Robert Delaunay

Robert Delaunay, and his wife Sonia, were influential artists from the 20th century who combined strongly in the same abstract movements

Orphism is the movement in which they are most strongly linked and this artistic style involved colourful, geometric shapes, similar to the Kandinsky circles painting, known as Farbstudie Quadrate. The Delaunays are generally regarded as having been involved from the very start of this movement. There are clear similarities between their work and other related artists such as Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich and Paul Klee.

This website will look into the careers of both Sonia and Robert. Robert Delaunay had a highly impressive control and understanding of colour and this was a crucial element for modern abstract artists, where objects would be symbolic but simple, making colour choices even more fundamental to each art work that they produced. Many from this era had the technical methods at hand to produce art in more traditional styles but they simply preferred the sort of art that you can see spread across this website.

Robert Delaunay was born and bred in France, though his career was to achieve success across Europe, once he had been embraced by other notable modern artists like Kandinsky who appreciated the direction that he was going in and also wanted to encourage the further spread of modern art movements down as many avenues as possible. French art had also had a history of leading from the front and so it was beneficial to have French artists who wanted to push abstract art onwards.

The original title of the painting above was Rhythm, Joie de Vivre and is one of the best known from this painter. Artist Delaunay began his career with many landscapes which held a touch of abstraction but it was only later in his life when he really took it further into the realms of what we consider Orphism with exceptionally simple displays of geometric shapes, complicated only slightly by his use of tones and colour.

Most contemporary artists show a development into the abstract rather than an immediate start there, particularly those who came at the start of this period. Franz Marc is another artist whose work may interest you if you enjoy the art featured here from the careers of both Robert and Sonia Delaunay. That artist produced many abstract works of animals but he was not quite as pure abstract as the Orphism styles of the Delaunays, who really took their work down to the most simplistic possible, whilst still maintaining symbolic messages in the background.

The early stages of this artist offered some similarities to the work of post-impressionists like Vincent Van Gogh and it seems that as the artist grew in experience and confidence that he began to forge his own original style which was later to create the Orphism movement, in conjunction with the similar style of his wife Sonia, who herself was a contemporary artist. Red Eiffel Tower in Paris is shown above and is a brilliant adaptation of this world-famous piece of architecture which has been included in the careers of countless artists, not all of whom have been French.

There is a beauty to the structure but also a highly symbolic nature to it as France's most recognisable building. The role of French artists in European art has also ensured that many of these paintings of the Eiffel Tower have also been well-publicised. It was the artist's depiction of the Eiffel Tower which really drew in a lot of new fans who found his work exciting and at that time it was not quite as radically abstract as he later became, thus appealing to a wider audience who were only just starting to embrace the ideas and techniques of abstract artists.

French art fans would always respond well to interesting depictions of their national symbol, and things were no different when Robert unveiled his Red Eiffel Tower. Colour was unquestionably the key to success for both of the Delaunays and they would go for bright tones which was very much the hallmark of contemporary art. Up until the French impressionists there had always been a relatively unoriginal use of colour, normally just to replicate exactly what the artist could see with their own eyes. Nowadays, there is a far great experimentation with colour and artists like those here helped to establish that.

Artists who Influenced Robert Delaunay

Delaunay was someone who took great interest of art history, all the way from the Renaissance up to the most recent of developments. Those who left the strongest imprint on his inspiration and technical approach were the likes of Paul Gauguin, Henri Rousseau, Georges Seurat, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso.

Artists Influenced by Robert Delaunay

Paul Klee cited Delaunay as a major influence on some of his work. There were also other famous painters who had studied his work such as August Macke, Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky and Diego Rivera. Delaunay works are instantly recognisable and the two partners have small differences between themselves too. Due to Robert's death at a relatively young age, Sonia's career naturally covered a longer period and therefore inevitably took in many more influences and carried on further into more modern eras.

The correct title of the painting included above was Window, and came about in 1912. Robert featured windows several times in his abstract paintings and found they offered a very symbolic meaning. Modern art such as that found here went through a long period in the 20th century where it was relatively looked down upon by academics and the majority of the public before slowly establishing itself as a mainstream force and something which held genuine quality.

The past 20 years or so have led to many younger art fans now preferring art reproductions of originals from that period and since over the more traditional styles for the first time, and this is a significant development. All of the links here offer Art.com products that are the best representation of the original Delaunay paintings and so we are happy to recommend them to you. This type of art is really suitable to most modern homes, and framed prints give the most professional finish in most cases. The galleries themselves cover a good selection of the best work from both painters and most tastes will be covered with in their wide range of products, with posters, prints and stretched canvases being the main ones.

List of Famous Robert Delaunay Paintings

Robert Delaunay offers abstract work at it's best, with a careful control of colour. See a list of his best work below.

• Circular Forms
• Rhythm Joie De Vivre
• Eiffel Tower
• Champs de Mars: The Red Tower
• Homage To Bleriot
• Simultaneous Windows
• Saint-Severin No 3
• Rhytme Sans Fin
• Sun Tower Airplane
• Rhythyms
• Portuguese Woman
• Les Coureurs
• Paysage au Disque
• The City of Paris
• Disques Colores
• Helice
• Window On The City Nr 4
• Football L'equipe De Cardiff
• Woman With Parasol
• Nude Woman Reading
• Portrait Of Stravinsky