La revue

EDMOND DELESCLUZES :
FROM THE SPOTLIGHT TO THE AUCTION ROOM

Edmond Delescluze was born in 1905 in Auderghem, a stone's throw from Brussels. The adopted son of Jean Delescluze, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. There he met his future wife, Suzanne Fabry, and studied under the painters Emile Fabry, who was to become his father-in-law, and Jean Delville. In 1928, at the Institut supérieur des arts décoratifs (La Cambre), he most likely received advice from Gustave van de Woestijne.
 
From 1934, Edmond actively assisted Jean Delescluze in his role as head of the set design workshop at the Théâtre royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. After Delescluze's death, he took over the reins from 1947 to 1959. While his early work was in the Art Deco style (Faust, 1934), his later work moved towards a form of surrealism, combining the real and the imaginary, using firm lines and an intensely contrasting palette. Alongside his work at La Monnaie, Edmond Delescluze took part in numerous group and solo exhibitions, and his work regularly won awards.
 
The Impressionist & Modern Art auction on 13 March 2024 will include a group of ten works by Edmond Delescluze that show all the facets of his talent: The portrait painter with Hope; the history painter with Le massacre des innocents (1927); the still life painter with his Nature morte aux objets divers (1961); the Orientalist painter with his luminous views of Morocco, including a Vue de Fès, but above all the brilliant set designer with his Projet de décor pour "La carrière du Libertin" by Igor Stravinsky (circa 1960) or his Projet de décor pour "Tosca" by Giacomo Puccini (1961). Not forgetting the remarkable easel painter that he is, with his monumental and abundant Jardin des Hespérides. Some of these paintings featured in the exhibition Une vie à l'Opéra, Suzanne Fabry et Edmond Delescluze (Brussels, Galerie du Crédit communal, 16 March-11 June 2000).


EDMOND DELESCLUZE (1905-1993)
Portrait de femme étendue ou Hope
Oil on canvas
Signed lower left
80 x 70,5 cm


EDMOND DELESCLUZE (1905-1993)
Le massacre des innocents, 1927
Gouache and pastel on paper
Signed and dated '1927' lower right
74 x 109 cm


EDMOND DELESCLUZE (1905-1993)
Nature morte aux objets divers, 1961
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated '1961' lower right
69 x 110 cm


EDMOND DELESCLUZE (1905-1993)
Vue de Fès avec la mosquée de Kairaouine, Maroc
Oil on canvas mounted on panel
Signed lower left
45,5 x 55 cm


EDMOND DELESCLUZE (1905-1993)
Projet de décor pour « La carrière du Libertin » d’Igor Stravinsky, vers 1960
Oil on canvas
Signed upper right
110 x 85 cm


EDMOND DELESCLUZE (1905-1993)
Projet de décor pour « Tosca » de Giacomo Puccini, 1961
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated '1961' lower right
75 x 100 cm


EDMOND DELESCLUZE (1905-1993)
Le jardin des Hespérides
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right
120 x 130 cm

Upcoming Impressionist & Modern Art auction
Wednesday 13 March 2024 at 2.30 pm

For any further information or to include a lot in our sales, please contact
Pierre-Alban Vinquant
+33 (0)1 47 45 08 20
vinquant@aguttes.com