Robert Delaunay (12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist who, with his wife

Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (13 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in Odessa (then part of Russian Empire), and formally trained in Russian Empire and Germany before moving to Fr ...

and others, co-founded the Orphism

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defin ...

, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstract. His key influence related to bold use of colour and a clear love of experimentation with both depth and tone.

Overview

Delaunay is most closely identified with Orphism. From 1912 to 1914, he painted nonfigurative paintings based on the optical characteristics of brilliant colors that were so dynamic they would function as the form. His theories are mostly concerned with color and light and influenced many, including

Stanton Macdonald-Wright Stanton Macdonald-Wright (July 8, 1890 – August 22, 1973), was a modern American artist. He was a co-founder of Synchromism, an early abstract, color-based mode of painting, which was the first American avant-garde art movement to receive inte ...

Morgan Russell Morgan Russell (January 25, 1886 – May 29, 1953) was a modern American artist. With Stanton Macdonald-Wright, he was the founder of Synchromism, a provocative style of abstract painting that dates from 1912 to the 1920s. Russell's "synchromie ...

Patrick Henry Bruce Artist Patrick Henry Bruce (3rd from left) & friends/associates in front of the entrance to a 300px Patrick Henry Bruce (March 25, 1881 – November 12, 1936) was an American cubist painter. Biography A descendant of Patrick Henry, Bruce wa ...

Der Blaue Reiter ''Der Blaue Reiter'' (The Blue Rider) is a designation by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc for their exhibition and publication activities, in which both artists acted as sole editors in the almanac of the same name, first published in mid-May ...

, August Macke, Franz Marc,

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

, and

Lyonel Feininger Lyonel Charles Feininger (July 17, 1871January 13, 1956) was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist. He was born and grew up in New York City, traveling to Germa ...

. Art Critic

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...

was strongly influenced by Delaunay's theories of color and often quoted from them to explain Orphism, which he had named. Delaunay's fixations with color as the expressive and structural means were sustained by his study of color. In the prime of his career he painted a number of series that included: the ''Saint-Sévrin'' series (1909–10); the ''City'' series (1909–1911); the ''Eiffel Tower'' series (1909–1912); the ''City of Paris'' series (1911–12); the ''Window'' series (1912–1914); the ''Cardiff Team'' series (1913); the ''Circular Forms'' series (1913); and ''The First Disk'' (1913). His writings on color, which were influenced by scientists and theoreticians, are intuitive and can sometimes be random statements based on the belief that color is a thing in itself, with its own powers of expression and form. He believes painting is a purely visual art that depends on intellectual elements, and perception is in the impact of colored light on the eye. The contrasts and harmonies of color produce in the eye simultaneous movements and correspond to movement in nature. Vision becomes the subject of painting. His early paintings are deeply rooted in Neoimpressionism. ''Night Scene'', for example, has vigorous activity, with the use of lively brushstrokes in bright colors against a dark background, not defining solid objects but the areas that surround them. The spectral colors of Neoimpressionism were later abandoned. The ''Eiffel Tower'' series represented the fragmentation of solid objects and their merging with space. Influences in this series were Cézanne, Analytical Cubism, and Futurism. In the ''Eiffel Tower'' the interpenetration of tangible objects and surrounding space is accompanied by the intense movement of geometric planes that are more dynamic than the static equilibrium of Cubist forms.

Biography

Early life

Robert Delaunay was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the son of George Delaunay and

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

ess Berthe Félicie de Rose. While he was a child, Delaunay's parents divorced, and he was raised by his mother's sister Marie and her husband Charles Damour, in La Ronchère near Bourges. When he failed his final exam and said he wanted to become a painter, his uncle in 1902 sent him to Ronsin's

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or v ...

to study

Decorative Arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

in the Belleville, Paris, Belleville district of Paris.

Career beginnings

At age 19, Delaunay left Ronsin to focus entirely on painting and contributed six works to the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

in 1904.Robert Delaunay – Sonia Delaunay, 1999, He traveled to

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, where he was influenced by the group of Pont-Aven; and, in 1906, he contributed works he painted in Brittany to the 22nd Salon des Indépendants, where he met

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...

, with whom he shared an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

at a

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

run by Berthe Weill early in 1907. The two of them were singled out by the

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

Louis Vauxcelles Louis Vauxcelles (born Louis Meyer; 1 January 187021 July 1943) was a French art critic. He is credited with coining the terms '' Fauvism'' (1905) and ''Cubism'' (1908). He used several pseudonyms in various publications: Pinturrichio, Vasari, ...

in 1907 as Divisionists who used large, mosaic-like 'cubes' to construct small but highly symbolic compositions. Robert Herbert writes: "Metzinger's

Neo-Impressionist Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the beginn ...

period was somewhat longer than that of his close friend Delaunay... The height of his Neo-Impressionist work was in 1906 and 1907, when he and Delaunay did portraits of each other (Art market, London, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) in prominent rectangles of pigment. (In the sky of '' Coucher de soleil no. 1'', 1906–07, Collection Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, is the solar disk which Delaunay was later to make into a personal emblem)."Robert Herbert, Neo-Impressionism, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, 1968 Herbert describes the vibrating image of the sun in Metzinger's painting, and so too of Delaunay's ''Paysage au disque'' (1906–07), as "an homage to the decomposition of spectral light that lay at the heart of Neo-Impressionist color theory..." Metzinger, followed closely by Delaunay—the two often painting together in 1906 and 1907—would develop a new sub-style of Neo-Impressionism that had great significance shortly thereafter within the context of their Cubist works.

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...

developed a similar mosaic-like Divisionist technique circa 1909. The

Futurists Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...

later (1909–1916) would incorporate the style, under the influence of

Gino Severini Gino Severini (7 April 1883 – 26 February 1966) was an Italian painter and a leading member of the Futurist movement. For much of his life he divided his time between Paris and Rome. He was associated with neo-classicism and the "return to orde ...

's Parisian works (from 1907 onward), into their dynamic paintings and sculpture. Delaunay ChampDeMars

In 1908, after a term in the military working as a regimental librarian, he met Sonia Terk; at the time she was married to a German art dealer whom she would soon divorce. In 1909, Delaunay began to paint a series of studies of the city of Paris and the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

, the ''Eiffel Tower'' series. The following year, he married Terk, and the couple settled in a studio apartment in Paris, where their son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

was born in January 1911. The same year, at the invitation of

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

, Delaunay joined The Blue Rider (

), a

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

-based group of artists. Delaunay was also successful in Germany, Switzerland, and Russia. He participated in the first Blaue Reiter exhibition in Munich and sold four works. Delaunay's paintings encouraged an enthusiastic response with Blaue Reiter. The Blaue Reiter connections led to the article by

Erwin von Busse Erwin von Busse also known as Granand or Erwin von Busse-Granand (12 January 1885 – 10 April 1939) was a German writer, artist, theater director, art historian and critic. His 1920 collection of short stories devoted to erotic male relationships ...

titled "Robert Delaunay's Methods of Composition", which appeared in the 1912 ''Blaue Reiter Almanac''. Delaunay would go to exhibit in February of that year, in the second Blaue Reiter exhibition in Munich and Knave of Diamonds in Moscow. "This happened in 1912. Cubism was in full force. I made paintings that seemed like prisms compared to the Cubism my fellow artists were producing. I was the heretic of Cubism. I had great arguments with my comrades who banned color from their palette, depriving it of all elemental mobility. I was accused of returning to Impressionism, of making decorative paintings, etc.… I felt I had almost reached my goal." 1912 was a turning point for Delaunay. On 13 March his first major exhibition in Paris closed after two weeks at the

Galerie Barbazanges The Galerie Barbazanges was an art gallery in Paris that exhibited contemporary art between 1911 and 1928. The building was owned by a wealthy fashion designer, Paul Poiret, and the gallery was used for Poiret's "Salon d'Antin" exhibitions. The gal ...

. The exhibition, organized by the French mathematician and actuary

Maurice Princet Maurice Princet (1875 – October 23, 1973) was a French mathematician and actuary who played a role in the birth of cubism. He was an associate of Pablo Picasso, Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 A ...

, showed forty-six works from his early 1906-07 Divisionist period to his Proto-Cubist and Cubist Eiffel Tower paintings from 1909–1912. Apollinaire praised those works of the exhibition and proclaimed Delaunay as "an artist who has a monumental vision of the world." In the 23 March 1912 issue of the satirical magazine '' L'Assiette au Beurre'', the first published suggestion that Delaunay had broken with this group of Cubists appeared, in James Burkley's review of the Salon des Indépendants. Burkley wrote, "The "Cubists", who occupied only a room, have multiplied. Their leaders, Picasso and Braque, have not participated in their grouping, and Delaunay, commonly labeled a Cubist, has wished to isolate himself and declares he has nothing in common with Metzinger or Le Fauconnier." With Apollinaire, Delaunay traveled to Berlin in January 1913 for an exhibition of his work at Galerie Der Sturm. On their way back to Paris, the two stayed with August Macke in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, where Macke introduced them to

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

.Willard Bohn: Apollinaire and the international avant-garde (1997), , p82 When his painting ''La ville de Paris'' was rejected by the

Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...

as being too big he instructed

Samuel Halpert Samuel Halpert (1884 in Białystok, Russia – 1930 in Detroit, Michigan) was an American painter. Early days Halpert's family migrated to New York City in 1890. His father's preoccupation with religious devotion necessitated that Halpert s ...

to remove all his works from the show.

Spanish and Portuguese years (1914–1920)

At the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914 Sonia and Robert were staying in Fontarabie in Spain. They decided not to return to France and settled in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. In August 1915 they moved to Portugal where they shared a home with

and Eduardo Viana. With Viana and their friends

Amadeo de Souza Cardoso Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso (14 November 1887 – 25 October 1918) was a Portuguese painter. Belonging to the first generation of Portuguese modernist painters, Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso stands out among all of them for the exceptional quality of ...

(whom the Delaunays had already met in Paris) and

José de Almada Negreiros José Sobral de Almada Negreiros (7 April 1893 – 15 June 1970) was a Portuguese artist. He was born in the colony of Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe, the son of a Portuguese father, António Lobo de Almada Negreiros, and a Santomean mothe ...

they discussed an artistic partnership. First declared a

deserter Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

, Robert was declared unfit for military duty at the French consulate in

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

on 23 June 1916. The

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

brought an end to the financial support Sonia received from her family in Russia, and a different source of income was needed. In 1917 the Delaunays met

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

in Madrid. Robert designed the stage for his production of ''Cleopatra'' (costume design by

). Robert Delaunay illustrates ''Tour Eiffel'' for

Vicente Huidobro Vicente García-Huidobro Fernández (; January 10, 1893 – January 2, 1948) was a Chilean poet born to an aristocratic family. He promoted the avant-garde literary movement in Chile and was the creator and greatest exponent of the literary m ...

Paul Poiret Paul Poiret (20 April 1879 – 30 April 1944, Paris, France) was a French fashion designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. Early life and care ...

refused a business partnership with Sonia in 1920, citing as one of the reasons her marriage to a deserter. The

Der Sturm ''Der Sturm'' () was a German avant-garde art and literary magazine founded by Herwarth Walden, covering Expressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, among other artistic movements. It was published between 1910 and 1932. History and profile ' ...

gallery in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

showed works by Sonia and Robert from their Portuguese period the same year.

Return to Paris and later life (1921–1941)

After the war, in 1921, they returned to Paris. Delaunay continued to work in both figurative and abstract themes, with a brief stint into

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

. Delaunay met

André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

and

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

, who introduced him to both

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

ists and Surrealists.Robert Delaunay, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
/ref> During the 1937 World Fair in Paris, Delaunay participated in the design of the railway and air travel pavilions. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

erupted, the Delaunays moved to the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

, in an effort to avoid the invading

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

forces. Suffering from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, Delaunay was unable to endure being moved around, and his health deteriorated. He died of cancer on 25 October 1941 in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

at the age of 56. His body was reburied in 1952 in Gambais.

Gallery

File:Robert Delaunay Nature morte au vase de fleurs c1907.jpg, Robert Delaunay, c.1907, ''Nature morte au vase de fleurs'', oil on canvas, 46.4 x 55 cm File:Robert Delaunay - autoportrait.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1905–06, ''Autoportrait'', oil on canvas, 54 x 46 cm,

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. In 2021 it ranked 10th in ...

, Paris File:GUGG Carousel of Pigs.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1906, ''Carousel of Pigs'' (''Manège de cochons''), oil on canvas, 113.7 × 130.8 cm,

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

File:Robert Delaunay - Jean Metzinger - Google Art Project.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1906, ''Jean Metzinger'', oil on paper, 54.9 x 43.2 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston File:Robert Delaunay L'homme à la tulipe (Portrait de Jean Metzinger) 1906.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1906, ''L'homme à la tulipe (Portrait de M. Jean Metzinger)'', oil on canvas, 72.4 x 48.5 cm. Exhibited in Paris at the 1906 Salon d'Autome (no. 420) along with a portrait of Delaunay by Metzinger File:Robert Delaunay, 1907, Portrait of Wilhelm Uhde..jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1907, ''Portrait of Wilhelm Uhde''. Robert Delaunay and Sonia Terk met through the German collector/dealer Wilhelm Uhde, with whom Sonia had been married as she said for "convenience" File:GUGG Saint-Séverin No. 3.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1909–10, ''Saint-Séverin No. 3'', oil on canvas, 114.1 × 88.6 cm,

File:Robert Delaunay, 1912, La Ville de Paris, oil on canvas, 267 × 406 cm, Musée National d'Art Moderne.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1910–1912, ''La Ville de Paris'', oil on canvas, 267 × 406 cm,

File:Robert Delaunay, 1911-12, Window on the City No. 3, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1911–12, ''Window on the City No. 3'', oil on canvas, 113.7 × 130.8 cm,

File:Robert Delaunay, 1912, Les Fenêtres simultanée sur la ville (Simultaneous Windows on the City), 40 x 46 cm, Kunsthalle Hamburg.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1912, ''Simultaneous Windows on the City'', 40 x 46 cm,

Kunsthalle Hamburg The Hamburger Kunsthalle is the art museum of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany. It is one of the largest art museums in the country. The museum consists of three connected buildings, dating from 1869 (main building), 1921 (Kuppelsaa ...

File:GUGG Windows Open Simultaneously 1st Part, 3rd Motif.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1912, ''Windows Open Simultaneously 1st Part, 3rd Motif'', oil on canvas, 57 × 123 cm,

File:Robert Delaunay L'Équipe de Cardiff 1913 Eindhoven.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1913, ''L'Équipe de Cardiff'', oil on canvas, 195 x 130 cm, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven File:Robert Delaunay, 1913, L'Équipe de Cardiff, oil on canvas, 326 × 208 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1913, ''L'Équipe de Cardiff'', oil on canvas, 326 × 208 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris File:Robert Delaunay - Hommage to Blériot - 1914 - Museum of Grenoble.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1914, ''Hommage to Blériot'', oil on canvas,

Museum of Grenoble The Museum of Grenoble (french: Musée de Grenoble) is a municipal museum of Fine Arts and antiquities in the city of Grenoble in the Isère region of France. Located on the left bank of the Isère River, place Lavalette, it is known both for it ...

File:Robert Delaunay, 1915, Nu à la toilette (Nu à la coiffeuse), oil on canvas, 140 × 142 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1915, ''Nu à la toilette (Nu à la coiffeuse)'', oil on canvas, 140 × 142 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris File:Delaunay Portuguese Woman.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1916, ''Portuguese Woman'', oil on canvas, 135.9 × 161 cm,

Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collect ...

File:GUGG Eiffel Tower.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1926–1928, ''Eiffel Tower'', Conté crayon on paper, 62.3 × 47.5 cm,

, New York, The Hilla Rebay Collection File:Robert Delaunay, 1926, Tour Eiffel, oil on canvas, 169 × 86 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1926, ''Tour Eiffel'', oil on canvas, 169 × 86 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris File:GUGG Circular Forms.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1930, ''Circular Forms'', oil on canvas, 67.3 × 109.8 cm,

, New York, Gift by Andrew Powie Fuller and Geraldine Spreckels Fuller Collection, 1999 File:Robert_Delaunay,_Rythmes,_1934.jpg, '' Rythme'', 1934, oil on canvas, 145 x 113 cm,

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

File:Robert Delaunay, 1938, Rythme n°1, Decoration for the Salon des Tuileries, oil on canvas, Musée d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris.jpg, Robert Delaunay, 1938, ''Rythme n°1'', Decoration for the Salon des Tuileries, oil on canvas, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

Museum collections

Robert Delaunay's works can be found in museums and loaned from private collections around the world:

Europe

The

in Paris, the

Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris (, Paris' Museum of Modern Art) or MAM Paris, is a major municipal museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries, including monumental murals by Raoul Dufy, Gaston Suisse, and Henri ...

, the

Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its ...

, the

Bilbao Fine Arts Museum The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum (Spanish: ''Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao'', Basque: ''Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa'') is an art museum located in the city of Bilbao, Spain. The building of the museum is located entirely inside the city's Doña Casild ...

(Spain),

Kunstmuseum Basel The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a heritage site of national significance. Its lineage extends back to t ...

(Switzerland), the National Galleries of Scotland, the New Art Gallery (Walsall, England), Palazzo Cavour (Turin, Italy), the

Peggy Guggenheim Collection The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is an art museum on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro ''sestiere'' of Venice, Italy. It is one of the most visited attractions in Venice. The collection is housed in the , an 18th-century palace, which was the home ...

(Venice),

National Museum of Serbia The National Museum of Serbia ( sr, / ) is the largest and oldest museum in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the central zone of Belgrade on a square plot between the Republic Square, formerly Theatre Square, and three streets: Čika Ljubina ...

Van Abbemuseum The Van Abbemuseum () is a museum of modern and contemporary art in central Eindhoven, Netherlands, on the east bank of the Dommel River. Established in 1936, the museum is named after its founder, Henri van Abbe, who loved modern art and wante ...

(Eindhoven, The Netherlands), Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille (France).

United States

The

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...

(Buffalo, New York), the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, the

Berkeley Art Museum The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA, formerly abbreviated as BAM/PFA) are a combined art museum, repertory movie theater, and archive associated with the University of California, Berkeley. Lawrence Rinder was Director from ...

, the

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United Stat ...

, the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...

, the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

(Poughkeepsie, New York), the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

(New York City), the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single co ...

, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

(New York City), the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

(Washington, D.C.), the

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...

(Dallas, TX), the

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...

, the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

, and the Saint Louis Art Museum (Saint Louis, MO)

Rest of the world

The

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

(Australia), the

Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art is the main venue for the performing arts in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The center consists of: *Aichi Prefectural Museum *Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater **Main Hall **Concert Hall *Aichi Prefectural Arts Promotion Service *Aichi Prefectu ...

(Japan).

Publications

* * * * Gordon Hughes (1997). ''Envisioning Abstraction: The Simultaneity Of Robert Delaunay's First Disk''.

References

External links

Centre Pompidou/MNAM-CCI/Bibliothèque Kandinsky, Fonds Sonia et Robert Delaunay

Agence Photographique de la Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delaunay, Robert 1885 births 1941 deaths 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Abstract painters Painters from Paris Cubist artists Divisionist painters French male painters French Impressionist painters Orphism (art) School of Paris Deaths from cancer in France World War II refugees French abstract artists

Overview

Biography

Early life

Career beginnings

Spanish and Portuguese years (1914–1920)

Return to Paris and later life (1921–1941)

Gallery

Museum collections

Europe

United States

Rest of the world

Publications

See also

References

External links