Dadamaino
The Facts of Life. Letter No. 12
1980
Not on View
Robert Delaunay
1912
Though Robert Delaunay had virtually discarded representational imagery by the spring of 1912 when he embarked on the Windows theme, vestigial objects endure in this series. Here the centralized ghost of a green Eiffel Tower alludes to his enthusiasm for modern life. Analytic Cubism inspired Delaunay’s fragmentation of form, oval format, and organization of the picture’s space as a grid supporting intersecting planes. However, unlike the monochromatic, tactile planes of Cubism, those of Delaunay are not defined by line and modeling, but by the application of diaphanous, prismatic color. As in visual perception of the real world, perception of Delaunay’s painting is initially fragmentary, the eye continually moving from one form to others related by hue, value, tone, shape, or direction. As focus shifts, expands, jumps, and contracts in unending rhythms, one senses the fixed borders of the canvas and the tight interlocking of its contents. Because identification of representational forms is not necessary while the eye moves restlessly, judgments about the relative importance of parts are not made and all elements can be perceived as equally significant.
On view
Artist | Robert Delaunay |
Original Title | Fenêtres ouvertes simultanément 1ère partie, 3e motif |
Date | 1912 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 57 x 123 cm |
Credit line | Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York) |
Accession | 76.2553 PG 36 |
Collection | Peggy Guggenheim Collection |
Type | Painting |
Copy caption
On view
Dadamaino
1980
Not on View
Claire Falkenstein
1961
On view
Tancredi Parmeggiani
1951–52
Not on View
Yoko Ono
2003
Not on View