A Moment for Sonia Delaunay
As a cofounder — along with her husband, Robert Delaunay — of the Simultanism art movement, which explored vivid geometries of contrasting color, Russian-French artist Sonia Delaunay acted as the nexus between a variety of disciplines, particularly large-scale painting and textile design.
Over 60 years, the mother of abstract art, as she is known, nurtured friendships and collaborations with poets, choreographers, and manufacturers, ranging from the Ballets Russes and the Bauhaus Ballet to the furrier Jacques Heim and Liberty of London. Not only did she integrate painting, interior design, collage, fabric printing, and needlework, she was also a master of self-promotion that now seems prescient.
At the Louvre in 1964, Delaunay became the first female artist to be granted a retrospective during her lifetime, a testament to the enormous influence she wielded in the male-dominated arena of early modern art.
‘simultaneous’ dress by Sonia Delaunay next to a Citroen B12, the first car she designed (1925)
Beach set by Sonia Delaunay (ca 1928)
Court shoes by Sonia Delaunay (1925)
Sonia Delaunay (1920s)
Sleeping Girl, Sonia Delaunay (1907)
Yellow Nude, Sonia Delaunay (1908)
A costume by Sonia Delaunay for the ballet Cleopatra (1918)
Model in a swimsuit by Sonia Delaunay (1929)
Sonia Delaunay’s ‘simultaneous’ dress and car on the cover of British Vogue (1925)
Rythme Coloré, Sonia Delaunay (1946)
Still from the film Le P’tit Parigot (1926), costumes by Sonia Delaunay
Sonia Delaunay robe worn by actor Jacques Catelain in the film Le Vertige (1927)
Sonia Delaunay (right) and two friends, Paris (1924)
Three Women Dressed Simultaneously, Sonia Delaunay (1925)
Knit wool caps by Sonia Delaunay (ca 1928)
Prismes Électriques, Sonia Delaunay (1920s)
Unic car, designed by Sonia Delaunay (1920)
Prismes Électriques, Sonia Delaunay
A costume by Sonia Delaunay for the ballet Cleopatra (1918)
Coats and hats by Sonia Delaunay (1925)
Coat by Sonia Delaunay (1920s)
Sonia Delaunay embroidered swimsuit
Sonia Delaunay in pajamas of her own design (1920s)
Illustrations by Sonia Delaunay (1928)
Models wearing beachwear by Sonia Delaunay (1928)
Sonia Delaunay in her Paris studio (ca 1925)
Deux Fillette Finlandaises, Sonia Delaunay (1907)
Beach set by Sonia Delaunay (ca 1928)
Sonia Delaunay (1960s)
