DELVAUX, Paul Viaduct

I first discovered the dreamy near Surrealist paintings of the Belgian artist Paul Delvaux at the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique in Brussels many decades ago. I was particularly drawn to his works on trains and train stations. Delvaux was strongly attracted to the subject of trains and stations, which he returned to as subjects many times during his long career. Early on, he got into the habit of painting at the Gare du Luxembourg in Brussels. Later, he drew inspiration from the small local station in Boistfort, the borough of Brussels where he lived.

The Viaduct  (above) is an interesting work, because it covers in a single, very dense composition, all the elements which constitute the artist’s world: the suspended lamps found in local neighborhood, the slightly oneiric atmosphere of the stations at nightfall, and the train passing on a mysterious journey.