Delaunay, Robert

(born April 12, 1885, Paris, Fr.—died Oct. 25, 1941, Montpellier) French painter. He spent his early career as a part-time designer of stage scenery and came under the influence of Neo-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism. In 1909–11 his colour experiments culminated in a series of paintings of the Eiffel Tower, which combined fragmented Cubist forms with dynamic movement and vibrant colour. The introduction of bright colour to Cubism—a style that came to be known as Orphism—distinguished his work from that of the more orthodox Cubist painters and influenced the artists of Der Blaue Reiter. With his wife, the Ukrainian-born painter and textile designer Sonia Terk Delaunay (1885–1979), he painted abstract mural decorations for the 1937 Paris Exposition.

Find more information on Delaunay, Robert. Upgrade to Britannica Online for more on Delaunay, Robert.