Sonia Delaunay
(1885-197)
Sonia Delaunay was a Ukrainian born French artist and designer. She is known for her colourful geometric pattern. Shew was born in 1885 in Odesa in Ukraine to a poor Jewish family and was then sent to live with her wealthy uncle Henri Terk at the age of five.
She studied drawing in Germany at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts before moving to Paris in 1906. She met an art dealer, Wilhelm Uhde, who also became her partner which helped her achieve her french citizenship. She then left her husband for Robert Delaunay and together they pioneered a fusion between cubism and Neo-Impressionism which is know known as Orphism.
She used Orphism for her paintings, textiles, and designs over the course of her career. In 1964 Sonia became the first living female artist to have a retrospective at the Louvre Museum. On December 5th she died in Paris France at the old age of 94.
© Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
She expanded beyond painting, some say it’s so she could give her husband space for his paintings but luckily she did because she went on to design textiles and interiors and fashion boutiques, set and costume design, and clothing that sold worldwide.
Prismes electriques 1914
Centre Pompidou Collection, Mnam / Cci, Paris
© Pracusa 2013057
Prismes électriques (Electric Prisms), 1914, is one of her key works because it is an ode to modernity. The use of light and colour displays a trademark of her designs which are concentric circles. Another piece of hers is Nu jaune, 1908, which is a woman with warm yellow skin against a cool emerald. It is one of her most striking uses of tone. The face of the model is still mask-like and the colours suit her modernistic style.
Sonia’s art is beautiful. I love that she created textiles and designs from these Oprhism colour full paintings. In her lifetime she achieved amazing things. She pioneered a road for women alike and set new standards. I think she is a very inspirational woman and love her bathing suit design. Wanting to start designing textiles myself as a branch of the world that I do, I personally think that it is very cool to learn about her and learn from her experience. Knowing it is possible
Refereneces:
Delaunay, Sonia (1885 – 1979). (1998). In Market House Books Ltd. (Ed.), The penguin Biographical Dictionary of Women. Penguin. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/penbdw/delaunay_sonia_1885_1979/0?institutionId=6884
Gombrich, E. H. (1966). The story of art. New York: Phaidon Publishers; distributed by Oxford University Press.
Photo Reference:
Sarah,
Nice work on Klimt! Good pacing and good information on his early career. Nice relaxed presentation with your personal thoughts and ideas interspersed. Citing his influence on Austrian Expressionism was also good. Also talking about the sexuality in his work was important. Good Job!
9/10
Jeff
Sarah,
As I’ve already commented on your PK of Klimt I’ll concentrate on Sonia Delaunay. Very interesting choice of artist. She sort of sits somewhat in the shadow of Robert Delaunay but stands out on her own as well. Nice that you have chosen her for you final post… well done. Some good information and personal thoughts on her work. All told well done on all fronts this term.
Jeff
Sarah,
I’ve made corrections to the final quiz and your score was 44/50 which is an A. Great work this term and I hope you have a good holiday break.
Jeff