Sonia Delaunay (1885–1979) was one of the most influential and versatile artists of the twentieth century. Her kaleidoscopic body of work celebrates color and embodies the early avant-garde’s pursuit of a synthesis of the arts. Demonstrating a passionate disregard for traditional boundaries between materials and art forms, Delaunay mastered many skills and harnessed the creative power of collaboration in the realms of fashion, textiles, interiors, books, mosaics, and tapestries.

Born Sara Elievna Stern in Odessa and raised in Saint Petersburg, the young artist studied in the German city of Karlsruhe before moving to Paris in 1906. There, she met and married painter Robert Delaunay (1885–1941), and together, they became a leading force in the emergence of abstract art. During World War I, Sonia Delaunay transformed her creative practice into a trailblazing enterprise that would mark the start of a prolific career dedicated to artistic exploration and innovation. She would continue to embrace tradition and craft as well as modernity and technical progress throughout her life, presenting the fruits of her labor in international exhibitions, commercial ventures, and artful publications that secured her legacy throughout France and the world.

Exploring the materiality, making, and marketing of Sonia Delaunay’s work, this exhibition traces a lifetime of creative expression through color and portrays a visionary who intuitively transcended conventional artistic paradigms.