The Joy of Life 1937

Paul Delvaux, sometime in the twentieth century, made this oil on canvas, "The Joy of Life". It's a painting where the colors feel muted, almost dreamlike, and the marks are precise, like he was trying to capture a memory exactly as it appeared. The textures in this piece are interesting. The skin of the woman seems almost porcelain, while the man's suit is darker and opaque. Then there’s this window looking out to a very different scene. My eye keeps going back to the figure sitting in the plants – is she looking back at us? Delvaux’s style reminds me a bit of Balthus, with his strange perspectives and eerie stillness. Ultimately, this painting seems to be about the many ways we can experience the world at once, even when we're standing in the same room. It's like he's saying that art is all about embracing ambiguity and never settling for just one way of seeing.