Pioneering 20th-century abstract artist Sonia Delaunay was known for ignoring the distinction between fine art and applied design. Her body of work encompassed not only paintings and prints but also book illustrations, women’s and men’s fashions, costumes for theater and dance, film sets, wallpaper, furniture and interior decor. More than an expression of her prolific talent, this varied output was her way of erasing the boundary between life and art.
Born Sara Elievna Stern in 1885 to a working-class Jewish family in Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), she was adopted as a child by a wealthy maternal uncle in St. Petersburg, who saw to her well-rounded education. There, she picked up the nickname Sonia.
At the age of 18, she left Russia for Germany to study painting, and in 1905, she landed in Paris, where she enrolled in art school. She soon dropped out but continued creating art, producing canvases strongly influenced by Fauvism. Following a brief marriage to gallery owner Wilhelm Uhde, she married fellow artist Robert Delaunay (1885–1941) in 1910. After the birth of her son, Charles, in 1911, she crafted a patchwork crib cover that she considered her first truly abstract piece.
No matter the medium, Delaunay’s passion was color. She and her husband were the main exponents of Orphism, a branch of Cubism defined by abstract compositions and bright shades. They saw their creations as experiments in Simultanéisme, or Simultanism, a color theory based on the work of scientist Michel Eugène Chevreul (1786–1889), who studied the ways in which a given hue can look different depending on the ones around it.
The Delaunays noted that certain pairings seemed to generate a vibration in the eye of the beholder. They felt that this movement captured the dynamism of modern urban life. The couple generally expressed the ideas underpinning Simultanism in their work with flat, overlapping panes of color. In fact, Sonia’s cradle cover melded their tenets with the traditions of Russian-peasant patchwork (also a big Constructivist inspiration).
Seeking to integrate Simultanism into all aspects of life, she designed other abstractly patterned furnishings for their home, which had become a gathering place for the avant-garde, and she worked the designs into their clothes, too, which she and Robert would wear throughout the city and to dance halls — behavior that today would likely be described as performance. In addition to performance, Sonia’s work presaged many other avant-garde movements, such as kinetic art and Op art.
After the upheavals of World War I and the 1917 Russian Revolution, Delaunay retooled herself and opened a business. Keeping her devotion to color juxtaposition front and center, she launched a fabric and fashion atelier where she created textiles, wearable pieces, interior decor and furniture, sometimes collaborating with cabinetmaker Adolphe Chanaux.
Clients who may have found an abstract painting intimidating or inaccessible could enjoy the bright pattern on a cloche-and-scarf set Delaunay created or the striped handbag she designed. In this way, she brought her art into their everyday lives. Her colorful abstract design on a textile or rug could very well have been applied to one of her canvases and hung on a wall or vice versa.
While many women artists of the period were herded away from the fine arts and toward crafts (think Anni Albers), Delaunay was able to do it all. And what’s also so appealing about her oeuvre, to contemporary eyes, is the sense that Delaunay pursued everything — be it painting or fashion or costuming or furniture or graphic design — with equal vigor, without making distinctions between mediums.
Find Sonia Delaunay art for sale on 1stDibs.
Juste Présent
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in OPOLE, PL
Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) - Juste Présent Lithograph from 1961. Dimensions of work: 38 x 28 cm Publisher: Lacourière et Frélaut, Paris. A Xerox copy of the justification page, s...
Lithograph
$1,393Sale Price|20% Off
Juste Présent
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in OPOLE, PL
Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) - Juste Présent Lithograph from 1961. Dimensions of work: 38 x 28 cm Publisher: Lacourière et Frélaut, Paris. A Xerox copy of the justification page, s...
Lithograph
$1,119Sale Price|20% Off
Juste Présent
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in OPOLE, PL
Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) - Juste Présent Lithograph from 1961. Dimensions of work: 38 x 28 cm Publisher: Lacourière et Frélaut, Paris. A Xerox copy of the justification page, s...
Lithograph
$1,114Sale Price|20% Off
Juste Présent
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in OPOLE, PL
Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) - Juste Présent Lithograph from 1961. Dimensions of work: 38 x 28 cm Publisher: Lacourière et Frélaut, Paris. A Xerox copy of the justification page, s...
Lithograph
$1,114Sale Price|20% Off
Juste Présent
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in OPOLE, PL
Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) - Juste Présent Lithograph from 1961. Dimensions of work: 38 x 28 cm Publisher: Lacourière et Frélaut, Paris. A Xerox copy of the justification page, s...
Lithograph
$1,299
H 39.5 in W 24.5 in
Air France Europe original vintage travel poster
By Jacques Nathan-Garamond 1
Located in Spokane, WA
Original AIR FRANCE EUROPE, Editions Perceval, artist: Jacques Nathan Garamond. Professional acid-free archival linen backed vintage travel post...
Lithograph
$575
H 14 in W 16 in
Sangre de Christos hand-pulled serigraph by Robert Daughters
By Robert Daughters
Located in Paonia, CO
Sangre de Christos is a hand-pulled, limited edition serigraph, no. 39 / 260 and is signed in pencil by the artist. Published by Aspen Mountain Graphic...
Screen
"Juges" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal""
By Georges Rouault
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Juges" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal" created in 1937/38, is an original color aquatint on Montval paper by renown French artist Georges Rouault, 1871-1958....
Aquatint
Chama Canyon hand pulled serigraph by William Hook
By William Hook
Located in Paonia, CO
Chama Canyon is a limited edition hand-pulled serigraph no. 225 /260 in excellent condition. It is signed in pencil and published by Aspen Mountain Graphics. sheet size 14 x 18 image 12 x 16 For American artist William Hook ( b. 1948- ) art was a central focus in his family home and he began his career in art at an early age.. He studied at several prestigious art schools in the US and abroad. His work has been featured in magazines such as Southwest Art, Art of the West, U. S. Art, American Artist and Focus Santa Fe. The book… Leading the West… by Donald Hagerty features William Hook as one of the most notable influences on the western art scene. Publishers Harper-Collins and North Light have included his work in numerous books written about the contemporary art process in Europe and America. Hook’s paintings can be found in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum, the Tucson Art Museum, the University of New Mexico, the FORBES Museum, NYC, and the Genesee Museum, NY as well as in many corporate and private collections. His work has also been featured in prints for the New Mexico Symphony, Music from Angel Fire...
Screen
$3,500
H 21.25 in W 17.5 in D 1.5 in
"Laquais" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal"
By Georges Rouault
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Laquais" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal" created in 1937, is an original color aquatint on Montval paper by renown French artist Georges Rouault, 1871-1958. I...
Aquatint
$6,480
H 30.5 in W 20 in
L'Artist Phoenix Poster, 1972 Lithograph Print, Signed Expressionist
By Marc Chagall
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Marc Chagall "L'Artist Phoenix Poster" for Galerie Maeght from 1972. It is from the edition of 5000. 30 1/2" x 20" art 40 1/2" x 32 1/4" frame Marc Ch...
Lithograph
Cottonwoods hand-pulled serigraph by Robert Daughters
By Robert Daughters
Located in Paonia, CO
Cottonwoods is a hand-pulled, limited edition serigraph, no. 32 / 165 and is signed in pencil by the artist. Published by Aspen Mountain Graphic it is ...
Screen
$68,000
H 71.25 in W 23.25 in
Poster for the 17th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession by Max Kurzweil
By Max Kurzweil
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Note: Due to the size, weight, and value of this piece, we require shipping through 1stDibs, for its cost effectiveness, full insurance coverage, and reliable handling. While standar...
Lithograph
"Trio" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal""
By Georges Rouault
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Trio" from the suite "Les Fleurs du Mal" created in 1938, is an original color aquatint on Montval paper by renown French artist Georges Rouault, 1871-1958. It i...
Aquatint
Mere Biblique
By Théo Tobiasse
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Theo Tobiasse (French/Israeli, 1927-2012) Title: Mere Biblique Year: 1984 Medium: Color lithograph, with collage Edition: Numbered 172/175 in pencil Paper: Arches Image...
Lithograph
$216Sale Price|20% Off
H 20 in W 24 in
Face of the Night Lithograph, Abstract Expressionist, 1987, Unframed
By (after) Robert Motherwell
Located in Union City, NJ
FACE OF THE NIGHT (For Octavio Paz) is a limited run lithograph poster printed in multiple colors using traditional hand lithography techniques (not a photo reproduction) on archival...
Lithograph
Corrupt Petliura Ukraine Russian Propaganda Poster
Located in Paonia, CO
Vintage Soviet Government propaganda lithographic poster titled with Ukrainian text that reads “Corrupt Petliura has sold Ukraine to the Polish landowners. Landowners burned and plundered Ukraine. Death to landowners and Petlyurovites.” Originally issued April 1920 following the Treaty of Warsaw (also the Polish-Ukrainian Agreement). The agreement was a military-economical alliance between the Second Polish Republic, represented by Jozef Pilsudski, and the Ukrainian People’s Republic, represented by Symon Petliura, against Bolshevik Russia. The artwork features Jozef Pilsudski running away with a sack of goods. Good condition. Artist unknown. The Bolshevik Era (1917-1921) was a life and death struggle for the Bolsheviks and their ideology. The propaganda poster...
Lithograph
Windsor
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in Paris, FR
Porcelain Publisher : ARTCURIAL Diameter : 25 cm LCD3668
Porcelain
Signal
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in Paris, FR
Porcelain Edition : 325/900 Publisher : Editions Artcurial Diameter : 28,5 cm LCD3679
Porcelain
Eclipse
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in Paris, FR
Porcelain Publisher : Artcurial Diameter: 29 cm Inside diameter (in the back): 24 cm LCD4094
Porcelain
Rare silk scarf "Sonia delaunay".
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in Saint-Didier, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Rare silk scarf Sonia delaunay 132 x 42,5 cms 100% silk Label brochier soieries New in stock 1980 190 euros
Silk
Porcelain collection plate " La danseuse jaune".
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in Saint-Didier, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Porcelain collection plate The yellow dancer Artcurial Edition Out of 900 copies Signature of the artist in porcelain Certificate and original box ...
Porcelain