Robert Delaunay was a French painter, a pioneer of abstraction and co-founder of Orphism alongside his wife Sonia Delaunay. His work explores the simultaneous contrasts of pure colors to create rhythm and movement.
Robert Delaunay(1885 — 1941)
Robert Delaunay
France
6 min read
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« Color alone is both form and subject.»
Key Facts
- Born in 1885 in Paris and died in 1941 in Montpellier.
- Created his famous “Eiffel Towers” series starting around 1909–1912.
- Founded the Orphism movement with Sonia Delaunay around 1912, a name coined by the poet Guillaume Apollinaire.
- Painted “The Windows” (1912) and then the “Circular Forms,” exploring abstraction through color.
- Decorated the pavilions of the 1937 International Exhibition in Paris.
Works & Achievements
A set of canvases in which the monument is fragmented and multiplied, blending Cubism with color. A key work of pictorial modernity.
A large composition bringing together the Three Graces, the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. Apollinaire hailed it as a major painting of the Salon des Indépendants.
A series of canvases in which the subject almost entirely disappears in favor of planes of color. A decisive step toward abstraction.
A fully abstract composition made of colored concentric circles. Considered one of the first purely abstract paintings.
A canvas celebrating the aviator Louis Blériot, mixing propellers, sun and colored circular forms. A hymn to movement and progress.
Series of colored circles exploring the pure rhythm of color. The culmination of Delaunay's Orphism.
Immense abstract decorations for the Palais de l'Air and the Palais des Chemins de fer in Paris. A demonstration of abstract art on a monumental scale.
Anecdotes
In 1912, Robert Delaunay painted a series of canvases inspired by the Eiffel Tower, which he fragmented and multiplied into a thousand colorful pieces, as if the monument were collapsing and exploding at the same time. For him, the tower was the symbol of modernity and of Paris.
The poet Guillaume Apollinaire named Delaunay's style “Orphism,” in reference to Orpheus, the mythological musician, because his paintings made of pure colors evoked for him a kind of visible music. The name stuck.
Robert and his wife Sonia Delaunay formed an inseparable couple of artists who explored the same ideas about color together. Sonia applied these theories to fabrics, clothing, and everyday objects, while Robert stayed with painting.
During the First World War, the Delaunay couple took refuge in Spain and Portugal to escape the conflict. There, the intense light and vivid colors of the South further strengthened Robert's taste for brilliant hues.
In 1937, for the Paris International Exposition, Delaunay created enormous murals decorating the Railway Palace and the Aviation Palace, proving that his abstract art could clothe entire buildings.
Primary Sources
Light in Nature creates the movement of colors. Movement is given by the relationships of uneven measures, of the contrasts of colors among themselves.
Color alone is both form and subject. It is the only theme that develops, that transforms itself outside of any psychological or other analysis.
Orphism is the art of painting new structures out of elements which have not been borrowed from the visual sphere, but have been created entirely by the artist.
Key Places
Delaunay's birthplace and the setting for his research on light, dominated by his beloved Eiffel Tower. He spent most of his life as an artist there.
An iconic monument that Delaunay painted tirelessly, fragmented and full of colour. For him it embodied the energy of the modern city.
A refuge for the Delaunay couple during the First World War. The light of the South strengthened their love of bright colours.
Where the Delaunays stayed during the war, finding inspiration in the local markets and costumes. Robert continued his research on colour there.
A city in the south of France where Robert Delaunay, by then ill, died in 1941. The couple had taken refuge there at the start of the Second World War.
Typical Objects
Board on which Delaunay mixed his pure colours to study their contrasts. Colour was at the heart of his entire artistic approach.
Colours sold in metal tubes allowed painters of the early 20th century to use bright, ready-made shades. From them Delaunay drew his vivid reds, blues and greens.
A circular diagram showing the order of colours and their complementaries. Delaunay drew inspiration from the chemist Chevreul's theories on the simultaneous contrast of colours.
A wooden support on which the painter placed his canvas to work standing up. Delaunay fixed his large Windows and Discs canvases to it.
An iron monument that became Delaunay's favourite subject, a symbol of Paris and of modernity. He painted it fractured and multiplied dozens of times.
Fabrics with geometric, colourful patterns created with Sonia Delaunay, applying colour theories to clothing and decoration. In this way art stepped beyond the frame of the painting.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Daily Life
Morning
In the morning, Delaunay would head to his light-filled studio, which he regarded as his raw material. He observed the variations of color and prepared his pigments before settling down to paint.
Afternoon
The afternoon was devoted to working on large canvases, often reworked in series. Delaunay also discussed color theory with Sonia, who shared his research.
Evening
In the evening, the couple welcomed poets and painters such as Apollinaire, Cendrars and Le Douanier Rousseau. Their Parisian salon was a gathering place for the avant-garde.
Food
The Delaunays lived the life of Parisian artists, sharing simple meals in the cafés of Montparnasse. During their Iberian exile, they discovered the flavors of Spanish and Portuguese cuisine.
Clothing
Robert dressed as a modern bourgeois, in suit and tie. Sonia created colorful “simultaneous” patterned clothing for them both, turning the couple into a living showcase of their theories.
Housing
The couple lived in Parisian studio-apartments cluttered with canvases, fabrics and colors. Sonia often decorated the interiors with her geometric creations.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Série de la Tour Eiffel
1909-1912
Les Fenêtres
1912
Hommage à Blériot
1914
Rythmes sans fin / Formes circulaires
1930-1934
Peintures murales de l'Exposition internationale
1937
