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Compositions, Couleurs, Idees by Sonia Delaunay |
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| Compositions, Couleurs, Idees, by Sonia Delaunay. Editions d'Art Charles Moureau, Paris, 1930. Sonia Delaunay was born Sarah Stern in the Ukraine in 1885, but was adopted by her uncle in St. Peterburg, Henri Terk, when she was quite young. She was raised in the sophisticated, educated milieu of an affluent Jewish home and was exposed to the art and culture of European capitals as well as having the benefits of private drawing and painting tutors. She showed a very early interest and talent in art and moved to Paris in 1905.
Paris at this time was a center of artistic creativity and ferment; being home to Cezanne, Gaugin and Matisse among others. She immediately began taking classes and visiting studios - soaking up the new influences. In the course of her visits to studios and galleries, she met and married William Uhde, a German dealer living in Paris. This marriage allowed her to stay in Paris, but also precipitated her meeting with Robert Delaunay with whom she fell passionately in love. After a polite and amicable divorce, they married. Their marriage was both a personal and artistic partnership. They together developed theories of color representation and the use of color in the creation of form in drawing.
Sonia was equally interested in the practical applications of her art and became a successful textile and fashion designer. As the more practical of the pair, Sonia became the major financial support of the family, executing commissions for ballet and opera costumes, and designing fashions for private, wealthy clients.
The years of the Great Depression were difficult ones - Robert's career was in a slow period and the economic situation made Sonia's ability to support them problematic. Robert died in 1941.
The increasing persecution of the Jews in 1941 led Sonia to leave Paris and spend the war years in the French countryside. Finally able to return after the war, she resumed her career as artist, decorator, designer and printmaker. Slow in coming, recognition finally began to arrive in the early 50's. Now recognized as being a major force in uniting the fine and decorative arts, her work is much sought after and widely admired.
These pochoir plates are from a small, but unnumbered folio. There is some toning to the edges of a few plates. Plate 35 has some rubbing. On the reverse of some of the plates, there is some tape. Size (in):9.75 x 12.75 |
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