Georges Braque
Georges Braque was a French painter who helped develop Cubism, combining fragmented still lifes with textured oil paint, stenciling, and paper collage.
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.
| Full name | Robert Victor Félix Delaunay |
|---|---|
| Born | April 12, 1885 · Paris, France |
| Died | October 25, 1941 · Montpellier, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Movements | Orphism; early Cubist work |
| Paint types | Oil paint · Watercolor · Gouache · Metallic paint |
| Other media | — |
| Other materials | Wax in Windows; graphite under the paint in Stage Design for Cleopatra |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Paper · Cardboard |
| Painting methods | Contrasting color planes in oil and wax; opaque gouache and metallic paint over graphite in theater designs |
| 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 |
Sources: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza: Robert Delaunay, MoMA: Windows, MoMA: The Three Windows, Guggenheim: Simultaneous Windows, The Met: Stage Design for Cleopatra.
Paint types used by Robert Delaunay
Delaunay explored light through oil and wax on canvas, while using gouache and metallic paint in theatrical designs and related studies on paper.
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Oil paint
In Windows (1912), Delaunay combined oil and wax on canvas. His fragmented fields of color replace conventional depth with shifting relationships between light and colored panes. The Three Windows, the Tower and the Wheel (1912) is oil on canvas without wax specified in MoMA's record; its intersecting window and tower forms help connect his Cubist city views to Orphist abstraction.
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Watercolor
In The Runners (c. 1924–26), Delaunay used watercolor with pastel and crayon on paper to render athletes in motion. The mounted sheet shows his color experiments extending from Orphist canvases into works on paper. The catalog identifies watercolor separately from drawing materials.
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Gouache paint
For the Ballets Russes production Cleopatra, Delaunay made a Stage Design (about 1918) using gouache and metallic paint over a graphite drawing on paper. The opaque gouache allowed him to organize bold color blocks in a theatrical setting; the graphite remains drawing material rather than a further paint type.
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Metallic paint
The Metropolitan Museum of Art lists metallic paint alongside gouache in the Stage Design for Cleopatra (about 1918). Delaunay used the reflective coating on paper as part of a set-design study. The record specifies metallic paint, not metal leaf, and does not identify its binder or metal pigment.
Sources: MoMA: Windows, oil and wax on canvas, MoMA: The Three Windows, the Tower and the Wheel, oil on canvas, and The Met: Stage Design for Cleopatra, gouache and metallic paint; The Met: The Runners, watercolor.
Painting surfaces used by Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay's documented works use canvas and paper; examples clarify whether each is the painted ground, support, or part of the object.
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Canvas
Delaunay’s Orphist paintings, including Windows (1912), are documented on canvas. In this series, fragmented color fields replace conventional depth with shifting relationships between light and colored panes; the flexible support carries broad oil passages that link his Cubist city views to abstraction.
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Paper
Delaunay’s studies and drawings use paper, including watercolor and gouache designs for theatrical productions. The Met’s Stage Design for Cleopatra combines gouache and metallic paint over graphite, while The Runners uses watercolor, pastel, and crayon on a mounted sheet. The collection record names the sheet as the work’s documented support.
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Cardboard
Delaunay also used cardboard in selected studies and painted works, choosing a rigid, lightweight support for compact compositions. These examples sit alongside his canvas paintings and paper designs. Collection records identify cardboard for works using this surface directly. The specific examples are named in collection records.
Sources: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza: Robert Delaunay, MoMA: Windows, MoMA: The Three Windows, Guggenheim: Simultaneous Windows, The Met: Stage Design for Cleopatra.
Painters similar to Robert Delaunay
Braque connects Delaunay to Cubism's fragmented space, while Kandinsky shares his interest in nonrepresentational color, rhythm, and movement.
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian-born painter, teacher, and theorist who explored how color, line, shape, and rhythm could carry meaning in abstract art.