Sonia and Robert Delaunay...

Sonia and Robert met early in 1909. By April they were lovers. There was just one problem. Sonia was already married. In 1908 she had gotten married for very practical reasons. A good friend named Wihelm Uhde had a secret that a marriage might be able to hide from curious family. Unfortunately, he felt that Paris and his family were not ready for him to come out of the closet. For Sonia this marriage gave her the opportunity to stay in Paris. Her family in Russia was pressuring her to come home.The marriage put an end to all their grumblings and gave Sonia the license to stay. Uhde also owned a gallery in the Montparnasse area of Paris. He had connections to the art world of Paris. This was a win win situation for both Sonia and Uhde.9

As Sonia and Robert's relationship began to deepen. They decided together that she should get a divorce. Uhde was very happy for them and was glad to arrange an adulterous affair with another woman that would make the divorce easy to obtain and further his need for everyone to think he was crazy for the ladies.

The divorce became final February 28, 1910. Sonia and Robert were married on November 15, 1910. Sonia was already pregnant with their son. Their lives together had begun with a bang. Their son Charles proved to be a very calm and tranquil baby which allowed both artists to spend time continuing to work on new ideas. Robert could concentrate on his obsession with the Eiffel Tower and cathedrals and meanwhile Sonia was thinking about a new direction entirely.

Sonia began a baby quilt for Charles 'Couverture', 1911 that would provide the Delaunay's a different way of looking at art. When friends saw it they commented on the design and the cubist look to the pattern. The color swatches set both Delaunay's exploring Chevreul's theories on color relationship that had been published in 1839. The Law of Simultaneous Contrast of Colors.

Robert directed all of his energies toward applying these discoveries and experiments into painting. He saw painting on a canvas as real painting the rest was just crafty business. Robert created a painting inspired by the quilt colors and his analytical cubist style that would keep the ball rolling. The Delaunay's were well on their way to creating their own style of painting.

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Sonia saw the world as her canvas. She started first with her home and then everything around her seemed to explode with color. In the Mercure de France of 1 January 1914, Guillaaume Apollinaire wrote:"You have to go to Bullier's, to see Monsieur and Madame Robert Delaunay, who are busy bringing about the reform of clothing. Simultaneous Orphism has produced sartorical novelties that are not to be sneezed at...They are unencumbered by the imitation of old styles, and they wish to be of their time, they are not attempting to make any innovations in the shape and of the cut, but are rather trying to influence it by using the new and infinitely varied material of colours".10

She applied the color theories very easily into many mediums. She would go on to create covers for books, dress designs, costumes for plays/ ballets, canvas paintings, and even cars! (The panel on the left has some examples of the variety of things she created). That crafty business is what kept the Delaunay's in the life style they were accustomed to. Sonia saw a lot of commercial success with her fashion design. This led to many people not taking her as a serious artist.

The artistic exchange between Robert and Sonia is unmistakable. Their work can be so similar at times that it is not easy to tell which of the two has painted the piece. The exchange of lines and rhythms is quite apparent in their work and almost becomes a dance.

Sonia's approach is more likely to be found off a canvas. Her work broke through the barriers of society by taking her colorful art to the people. It is with amazement I find her art hidden behind her husbands works. Too many texts that cover artists of this period fail to mention her at all. Sonia did not exhibit her work alone until after Robert's death in 1941. She says, "From the day we started living together, I played second fiddle and I never put myself first until the 50's. Robert had brilliance, the flair of genius. As for myself, I lived with greater depth."9

Sonia Delaunay went on to have at least 50 solo shows before she to passed away in December of 1979. I am certain that her designs can be found on our fashion run ways, in contemporary costume designs, and color theory classes because the work can stand the test of time.

 

'I was born the same year as Robert Delaunay, under the same sun, some 3,000 verts away...' - Sonia Delaunay in the opening lines of her autobiography

 

"There is no mistaking her intention to indicate that her life and his were intricately entwined. All the evidence implies that the thirty years that they spent together, often working side by side, continually exchanging view and ideas, and feeding each other's talent, were filled with a sense of unity".5

 

 

 

 

 

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