world unfold from the first to the last work (1920-1986). The itinerary, based on the themes dear to the great artist, disregards the strict chronology of his work, opening up a whole new field of interactions. Melancholy vestals, trains, skeletons, the Sleeping Venus discovered at the Spitzner Museum and antique emblems are just some of the motifs found side by side throughout his work.

Masterpieces by this internationally renowned art figure, immortalized by Andy Warhol, which have not been seen or re-united for many years, will be presented in order to shed new light on a timeless work, reveal its complexity and engage in a new dialogue with today’s visitors. Throughout the exhibition, Delvaux’s works are also contrasted with those of other great names such as René Magritte, Giorgio De Chirico, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso and others, revealing both similarities and differences.

This retrospective also takes visitors to the heart of Delvaux’s creative process, using innovative, interactive multimedia devices in three distinct and complementary forms. Firstly, visitors enter the artist’s private world through an original reconstruction of his studio. They catch the painter working from a model in his own environment, surrounded by personal objects that were dear to him and that resonate with the pictorial world he created.

The exhibition The Worlds of Paul Delvaux offers an unprecedented display of the work of this world-renowned Belgian artist.

Another feature offers a glimpse into the creation of a painting. Finally, visitors can also take on the role of the painter themselves, thanks to an interactive device called “Draw me a Delvaux”. By borrowing iconographic elements from the Delvaux canon, visitors can compose their own Delvaux painting.

In the middle of the itinerary, an augmented timeline pulls into perspective the work and life of Paul Delvaux, a veritable icon of Belgian and international painting who is long overdue for a (re)discovery!

From Brussels to Liège:
If you plan to visit The Worlds of Paul Delvaux from Brussels or other neighbouring cities, train is one of the easiest options. Get a Discovery Ticket by using the SNCB code on sncb.be/discovery and travel return to Liège-Guillemins with 50% discount.

The Liège-Guillemins TGV station is just a 700m walk from La Boverie museum, via a pathway featuring a new pedestrian-bicycle bridge over the Meuse river.

More info & tickets, visit the Worlds of Paul Delvaux website.