Sonia Delaunay
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Sonia Delaunay | |
---|---|
Born | Sarah Elievna Shtern[citation needed] 14 November 1885 |
Died | 5 December 1979 | (aged 94)
Nationality | Russian, French |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | Orphism, School of Paris |
Sonia Delaunay (French pronunciation:
Her work in modern design included the concepts of geometric abstraction, and the integration of furniture, fabrics, wall coverings, and clothing into her art practice.[1]
Biography
Early life (1885–1904)
Sofia Ilinitchna Stern, or Sarah Elievna Stern[
Paris (1905–1910)
When she arrived in Paris she enrolled at the
Comtesse de Rose, mother of Robert Delaunay, was a regular visitor to Uhde's gallery, sometimes accompanied by her son. Sonia Terk met Robert Delaunay in early 1909. They became lovers in April of that year and it was decided that she and Uhde should divorce. The divorce was finalised in August 1910.[12] Sonia was pregnant and she and Robert married on 15 November 1910. Their son Charles was born on 18 January 1911.[13] They were supported by an allowance sent from Sonia's aunt in St. Petersburg.[14]
Sonia said about Robert: "In Robert Delaunay I found a poet. A poet who wrote not with words but with colours".[13]
Orphism (1911–1913)
In 1911, Sonia Delaunay made a patchwork quilt for Charles's crib, which is now in the collection of the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris. This quilt was created spontaneously and uses geometry and colour.
"About 1911 I had the idea of making for my son, who had just been born, a blanket composed of bits of fabric like those I had seen in the houses of Ukrainian peasants. When it was finished, the arrangement of the pieces of material seemed to me to evoke cubist conceptions and we then tried to apply the same process to other objects and paintings." Sonia Delaunay[15]
Contemporary art critics recognize this as the point where she moved away from perspective and
The Delaunays' friend, the poet and art critic Guillaume Apollinaire, coined the term Orphism to describe the Delaunays' version of Cubism in 1913. It was through Apollinaire that in 1912 Sonia met the poet Blaise Cendrars who was to become her friend and collaborator. Sonia Delaunay described in an interview that the discovery of Cendrars' work “gave me [her] a push, a shock.”[7] She illustrated Cendrars' poem La prose du Transsibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France (Prose of the Trans-Siberian and of Little Jehanne of France) about a journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway, by creating a 2m-long accordion-pleated book. Using simultaneous design principles the book merged text and design. The book, which was sold almost entirely by subscription, created a stir amongst Paris critics. The simultaneous book was later shown at the Autumn Salon in Berlin in 1913, along with paintings and other applied artworks such as dresses, and it is said[who?] that Paul Klee was so impressed with her use of squares in her binding of Cendrars' poem that they became an enduring feature in his own work.
Spanish and Portuguese years (1914–1920)
The Delaunays travelled to Spain in 1914, staying with friends in Madrid. At the outbreak of the
The
Sonia Delaunay travelled to Paris twice in 1920 looking for opportunities in the fashion business,[24] and in August she wrote a letter to Paul Poiret stating she wanted to expand her business and include some of his designs. Poiret declined, claiming she had copied designs from his Ateliers de Martine and was married to a French deserter (Robert).[25] Galerie der Sturm in Berlin showed works by Sonia and Robert from their Portuguese period the same year.[26]
Return to Paris (1921–1944)
Sonia, Robert and their son Charles returned to Paris permanently in 1921 and moved into Boulevard Malesherbes 19.[27] The Delaunays' most acute financial problems were solved when they sold Henri Rousseau's La Charmeuse de serpents (The Snake Charmer) to Jacques Doucet.[28] Sonia Delaunay made clothes for private clients and friends, and in 1923 created fifty fabric designs using geometrical shapes and bold colours, commissioned by a manufacturer from Lyon.[29] Soon after, she started her own business and simultané became her registered trademark.
For the 1923 staging of Tristan Tzara's play Le Cœur à Gaz she designed the set and costumes.[30] In 1924 she opened a fashion studio together with Jacques Heim. Her customers included Nancy Cunard, Gloria Swanson, Lucienne Bogaert and Gabrielle Dorziat.[31]
With Heim she had a pavilion at the 1925
"If there are geometric forms, it is because these simple and manageable elements have appeared suitable for the distribution of colors whose relations constitute the real object of our search, but these geometric forms do not characterize our art. The distribution of colors can be effected as well with complex forms, such as flowers, etc. ... only the handling of these would be a little more delicate."
— Sonia Delaunay, speaking at the Sorbonne, 1927[34]
Sonia designed costumes for two films: Le Vertige directed by Marcel L'Herbier and Le p'tit Parigot, directed by René Le Somptier,[35] and designed some furniture for the set of the 1929 film Parce que je t'aime (Because I love you).[36] During this period, she also designed haute couture textiles for Robert Perrier, while participating actively in his artistic salon, R-26.[37] The Great Depression caused a decline in business. After closing her business, Sonia Delaunay returned to painting, but she still designed for Jacques Heim, Metz & Co, Perrier and private clients.[38] She said "the depression liberated her from business".[39] 1935 the Delaunays moved to rue Saint-Simon 16.[40]
By the end of 1934 Sonia was working on designs for the 1937
Robert Delaunay died of cancer in October 1941.
Later life (1945 – 1979)
In 1967 (25 February – 5 April) she was a part of an exhibition of artist-decorated cars entitled 'Cinq voitures personnalisées par cinq artistes contemporains' ('Five Cars Personalized by Five Contemporary Artists') organized by the journal Réalités as a fundraiser for French medical research. She designed the pattern for a Matra 530 by experimenting with optical effects causing the car to recompose the pattern into a light blue shade when in motion 'so as not to attract other drivers' attention to the point of causing accidents through distraction.'[51]
Sonia Delaunay died 5 December 1979, in Paris, aged 94. She was buried in Gambais, next to Robert Delaunay's grave.[52]
Her son,
Legacy
Delaunay's painting Coccinelle was featured on a stamp jointly released by the French Post Office, La Poste and the United Kingdom's Royal Mail in 2004 to commemorate the centenary of the Entente Cordiale.
US fashion designer Perry Ellis devoted his fall 1984 collection to Delaunay, producing knits and prints in Delaunay colors and patterns.[53]
Retrospectives
Aberbach Fine Art, 988 Madison Avenue, January - February 1974.[54][55]
Sonia Delaunay was one of the artists presented in the retrospective group exhibition Dada is Dada at Bildmuseet, Umeå University, Sweden, running from 2017-11-17 to 2018-05-20.[56]
Notes
- )
- ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4, retrieved 5 November 2023
- ^ .
- ^ "Delaunay Terk, Sonia (Russian painter, textile designer, 1885-1979, active in France)". Getty Research Union List of Artist Names. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ Baron and Damase point out that much about Sonia Delaunay's early life is ambiguous or unknown: "(...) there were parts of her past that she did not easily discuss. (...) the first twenty years of her life (...) can hardly be called a detailed account. Even the actual date of her birth is ambiguous." (page 7). Odessa is mentioned as alternative place of birth, 4 November 1885 as less likely date.
- ^ "Sonia Delaunay (1885–1979)". Ukrainian Jewish Encounter. 3 June 2021.
- ^ a b Interview in BOMB Magazine
- ^ Jacques Damame: p. 171
- ^ Julio, Maryann De (13 December 1999). "Sonia Delaunay". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
- OCLC 908991085.
- ^ admin (21 February 2018). "Uhde, Willy". Stein, Gertrude. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. New York: Harcourt & Brace, 1933; Uhde, Wilhelm. Von Bismarck bis Picasso: Erinnerungen und Bekenntnisse. Zürich: Verlag Oprecht, 1938; Kultermann, Udo. The History of Art History. New York: Abaris, 1993, p. 133; Kraus, Rosalind. The Picasso Papers. London: Thames and Hudson, 1998, pp. 12, 98-99; Madsen, Axel. Sonia Delaunay: Artist of the Lost Generation. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989, pp. 74-89; Thiel, H. "Wilhelm Uhde: Ein offener und engagierter Marchand-Amateur in Paris vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg."in, Junge-Gent, Henrike, ed. Avantgarde und Publikum, Cologne: Böhlau, 1992, pp. 307-20. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ The divorce took place on 28 February and became final on 11 August 1910. Baron/Damase: pp. 17-20
- ^ a b Baron/Damase: p. 20
- ^ Sonia Delaunay/Jacques Damase: p. 31
- ^ Quoted in Manifestations of Venus, Caroline Arscott, Katie Scott Manchester University Press, 2000, p. 131
- ^ "Masters of Photography: Lothar Wolleh". www.masters-of-photography.com.
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 55. Sonia returned to Paris briefly to make arrangements for their absence.
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 56, Kunsthalle: p. 209, and Düchting: p. 51 all mention an Eduardo Vianna, but there is no trace of a painter with that name. Viana, however, was acquainted with the Delaunays
- ^ Düchting: p. 52
- ^ Kunsthalle: p. 209
- ^ Kunsthalle: p. 202
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 72, Valérie Guillaume: Sonia und Tissus Delaunay. In Kunsthalle: p. 31, Düchting: p. 52, p. 91. According to Morano (p. 19), branches in Bilbao and Barcelona never actually opened.
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 72. Diaghilev met Manuel de Falla at this salon. The two would later cooperate on The Three-Cornered Hat.
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 75
- ^ Valérie Guillaume: Sonia und Tissus Delaunay. In Kunsthalle: p. 31
- ^ Kunsthalle: p. 216, Düchting: p. 91
- ^ Boulevard Malesherbes 19, Paris: 48°52′19.29″N 2°19′18.58″E / 48.8720250°N 2.3218278°E
- ^ Robert Delaunay's mother had commissioned Rousseau to paint La Charmeuse de serpents, and it was sold to Doucet only on condition he bequeath it to the Louvre. Kunsthalle: p. 210, Baron/Damase: p. 83, Düchting: p. 33
- ^ The name of the company is not known. Baron/Damase: p. 83, Morano: p. 20
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 80, Kunsthalle: p. 216, Düchting: p. 56
- ^ Kunsthalle: p. 218, Morano: p. 21
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 81, p. 83. Morano: p. 21. Düchting: p. 56, Gronberg: p. 115. Guillaume: p. 33, cites Guévrékian as the architect of the pavilion.
- ^ Art into Fashion: p. 102, Baron/Damase: p. 84
- ^ Translated quote from Sonia Delaunay's lecture, from The New Art of Color: p. 207, also quoted in Morano: p. 22
- ^ Sonia designed costumes and contributed to styling the set, several of Robert's paintings were part of the set. Baron/Damase: p. 84, Kunsthalle: pp. 33, 216, Düchting: p. 58.
- ^ Art into fashion: p. 102
- ^ Clary, Michèle, Marie-Jacques Perrier; Le Village de Montmartre, C’est Vous, Paris Montmartre, 29 June 2011, Print
- ^ Maison Robert Perrier (Fédération Nationale du Tissu), 2000, Exhibit, Mairie du 4e arrondissement de Paris, Paris
- ^ Düchting: p. 60, p. 91, Kunsthalle: p. 218, Baron/Damase: p. 93, p. 100
- ^ rue Saint-Simon 16, Paris: 48°51′21.02″N 2°19′24.66″E / 48.8558389°N 2.3235167°E
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 102
- ^ Düchting: p. 71
- ^ Journal des Arts
- ^ Press release Centre Pompidou: "The exhibition comprises some ninety works by Robert and Sonia Delaunay, chosen from the donation which itself totals one hundred and fourteen paintings, drawings, bound books, reliefs and mosaics."
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 170
- ISBN 978-0714878775.
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 194. Rythmes-Couleurs is an artist's book in a limited edition of 120 copies.
- ^ Kunsthalle: p. 221. Robes Poèmes is an artists' book in a limited edition of 500 copies.
- ^ Artcurial advertisement "Sonia Delaunay – Le service Sonia au quotidien". Maison Française (386/Avril 1985): 37.
- ISBN 2-221-00063-3
- )
- ^ Baron/Damase: p. 201
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (4 May 1984). "The Mannish Look Takes Over". The New York Times. p. B8. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
Perry Ellis dedicated a large portion of his collection to Sonia Delaunay...
- nytimes.com. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ Sonia Delaunay, Aberbach Fine Art, 988 Madison Avenue January - February 1974, exhibition poster (lithograph)
- ^ "Dada is Dada – Bildmuseet, Umeå". www.bildmuseet.umu.se. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017.
Further reading
- Baron, Stanley; Damase, Jacques (1995). Sonia Delaunay: The Life of an Artist. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3222-9.
- Baron, Stanley; Damase, Jacques (1995). Sonia Delaunay : the life of an artist. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-23703-4.
- Delaunay, Robert; Delaunay, Sonia (1978). ISBN 0-670-50636-2.
- Düchting, Hajo (1995). Delaunay. ISBN 3-8228-9191-6.
- Grosenick, Uta (2001). Women Artists in the 20th and 21st Century. Taschen. ISBN 3-8228-5854-4.
- Robert Delaunay - Sonia Delaunay: Das Centre Pompidou zu Gast in Hamburg. Hamburger Kunsthalle. 1999. ISBN 3-7701-5216-6.
- Delaunay, Sonia; ISBN 0-8076-1112-3.
- Chadwick, Whitney; True Latimer, Tirza (2003). The Modern Woman Revisited: Paris Between the Wars. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-3292-9.
- Delaunay, Sonia; Damase, Jacques (1966). Rythmes-Couleurs. Galerie Motte. OCLC 460063028.
- Damase, Jacques (1991). Sonia Delaunay, mode et tissus imprimés. Jacques Damase. ISBN 978-2-904632-34-1. (English translation by Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1991)
- Delaunay, Sonia; Damase, Jacques (1978). Nous irons jusqu'au soleil. Robert Laffont. ISBN 978-2-221-00063-2.
- d'Orgeval, Domitille (7 November 2003). "L'histoire du Salon des réalités nouvelles de 1946 à 1956" (PDF). Le Journal des Arts. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- "Robert et Sonia Delaunay, Donation Sonia et Charles Delaunay" (PDF). Centre Pompidou. 1 October 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
- BOMB Magazine. No. 2/Winter 1982. Archived from the originalon 18 December 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2013..
- Slevin, Tom (2010). "Sonia Delaunay's Robe Simultanée: Modernity, Fashion and Transmediality". Fashion Theory. 17 (1): 27–54. S2CID 191341807.
External links
- Sonia Delaunay Art Deco, video by The New York Public Library
- Sonia Delaunay Revolutionary Mother of Abstraction Tate Modern
- Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica. "Sonia Delaunay: Carte". arskey (in Italian). teknemedia. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017.
- Sonia Delaunay artworks at Ben Uri
- Sonia Delaunay theartstory.org
- Sonia Delaunay, Aberbach Fine Art, 988 Madison Avenue January - February 1974, exhibition poster (lithograph)
- Parce que je t'aime at IMDb