Robert Detheux (1932-2010) - Portrait bleu – 2005
01
day
17
hours
17
minutes
51
seconds
 | €44 | |
|---|---|---|
 | €39 | |
| €30 | |
Catawiki Buyer Protection
Your payment’s safe with us until you receive your object.View details
Trustpilot 4.4 | 142857 reviews
Rated Excellent on Trustpilot.
Robert Detheux, Portrait bleu – 2005, mixed media on prepared grey paper, Original edition, 59 × 42.5 cm, signed.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Robert Detheux (1932-2010) – Blue Portrait – 2005
Artist: Robert Detheux (Brussels, 1932 – Tournai, 2010)
Title of the work: Blue Portrait
Date: 2005
Signature: Signed and dated “Detheux 2005” in the bottom left, in blue pencil.
Technique: Blue pencil, white chalk and charcoal on prepared gray paper. The face is modeled with white chalk and black, outlined by a free network of blue lines. The support, grainy, bears a worked gray background, nearly an emulsion.
Dimensions: 59 × 42.5 cm
Condition: Good overall. The blue line is sharp, the chalk well held, eyes strongly defined. Studio paper, visible grain, slight surface irregularities and a few traces of preparation, without any damage to the face.
Sold unframed.
Provenance: Artist’s studio collection (acquired directly).
Description:
Portrait from 2005, in Detheux’s latest manner. The face is not described: it is held by the line. Front-facing head, very open eyes, outlined in black, mouth barely indicated by a blue knot.
White chalk builds the nose, cheek, and forehead; charcoal deepens the eye sockets. Around it, the blue pencil does not close anything: hair, contour, strands, all lines that pass over the face and go beyond it.
The format, taller than wide, isolates the head. No constructed shoulder, no background. The gray of the paper, grainy and prepared, serves as background and skin. The blue is not a local color: it is the thread that holds the figure, and which could also undo it.
We are already in the spectral portraits of the 2000s, but the gaze here does not close. It fixes. The sheet remains in Detheux’s graphic surrealism — face, hatching, line that overflows — with no anecdote.
Signed, dated, in good format and with a rare color in the fonds: a characteristic piece of the late period, for collectors of Belgian drawing sensitive to appearing faces and lines left open.
Artist biography:
Born in Brussels in 1932 and passed away in Tournai in 2010, Robert Detheux is a singular figure of Belgian art in the 20th century.
A graduate of the Saint-Luc Institute in the Fine Arts of Brussels, he taught graphic expression at the Academy of Tournai until 1996, while pursuing a personal body of work of great coherence.
From the 1950s, he established himself with a very personal surrealist and graphic language. He received the Prize for Young Belgian Painting in 1953, 1954 and 1971.
The following decades deepen the same territory. 1970s: the body and female face, hybrid figures, textures. 1980s-1990s: grotesque, eroticism, black humor. 2000s-2010s: spectral portraits, appearances, creatures. This sheet belongs to the last period.
Little exposed in life, Detheux worked freely. The unveiling of his studio collection (nearly 1,500 works) made this coherence visible.
His drawing, demanding and immediately recognizable, now attracts collectors of Belgian surrealism, in Belgium, Spain, and Europe.
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) – Blue Portrait – 2005
Artist: Robert Detheux (Brussels, 1932 – Tournai, 2010)
Title of the work: Blue Portrait
Date: 2005
Signature: Signed and dated “Detheux 2005” in the bottom left, in blue pencil.
Technique: Blue pencil, white chalk and charcoal on prepared gray paper. The face is modeled with white chalk and black, outlined by a free network of blue lines. The support, grainy, bears a worked gray background, nearly an emulsion.
Dimensions: 59 × 42.5 cm
Condition: Good overall. The blue line is sharp, the chalk well held, eyes strongly defined. Studio paper, visible grain, slight surface irregularities and a few traces of preparation, without any damage to the face.
Sold unframed.
Provenance: Artist’s studio collection (acquired directly).
Description:
Portrait from 2005, in Detheux’s latest manner. The face is not described: it is held by the line. Front-facing head, very open eyes, outlined in black, mouth barely indicated by a blue knot.
White chalk builds the nose, cheek, and forehead; charcoal deepens the eye sockets. Around it, the blue pencil does not close anything: hair, contour, strands, all lines that pass over the face and go beyond it.
The format, taller than wide, isolates the head. No constructed shoulder, no background. The gray of the paper, grainy and prepared, serves as background and skin. The blue is not a local color: it is the thread that holds the figure, and which could also undo it.
We are already in the spectral portraits of the 2000s, but the gaze here does not close. It fixes. The sheet remains in Detheux’s graphic surrealism — face, hatching, line that overflows — with no anecdote.
Signed, dated, in good format and with a rare color in the fonds: a characteristic piece of the late period, for collectors of Belgian drawing sensitive to appearing faces and lines left open.
Artist biography:
Born in Brussels in 1932 and passed away in Tournai in 2010, Robert Detheux is a singular figure of Belgian art in the 20th century.
A graduate of the Saint-Luc Institute in the Fine Arts of Brussels, he taught graphic expression at the Academy of Tournai until 1996, while pursuing a personal body of work of great coherence.
From the 1950s, he established himself with a very personal surrealist and graphic language. He received the Prize for Young Belgian Painting in 1953, 1954 and 1971.
The following decades deepen the same territory. 1970s: the body and female face, hybrid figures, textures. 1980s-1990s: grotesque, eroticism, black humor. 2000s-2010s: spectral portraits, appearances, creatures. This sheet belongs to the last period.
Little exposed in life, Detheux worked freely. The unveiling of his studio collection (nearly 1,500 works) made this coherence visible.
His drawing, demanding and immediately recognizable, now attracts collectors of Belgian surrealism, in Belgium, Spain, and Europe.
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
Sold by
Owner or reseller
Edition
Original
Artist
Robert Detheux (1932-2010)
Title of artwork
Portrait bleu – 2005
Technique
Mixed media
Signature
Signed
Country of origin
Belgium
Year
2005
Condition
Good condition
Height
59 cm
Width
42.5 cm
Style
Surrealism
Period
2000-2010
Sold by
