Monday, October 20, 2014

Sonia Delaunay, les couleurs d’Abstraction, MAM

Trying to paint a geometric 'Sonia Delaunay' watercolor is not as easy as it first appears.

Everyone asks what's on in Paris as if I had some secret source. Please tell 🙏 My big ole secret is: 
I see a poster in the Metro. I shoot it.
If the poster is revolving as many do in Paris, I'll wait for it to come back and shoot it. I stash photos in a file on my ipad and on Flickr. I noticed the Delaunay show was opening the 17th at the Musee d'art Moderne. I ran 🏃‍♂️over the day before and caught the press preview.  Lucky 🤞

This is a huge and very beautiful retrospective.

Delaunay lived to be 91 and never stopped producing artworks.

Her husband, Robert Delaunay, is perhaps more famous than Delaunay and that's her doing.

He died at the beginning of the Second World War in 1941. She went on to promote his paintings assiduously 

While working in a multitude of mediums including fabrics, home furnishing, fashion.

I don't know if Delaunay turned her hand to kitchen design (cuisine). Most likely. If you want a break mid-show, go next door to the snack bar, called Smack in the Palais de Tokyo - one of my favorite quick lunch places in the 16th on Avenue President Wilson. Healthy, yummy and reasonable.

Delaunay was a prolific fashion designer first only for herself and then, because of demand, for others.

Her gouache sketches are simply wonderful.

Her designs were perfect for the theatre & dance - brilliant colors and graphic geometric patterns

This is a don't-miss show in my opinion. You will leave inspired. 
More SONIA DELAUNAY pictures on Flickr.

More geometry and bright colors 

These might well be the perfect colors to wear to the Delaunay show.

Printemps
has lit up the entire store.

I was turned upside down by the jazzy bright colors.

Don't miss the jazzy religeuses at Cafe Pouchkine inside Printemps.

Witty fabric patterns. 

There's a new accessory floor (the 4th) and LE SNEAKER is the IT shoe if you can believe it.

Downstairs more crazy patterns from Kenzo and cupcakes from a Sugar Daze pop-up shop. Or you can get your geometric kick (licorice Allsorts) in a red-striped bag at the outdoor stall at Metro Odeon.

20 comments:

  1. W/out looking at your words..my eyes darted to your watercolor s....and I thought: geometric.
    So I would say you nailed it.:)Well done..
    I am neither jazzy nor geometric..surprised?:)
    Used to enjoy licorice allsorts:)

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    Replies
    1. I still enjoy Allsorts...I had to eat quite a few to get in a geometric mood...

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  2. Beautiful water colors, Carol! I spotted the licorice wheel and started drooling, my favorite candy.
    I remember a Kenzo boutique in Rome, at the corner of Via Condotti and Piazza di Spagna. I wonder whether this was the same brand.

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  3. Carolyn I9:42 PM

    Maybe you could start yr own PARISCOPE with just pictures of Metro and street posters of what's on in Paris. The type is too small in Pariscope..next a magnifying glass to read it and still can't figure it out.

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    1. Anonymous2:11 AM

      Brilliant idea Carolyn 👍 I hate Pariscope too

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  4. Fantastic images! I am a pushover for geometrics! And color! And even allsorts! But I never knew their name till I was middle aged....I never heard anyone call them anything before then! Is that handbag rubber - no, probably patent leather, but it reminds me of my beloved orange rubber (obviously knowck-off) Kelly bag!

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    Replies
    1. it's not rubber but close.
      Plastic is IN or any weird material that surprises you.
      The rubber 'Kelly bags'...what a trip back..

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  5. Boy, that post just jumps right out at you!
    Really stunning colors and crazy patterns.....
    The food is looking good, too :)

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    Replies
    1. It was my 2nd go at the passion fruit tiramesue thing..
      Major deliciozo. I could use one right now.
      It's Funny to go from and art show and then see food that mirrors the images.

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  6. I am not geometric, but I loved this post. I must say if I worked at that geometric (flooring) store I would go home with a headache. I wish I could make desserts like you show us - so inspiring.

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  7. So jealous of your great photos! I saw the show after it opened for regular folks and they were karate-chopping photographers. I plan on making a "Sonia" quilt when I return to my machine à coudre in California.

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    Replies
    1. It just doesn't seem right to me why this is Tut
      I've been near attacked too for trying to take a photo yet press day it was carte blanche.
      Go figure.

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  8. You October letter is the best one yet.....Very beautiful.......I can't stop looking at it.
    Inspiring.....

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  9. Your post are always beautiful, full of colors! Thank you Carol! I'll arrive in Paris next week and I'm so happy! Helga

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  10. Thank you for covering this!!! I adore Sonia and her art work. Want to jump on a plane from NYC right now. Looking at my calendar ;)

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  11. Oh Carol, Delaunay and Kenzo are amongst my top favorites. Color, pattern, and a marvelous way to make clothes that make use of color and pattern, without having the clothes dominate the woman. Don't you agree?

    I loved every single photo in this post and thank you so much for sharing the joys with us. As always your painting is very fine. I wish that you could see the Matisse show at MoMA...actually I wish that we could visit it together. More color, more grasp of abstraction, grace, balance. Mastery!

    Oh, before I forget, yet another, yes another, Erik Kaiser cafe is going to open up on Broadway in the mid-80's. I hope it finds enough Westside customers to pay the rent, and isn't over expansioning.

    xo

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  12. Carol, I'd love to see this show. I've only been to this museum a few times, but each visit had a great exhibit. This one looks fantastic. Your sketches and color captured the feel! Thanks!!!

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  13. All that color! I'm in love! And that fabulous Printemps lighting and that yummy treat group -- it all adds to the fun! Love it!

    Love, too, my October letter. So sweet it's almost sticky!

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  14. Thanks so much for the reminder to see the Delaunay show. It was phenomenal. Here paintings, drawings and fabrics were inspiring. I'd also recommend a visit to La Fee Electricite, the huge curved mural painted by Raoul Dufy which is on display upstairs from the Delaunay show. It is a must see for art lovers.

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  15. This is one of my favorite Paris museums, Carol, and I'm delighted to see it through the lens of your iPad. Such fine sketches, too! Was the show a collaboration with the Musée Art Déco? or did the works come mostly from the Musée d'Art Moderne? Did they show the quilt she made for her son?

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