Sonia Delaunay—A Woman of Inspiration

 

    What if I told you that the woman on the left inspired an art movement by becoming a mother?  Would you believe me?  

    It is the absolute truth.

    The lady in question is Sonia Delaunay, and it was through the creation of a baby blanket for her infant son, that Orphism was inspired. 

    Sara Stern was born in 1885, to a poverty-stricken, Jewish family in the Ukraine.  At the age of seven, she was sent to live with her rich uncle, Henri Terk, in St. Petersburg, Russia. While never officially being adopted by her uncle, she took the name Sophia Terk and went by the nickname, Sonia.

    Henri recognized his niece’s artistic talent and, as she entered her late teens, sent her to Germany, where she began studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe.  After a two year stint in Germany, Sonia made her way to France to continue her education at Academie de La Palette.  It was in Paris, that she met and married her husband, Robert Delaunay.  When reminiscing of their meeting, Sonia shared, 

“In Robert Delaunay, I found a poet.  A poet who wrote not with words, but with colors.” Sonia Delaunay, The Life of an Artist

Together, these two created an art movement, which would inspire the future styles of such artists as Paul Klee and Alexander Calder.  

    And, it all started in 1911, with a quilt…

Baby Quilt by Sophia Delaunay, 1911

    
     Inspired by the quilt patterns she saw as a child in Russia, Sophia arranged bits of fabric in a manner leaning toward Cubism.  Robert began to imitate her style by incorporating simultaneously contrasting colors to his work.  He called this Simultanism—a style, which would later be referred to as Orphism, by the French poet, Guillaume Apollinaire.  Sophia’s quilt not only influenced her husband’s work, but would also lay the foundation for her textile designs.

    During the early years of motherhood, to help support her family, Sonia found herself painting less and concentrating her talents more in the areas of costume design and fabric creations.  By 1921, she had opened a fashion shop in Paris, presenting her designs to an admiring audience.  Consequently, this marriage of art and fabric design, would pave the way to her own fabric store, Atelier Simultané—a venture, which allowed Sonia to forge a successful relationship with the centuries-old department store, Metz & Co. 

    Delaunay eventually returned to painting, in the late 1930s, to work on a commissioned mural with her husband.   She would continue to paint throughout the following years and enjoy gallery exhibitions of her work—like the 1967 retrospective at the Musée Nationale d’Art Moderne in Paris.

    Sonia Delaunay started with humble beginnings and a baby quilt, and became the inspiration for a movement that would change the way we view abstract art.  

    If you would like to learn more about this amazing artist, please see the reference links below. 

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/delaunay-sonia/

https://www.moma.org/artists/1480