Robert Delaunay (Primary Title)
Man Ray, American, 1890 - 1976 (Artist)
A pioneer of abstract art, the French painter Robert Delaunay (1885–1941) was fascinated by new technology and the achievements of the modern technological world. Before World War I, the artist and his Ukrainian-born wife, Sonia Delaunay, developed a form of abstract painting known as Orphism. Man Ray’s portrait of Delauney was taken in 1928, the same year that Solomon R. Guggenheim acquired Delaunay’s 1910 painting Tour Eiffel aux arbres (Eiffel Tower with Trees) for his museum of nonobjective art in New York. The sale of his painting to an important American collector may have encouraged Delaunay to commission this portrait by Man Ray, who captured the painter with his slightly askew bow tie and pipe in hand standing on the steps of an unidentified building.
Inscribed in possibly by photographer in graphite on print verso: "Delaunay"
Numbered in an unidentified hand in graphite on print verso: "17".
Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment
Man Ray: The Paris Years, VMFA, October 30, 2021 – February 21, 2022
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
