Rachel Baes (1912-1983), painter, Belgian Surrealist school

Rachel Baes was born in Ixelles (Brussels) in 1912 and died in Bruges in 1983. She was the daughter of the painter Emile Baes and began painting at a very young age. At the age of 17, she exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris from 1929. In 1945, she met Paul Eluard in the French capital, where he presided over her first solo exhibition focusing on surrealism. René Magritte painted her portrait in 1947 under the title Sherazade'. She was a regular visitor to Picasso, Cocteau and Paul Léautaud, with whom she published their interviews in 1951. In recent years, experts and collectors have come to realise that she, along with Jane Graverol, is one of the great figures of surrealism in Belgium, and their values continue to rise on the art market, which is only right. I present to you a very fine work that can be dated to the late 1950s. It is a mixed technique (watercolour, gouache, etc.) on paper. It is signed. It is immediately apparent that this work is highly accomplished and very representative of his highly characteristic world. Many of the motifs in her work are repeated, such as the young girl, the stylised rose, the long dress and the egg. The colours are highly refined and have retained their original lustre. This work is in perfect condition. It has been fitted with a new wooden frame with a silvered patina and a museum-quality, glare-free glass pane. This is a work of rare quality on paper (often much less accomplished), with the characteristics of the artist's work and perfectly framed. A connoisseur's purchase, its value is likely to continue to rise in the light of Rachel Baes's results on the art market over the last twenty years.