Sonia Delaunay

Sonia Delaunay painted rhythm and color. She painted across a century and across a continent.

A friend lent me the catalog from an exhibition about Delaunay at the Tate Museum. I am sharing pictures and information from that book with you here.
Delaunay was born in Ukraine in 1885. As a young girl she lived in St. Petersburg, Russia and summered in Finland.

She attended school in Karlsruhe, Germany. She moved to Paris in 1908 and spent most of her life there, with time in Portugal and Spain as well. She died in 1979. In her 20’s she started to paint exuberant rhythmic abstractions, and she continued to paint them for all of her life.

She also designed textiles, quilts, books, costumes for dance and murals. Delaunay’s ideas and images cross-pollinated in her work and in her life.

A painting…

…translated into embroidery.

Poems became dresses.

A dress echoed a book cover.

Bold patterns adorned dresses,

coats,

bathing suits,

and cars.

Here is a self portrait from 1916. Her face slowly reveals itself in the wheels of color. Delaunay said that color is the skin of the world.

As I get older I am interested in and inspired by artists who keep creating. Sonia Delaunay painted throughout her long life. She grew and changed and worked across many media. You can see her singular style shining through the decades.

1916

1939

1947

1953

1968

Thank you for your work, Sonia Delaunay.