Robert Detheux (1932-2010) - Folle et son double – 1979
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Robert Detheux, Folle et son double – 1979, mixed media on paper, 54 × 42 cm, Belgium, surrealist original drawing, signed and dated Detheux 79, in good condition.
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Description from the seller
Robert Detheux (1932-2010) – Madwoman and Her Double – 1979
Artist: Robert Detheux (Brussels, 1932 – Tournai, 2010)
Title of the work: Madwoman and Her Double
Date: 1979
Signed and dated “Detheux 79” at the bottom right.
Titled in pencil “Madwoman and Her Double” at the bottom left.
Technique:
Mixed media on paper (rose-mauve wash, charcoal, pastel, sanguine, white highlights).
The support, built up in successive glazes, presents a fine grain and a milky texture. The contours are indicated by thin strokes of sanguine that seem to float on the surface. The pale iridescent pink background creates an atmosphere of mist or skin.
Dimensions: 54 × 42 cm
Condition:
Very good overall condition. Remarkable preservation of the washes, white highlights, and spectral modeling. The variations in texture, line wear, and the “skin” character of the background are all intentional by the artist. No visible loss or tears.
Sold unframed.
Signature: Signed and dated “Detheux 79” at the bottom right.
Titled in pencil “Madwoman and Her Double” at the bottom left.
Provenance:
From the artist’s studio collection (acquired directly).
Description:
Rare and large surrealist drawing from 1979, firmly placed in the period when Robert Detheux intensively explored the female body, the double, and appearance. On a rose-mauve background worked like a mist or membrane, two faces face each other and merge into one another.
On the left, a female profile barely emerges from the material. On the right, her double—more blurred, more spectral—answers her. Between the two, breasts, curves, and organic shapes trace themselves in sanguine lines, as if the entire body participates in this confrontation.
Nothing is accidental. Detheux does not describe two women: he reveals a single presence doubled, a madwoman and her shadow, an identity that looks at itself.
The title given by the artist, Madwoman and Her Double, says it all. The work rests in this rare tension between softness and vertigo, between tenderness and otherness. The milky pink, the white smudges, and the accents of sanguine create a particular density, between spectral erotism, vanity, and ritual.
The work belongs to those large sheets from the late 1970s where Detheux achieves extreme tension between sensuality and abstraction, between body and appearance.
Large format, the intensity of a twin presence, the rarity of compositions of this period combining a double face and emerging flesh: a characteristic work of Detheux’s maturity in the late 1970s, sure to appeal to admirers of Belgian surrealist art sensitive to hybrid figures, grotesque erotism, and appearance.
Artist Biography
Born in Brussels in 1932 and passed away in 2010, Robert Detheux is a singular, demanding, and deeply endearing figure of Belgian art in the 20th century.
A graduate of the Institut Saint-Luc’s Beaux-Arts in Brussels, he taught graphic expression at the Academy of Tournai until 1996, while developing a personal body of work of strong coherence and remarkable freedom.
His artistic journey unfolds in several major phases:
• From the 1950s-1960s, he asserts a powerful surrealist and expressionist language, marked by intense portraits and dreamlike compositions.
• In the 1970s, he sensually and obsessively explores the theme of the body and the female face, developing hybrid figures and highly elaborated textures—this is the period to which the present drawing fully belongs.
• The 1980s-1990s see the emergence of a more hybrid and grotesque universe, mixing erotism, dark humor, and poetry.
• Finally, the 2000-2010 period, now particularly sought after, represents total maturity: spectral portraits, appearances, hybrid figures and feline creatures executed with exceptional mastery.
Little exposed in his lifetime, Robert Detheux freely created an intimate, subversive, and poetic universe that belongs only to him.
Rediscovered in recent years thanks to the unveiling of his substantial studio archive (around 1,500 works on paper), his work now enjoys a legitimate and growing enthusiasm among discerning collectors in Belgium, Spain, and Europe.
A master of drawing, Detheux leaves an authentic, vibrant, and timeless body of work that continues to surprise and captivate with its evocative power, deep humanity, and modernity.
Collecting Detheux means entering a unique dreamlike world, populated by hybrid figures, spectral bodies, and waking dreams.
Seller's Story
About SR Fine Art
With nearly 28 years of experience in the art market, I am passionate about rediscovering artists’ studios and bringing their works to a wide audience on Catawiki.
I specialize in Belgian and European modern and contemporary art. My flagship collection is the studio archive of Robert Detheux (nearly 1,500 works on paper). I also offer surrealist drawings, beautiful abstract paintings from the 1950s, magnificent nude photographs by Michel Pinel, contemporary paintings, Cobra compositions, and works by Marcus de Vestele, Gundi Falk, René Mels, Eugène Eechaut and many others.
From intimate drawings to large formats, there is something for every taste and every budget. The vast majority of my auctions start at 1 € with no reserve price, giving everyone the chance to acquire unique pieces.
Every shipment is prepared with the utmost care using professional museum-quality packaging to ensure perfect condition upon arrival.
Join my growing community of satisfied clients and follow my new auctions to discover rare works from these exceptional studios.
Thank you for your trust and happy bidding!
SR Fine Art
Translated by Google TranslateRobert Detheux (1932-2010) – Madwoman and Her Double – 1979
Artist: Robert Detheux (Brussels, 1932 – Tournai, 2010)
Title of the work: Madwoman and Her Double
Date: 1979
Signed and dated “Detheux 79” at the bottom right.
Titled in pencil “Madwoman and Her Double” at the bottom left.
Technique:
Mixed media on paper (rose-mauve wash, charcoal, pastel, sanguine, white highlights).
The support, built up in successive glazes, presents a fine grain and a milky texture. The contours are indicated by thin strokes of sanguine that seem to float on the surface. The pale iridescent pink background creates an atmosphere of mist or skin.
Dimensions: 54 × 42 cm
Condition:
Very good overall condition. Remarkable preservation of the washes, white highlights, and spectral modeling. The variations in texture, line wear, and the “skin” character of the background are all intentional by the artist. No visible loss or tears.
Sold unframed.
Signature: Signed and dated “Detheux 79” at the bottom right.
Titled in pencil “Madwoman and Her Double” at the bottom left.
Provenance:
From the artist’s studio collection (acquired directly).
Description:
Rare and large surrealist drawing from 1979, firmly placed in the period when Robert Detheux intensively explored the female body, the double, and appearance. On a rose-mauve background worked like a mist or membrane, two faces face each other and merge into one another.
On the left, a female profile barely emerges from the material. On the right, her double—more blurred, more spectral—answers her. Between the two, breasts, curves, and organic shapes trace themselves in sanguine lines, as if the entire body participates in this confrontation.
Nothing is accidental. Detheux does not describe two women: he reveals a single presence doubled, a madwoman and her shadow, an identity that looks at itself.
The title given by the artist, Madwoman and Her Double, says it all. The work rests in this rare tension between softness and vertigo, between tenderness and otherness. The milky pink, the white smudges, and the accents of sanguine create a particular density, between spectral erotism, vanity, and ritual.
The work belongs to those large sheets from the late 1970s where Detheux achieves extreme tension between sensuality and abstraction, between body and appearance.
Large format, the intensity of a twin presence, the rarity of compositions of this period combining a double face and emerging flesh: a characteristic work of Detheux’s maturity in the late 1970s, sure to appeal to admirers of Belgian surrealist art sensitive to hybrid figures, grotesque erotism, and appearance.
Artist Biography
Born in Brussels in 1932 and passed away in 2010, Robert Detheux is a singular, demanding, and deeply endearing figure of Belgian art in the 20th century.
A graduate of the Institut Saint-Luc’s Beaux-Arts in Brussels, he taught graphic expression at the Academy of Tournai until 1996, while developing a personal body of work of strong coherence and remarkable freedom.
His artistic journey unfolds in several major phases:
• From the 1950s-1960s, he asserts a powerful surrealist and expressionist language, marked by intense portraits and dreamlike compositions.
• In the 1970s, he sensually and obsessively explores the theme of the body and the female face, developing hybrid figures and highly elaborated textures—this is the period to which the present drawing fully belongs.
• The 1980s-1990s see the emergence of a more hybrid and grotesque universe, mixing erotism, dark humor, and poetry.
• Finally, the 2000-2010 period, now particularly sought after, represents total maturity: spectral portraits, appearances, hybrid figures and feline creatures executed with exceptional mastery.
Little exposed in his lifetime, Robert Detheux freely created an intimate, subversive, and poetic universe that belongs only to him.
Rediscovered in recent years thanks to the unveiling of his substantial studio archive (around 1,500 works on paper), his work now enjoys a legitimate and growing enthusiasm among discerning collectors in Belgium, Spain, and Europe.
A master of drawing, Detheux leaves an authentic, vibrant, and timeless body of work that continues to surprise and captivate with its evocative power, deep humanity, and modernity.
Collecting Detheux means entering a unique dreamlike world, populated by hybrid figures, spectral bodies, and waking dreams.
Seller's Story
About SR Fine Art
With nearly 28 years of experience in the art market, I am passionate about rediscovering artists’ studios and bringing their works to a wide audience on Catawiki.
I specialize in Belgian and European modern and contemporary art. My flagship collection is the studio archive of Robert Detheux (nearly 1,500 works on paper). I also offer surrealist drawings, beautiful abstract paintings from the 1950s, magnificent nude photographs by Michel Pinel, contemporary paintings, Cobra compositions, and works by Marcus de Vestele, Gundi Falk, René Mels, Eugène Eechaut and many others.
From intimate drawings to large formats, there is something for every taste and every budget. The vast majority of my auctions start at 1 € with no reserve price, giving everyone the chance to acquire unique pieces.
Every shipment is prepared with the utmost care using professional museum-quality packaging to ensure perfect condition upon arrival.
Join my growing community of satisfied clients and follow my new auctions to discover rare works from these exceptional studios.
Thank you for your trust and happy bidding!
SR Fine Art
Translated by Google TranslateDetails
Artist
Robert Detheux (1932-2010)
Sold by
Owner or reseller
Edition
Original
Title of artwork
Folle et son double – 1979
Technique
Mixed media
Signature
Signed
Country of origin
Belgium
Year
1979
Condition
Good condition
Height
54 cm
Width
42 cm
Style
Surrealism
Period
1970-1980
Sold by
