Oil Paint
Oil paint is a slow-drying art medium made with pigment and a drying-oil binder that allows extended working time, smooth blending, and layered application.
Painter
Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay was a French painter associated with Orphism, known for luminous color contrasts, abstract circles, and repeated views of the Eiffel Tower.
Robert Delaunay quick facts
Delaunay developed his color experiments from Cubist landscapes into the Windows and Circular Forms series, linking light and movement to abstraction.
| Born | April 12, 1885 · Paris, France |
|---|---|
| Died | October 25, 1941 · Montpellier, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Movements | Orphism; early Cubist work |
| Paint types | Oil Paint · Gouache Paint |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Paper · Cardboard |
| Painting methods | Layered planes of contrasting colors, fragmented window and tower views, and overlapping circular forms exploring simultaneous contrast |
| Common subjects | Windows, sunlight, the Eiffel Tower, city architecture, rotating discs, and rhythmic color relationships |
| Notable works | Windows · The Three Windows, the Tower and the Wheel · Simultaneous Contrasts: Sun and Moon · The Tower |
| Additional paint materials | Wax in some oil paintings; metallic paint in a documented stage design |
Sources: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza: Robert Delaunay, MoMA: Windows, MoMA: The Three Windows, Guggenheim: Simultaneous Windows, The Met: Stage Design for Cleopatra.
Paint types used
Delaunay painted luminous oil-and-wax canvases and used gouache and metallic paint for documented theater designs on paper.
Gouache Paint
Gouache paint is an opaque, water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder, drying to a matte finish that can be reactivated with water.
Surface types used
Canvas supported Delaunay's major oil paintings; he also worked with painted paper for set designs and oil-and-collage compositions on cardboard.
Canvas
Canvas is a woven fabric support, commonly cotton or linen, used for painting and sold either raw or prepared with a compatible ground layer.
Paper
Paper is an absorbent sheet material made from pressed fibers, with weight, sizing, and surface texture controlling moisture tolerance and paint behavior.
Cardboard
Cardboard is a lightweight, absorbent paper-based sheet material whose fibers and corrugated layers can soften or warp when exposed to heavy wet coats.
Painters similar to Robert Delaunay
Braque connects Delaunay to Cubism's fragmented space, while Kandinsky shares his interest in nonrepresentational color and rhythm.
Georges Braque
Georges Braque was a French painter who helped develop Cubism, combining fragmented still lifes with textured oil paint, stenciling, and paper collage.
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian-born painter, teacher, and theorist known for abstract compositions exploring relationships among color, line, shape, and rhythm.