Champs de Mars. La Tour rouge. 1911. Art Institute of Chicago

Robert Delaunay (1885-1941) was a French artist who used abstractism and cubism in his work.

Delaunay concentrated on impressionism, while his later works were more abstract, reminiscent of Paul Klee. His key influence related to bold use of colour, and a clear love of experimentation of both depth and tone. Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists who began publicly exhibiting their art in the 1860s. ... Black square by Kazimir Malevich Abstract art is now generally understood to mean art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way. ... Paul Klee (IPA: ) (December 18, 1879 to June 29, 1940) was a Swiss painter of German nationality. ... The word tone is used in several different fields with different meanings. ...

While he was a child, Delaunay's parents divorced, and he was raised by his uncle, in La Ronchère (near Bourges). He took up painting at an early age, and by 1903, he was producing mature imagery in a confident, impressionistic style. Bourges is a town and commune in central France. ...

In 1908, after a term in the military working as a regimental librarian, he met Sonia Terk, who he later married, though at the time she was married to a German art dealer which she soon would divorce Sonia Delaunay-Terk (Sonia Terk Stern) (1885 – 1979) Born in Gradizhsk, Ukraine as Sonia Terk, and grew up in St. ...

In 1909, Delaunay began to paint the series of studies of the city of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. The following year, he married Terk, and the couple settled in a studio apartment in Paris, where they later had a son. The Eiffel Tower (French: , ) is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris. ...

At the invitation of Wassily Kandinsky, Delaunay joined The Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter), a Munich-based group of abstract artists, in 1911, and his art took a turn to the abstract. Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Kandinsky (Russian: Василий Кандинский, first name pronounced as [vassi:li]) (December 16, 1866 [O.S. December 4] – December 13, 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. ... Cover of Der Blaue Reiter almanac. ... Munich: Frauenkirche and Town Hall steeple Munich: St. ... Black square by Kazimir Malevich Abstract art is now generally understood to mean art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way. ...

The outbreak of World War I found Delaunay and his wife vacationing in Spain, and they settled with friends in Portugal for the duration of the conflict. During this period, the couple took on several jobs designing costumes for the Madrid Opera, and Sonia Delaunay started a fashion design business. Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz...

After the war, in 1921, they returned to Paris. Delaunay continued to work in a mostly abstract style. During the 1937 World's Fair in Paris, Delaunay participated in the design of the railway and air travel pavilions. The Soviet pavilion was crowned with a gigantic statue of Labourer and Kolkhoz Woman. ...

When World War II erupted, the Delaunays moved to the Auvergne, in an effort to avoid the invading German forces. Suffering from cancer, Delaunay was unable to endure being moved around, and his health deteriorated. He died from the cancer October 25, 1941 in Montpellier. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian... Auvergne coat of arms Auvergne (Occitan: Auvèrnha) was the name of an historically independent county in the center of France, as well as later a province of France. ... It has been suggested that Cancerous tumor be merged into this article or section. ... October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... Montpellier (Occitan Montpelhièr) is a city in the south of France. ...

External links

• Quotes and images at artchive.com
• Entry at artcyclopedia.com
• Brief overview at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection site
• The Prodigious Century