ENTITLED LOWER LEFT: "E.A. IV/X"
SIGNED LOWER RIGHT: "SONIA DELAUNAY"
54 X 38 CM
PROVENANCE
PRIVATE COLLECTION, SWITZERLAND
Arthur Rimbaud’s volume of poems entitled “Illuminations” had been probably written in the course of the author’s adventurous travels in the 1870s. They are revealing the deepest landscapes of the soul, influencing literature not only through their impressive use of language. Generations of artists are being deeply inspired by those texts, equal to subtle engravings in the interplay of tenderness and harshness. The symbiosis of painting and poetry appears early in Sonia Delaunay’s work. Spiritual depth and the variety of poetical and philosophical mind sets are realised in her paintings. Rimbaud’s “Illuminations” literally predefine Delaunay’s creative dealing with light, colour and illumination.
Sonia Delaunay illustrates Arthur Rimbaud’s work with fourteen full-page Pochoirs. Its abstract and audacious graphical compositions are connected with the literary work on a deep level.1 The Pochoir-technique offers the artist a fascinating chance to implement her principles of art appreciation.The deep colours bestow an incredible presence and the most subtle sensuality on her pictures. They strike as powerful and almost fresh in their expression. Interwoven by the conscious combination of single colour fields, suspense is created. These vibrating colour fields are replenished by solid brush strokes. Intense carmine red and deep black, light green and blue is combined with partly geometrical areas and interrelated by almost rhythmic dynamics. The artist presents a work which has an impressive pictorial effect, glowing with intensity and harmony. Its deep pictorial spaces and light grasp the observer, adding to the complex rhythm of Rimbaud’s poems.
