
by Robert Delaunay, 1912
French artist Robert Delaunay painted this abstract composition in 1912, reducing the Paris cityscape to fractured planes of color. The Eiffel Tower rises at center, barely recognizable amid rectangles of orange, yellow, blue, and green. The effect suggests looking through multiple panes of glass at once.
Delaunay and his wife Sonia developed an approach they called Simultanism, exploring how colors interact when placed side by side. Their friend, poet Guillaume Apollinaire, labeled this approach "Orphism," linking it to music's abstract qualities. The broken forms owe something to Cubism, but Delaunay's emphasis on color set him apart.
This painting belongs to a series Delaunay made between 1912 and 1913, all exploring the motif of windows. He didn't represent reality as observed but tried to capture the act of seeing itself. The work is now at the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Germany.

Caspar David Friedrich
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Ernest Meissonier
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Jules Bastien-Lepage
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Caspar David Friedrich, 1818
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
Other masterpieces from the Cubism movement

Pablo Picasso, 1937
Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid

Pablo Picasso, 1905
Private Collection, Unknown

Juan Gris, 1913
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Pablo Picasso, 1955
Private Collection, Unknown

Pablo Picasso, 1932
Private Collection, Unknown

Pablo Picasso, 1905
Private Collection, Unknown

Juan Gris, 1912
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

Pablo Picasso, 1941
Private Collection, Unknown
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
Browse Collection