The Awakening of the forest 1939

Paul Delvaux made this painting, The Awakening of the Forest, using oil on canvas, but when I look at it, I wonder if it was paint at all! It has the smooth surface and muted palette of a fresco, like a wall. That smooth surface is key, because it lets the whole dream state of the image come forward. A lot of art making, for me anyway, is about making choices, and one of those choices is whether to show all the evidence of your hand or not. The lack of visible brushstrokes makes the figures seem so cool, as if they’re ghosts, or mannequins. Take the man on the left – he almost looks like he’s recoiling from the scene. His eyes bulge a little, his hands are held up, as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing. All those women in the background! It makes me think about Balthus, who also liked to paint young women in ambiguous states. Delvaux isn’t quite as creepy as Balthus, but he’s definitely exploring some strange territory here. Ultimately, though, it’s up to us to decide what’s really going on.