Robe Poème, Oublions Les Oiseaux… - Sonia Delaunay
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Description
A 1922 fashion study by Sonia Delaunay, featuring a 'robe poème' that integrates poetic text with bold, geometric colour blocks.
This work by Sonia Delaunay represents the intersection of avant-garde poetry and textile design. Created in 1922, the piece is a study for a 'robe poème', or poem dress, a concept that integrated written language directly into the structure of a garment. Delaunay collaborated with poets such as Tristan Tzara to incorporate verses into her designs, treating the fabric as a canvas for both visual rhythm and literary content.
The figure is rendered with minimal detail, focusing the viewer's attention on the dress itself. The garment features blocks of colour, including deep blues, purples, and ochre, which serve as a backdrop for the text. The lettering is integrated into the design, creating a sense of movement and graphic energy. Delaunay was known for her work in Orphism, a movement that prioritised the use of colour and geometric form to evoke musicality and motion. This illustration captures her interest in the synthesis of arts, where fashion becomes a medium for communication beyond mere utility.
The composition is balanced, with the figure positioned centrally against a neutral, wash-like background. The application of gouache and ink allows for a sense of immediacy, characteristic of her preparatory sketches. By merging the written word with wearable art, Delaunay challenged the boundaries between fine art and applied design. This print offers a glimpse into the experimental spirit of the 1920s Parisian art scene, where the fusion of disciplines was a primary objective for many practitioners. The work remains a clear example of her ability to translate complex theoretical ideas into accessible, visual forms.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Robe Poème, Oublions Les Oiseaux… - Sonia Delaunay
Artist Biography
Sonia Delaunay
She was born Sara Stern in 1885 in Hradyzk, Ukraine. At five, her wealthy uncle Henri Terk adopted her and took her to St Petersburg. She grew up with access to art collections, European travel, and a good education. She studied in Karlsruhe, moved to Paris in 1905, and absorbed the Fauvists and Post-Impressionists. After meeting Robert, they developed what Guillaume Apollinaire named Orphism: a variant of Cubism built on pure colour, geometric abstraction, and dynamic movement. Their shared foundation was Chevreul's colour theory of simultaneous contrast, where adjacent colours alter each other's appearance.
In 1913, she sewed the simultaneous dress by hand from scraps of men's tailoring cloth, velvet, silk, and fur. It was designed to match the energy of the foxtrot and tango at Le Bal Bullier, a popular Parisian dance hall. Apollinaire urged readers to visit the Bal Bullier on Thursdays when the Delaunays arrived wearing her creations. The same year, she collaborated with Blaise Cendrars on La Prose du Transsiberien, a two-metre vertical fold-out combining his poem with her abstract colour panels. It is described as the first complete fusion of poetry and painting.
She treated painting, textiles, and fashion as a single practice. She set up a studio in their apartment, opened a fashion house called Sonia, and had her textile line picked up by one of Europe's biggest fabric manufacturers. In 1964, she became the first living woman to have a retrospective at the Louvre. She was seventy-nine. She died in 1979, aged ninety-four.
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