Sonia Delaunay · colour, rhythm, contrast · Louisiana Museum
Sonia Delaunay - Bal Bullier - 1913
From 12 February to 12 June 2022, the Louisiana Museum in Humlebæk, Denmark, presents an exhibition dedicated to Sonia Delaunay, one of the key figures in the development of abstract painting in the early 20th century.
Image: Sonia Delaunay, "Bal Bullier", 1913.
Born Sarah Elievna Stern in Odessa (then part of the Russian Empire) in 1885, Sonia Delaunay developed her artistic career in France (with stays in Spain and Portugal), where, together with her husband Robert Delaunay (1885-1941) and the Czech painter František Kupka (1871-1957), she created Orphism, one of the key movements in the transition from Cubism to abstract painting. Although for years her fame was unfairly overshadowed by that of her husband, in the last two decades she has come to be recognised as one of the key figures of the Avant-Garde of the early 20th century.
The exhibition at the Louisiana Museum traces the artist's entire career, both chronologically -with works spanning from the 1910s ("Bal Bullier", 1913) to the 1960s and 1970s ("Rythme couleur", 1964)- and thematically, showing the wide range of artistic media employed by Delaunay, from paintings and drawings to textile design, clothing, advertising, and book design.
The exhibition follows other major exhibitions devoted to the artist in the Nordic region, such as the retrospective organised by the Skissernas Museum (Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art) in 2007, or the group exhibition "Dada is Dada" at the Bildmuseet, Umeå University, Sweden, which included Delaunay as one of the main artists.

Read the full article