INTERIORS: THE ART AND DESIGN OF SPACE

The design of furniture, decorative textiles, and objects became central to Sonia Delaunay’s commercial pursuits in the mid-1920s. She began work in this realm by transforming her own domestic spaces, which she decorated to reflect her singular artistic vision. From rugs and curtains to the custom-made sycamore furniture with hand-embroidered upholstery, the Delaunay home on boulevard Malesherbes in Paris was entirely conceived by her. As such, it served as an immersive environment in which to showcase her art and fashion. Beyond her own residences, she decorated the homes of many of her Parisian friends, supplying textiles and furniture and collaborating with other designers and architects to create beautiful, functional rooms enlivened by saturated color. By 1930 Delaunay was a respected authority in the field. She was invited to conceive a model interior for the first exhibition organized by the Union des artistes modernes (UAM) and to give a lecture on domestic design by the League for Household Efficiency. Espousing rationalist principles, Delaunay proposed practical yet stylish dwellings suited to modern life. In her own words, the “poetry of a room” is achieved by its “spiritual or visual aspect,” which, for Delaunay, was best enhanced through the application of color.

INTERIORS: THE ART AND DESIGN OF SPACE

The design of furniture, decorative textiles, and objects became central to Sonia Delaunay’s commercial pursuits in the mid-1920s. She began work in this realm by transforming her own domestic spaces, which she decorated to reflect her singular artistic vision. From rugs and curtains to the custom-made sycamore furniture with hand-embroidered upholstery, the Delaunay home on boulevard Malesherbes in Paris was entirely conceived by her. As such, it served as an immersive environment in which to showcase her art and fashion. Beyond her own residences, she decorated the homes of many of her Parisian friends, supplying textiles and furniture and collaborating with other designers and architects to create beautiful, functional rooms enlivened by saturated color. By 1930 Delaunay was a respected authority in the field. She was invited to conceive a model interior for the first exhibition organized by the Union des artistes modernes (UAM) and to give a lecture on domestic design by the League for Household Efficiency. Espousing rationalist principles, Delaunay proposed practical yet stylish dwellings suited to modern life. In her own words, the “poetry of a room” is achieved by its “spiritual or visual aspect,” which, for Delaunay, was best enhanced through the application of color.

The design of furniture, decorative textiles, and objects became central to Sonia Delaunay’s commercial pursuits in the mid-1920s. She began work in this realm by transforming her own domestic spaces, which she decorated to reflect her singular artistic vision. From rugs and curtains to the custom-made sycamore furniture with hand-embroidered upholstery, the Delaunay home on boulevard Malesherbes in Paris was entirely conceived by her. As such, it served as an immersive environment in which to showcase her art and fashion. Beyond her own residences, she decorated the homes of many of her Parisian friends, supplying textiles and furniture and collaborating with other designers and architects to create beautiful, functional rooms enlivened by saturated color. By 1930 Delaunay was a respected authority in the field. She was invited to conceive a model interior for the first exhibition organized by the Union des artistes modernes (UAM) and to give a lecture on domestic design by the League for Household Efficiency. Espousing rationalist principles, Delaunay proposed practical yet stylish dwellings suited to modern life. In her own words, the “poetry of a room” is achieved by its “spiritual or visual aspect,” which, for Delaunay, was best enhanced through the application of color.

In 1934, Sonia Delaunay embarked on the large-scale renovation of an apartment for engineer Georges Guerchenovich (1902–1978) in the elegant Parisian district of Passy. Delaunay not only was the designer, but also oversaw the budget, commissioned craftsmen, and coordinated technical details on-site. The result was a space characterized by artistic merit and practicality. This aligned with Delaunay’s conviction that an interior should be adapted to suit modern life, merging the functional and the beautiful.

In 1934, Sonia Delaunay embarked on the large-scale renovation of an apartment for engineer Georges Guerchenovich (1902–1978) in the elegant Parisian district of Passy. Delaunay not only was the designer, but also oversaw the budget, commissioned craftsmen, and coordinated technical details on-site. The result was a space characterized by artistic merit and practicality. This aligned with Delaunay’s conviction that an interior should be adapted to suit modern life, merging the functional and the beautiful.

Tap on the image highlights to explore Delaunay’s interior design project for 32, quai d’Auteuil in Paris.

32, QUAI D’AUTEUIL – Mobile

32, QUAI D’AUTEUIL – Mobile

Guerchenovich rented the apartment at 32, quai d’Auteuil before the building was completed. Delaunay thus worked with a blank space in which decorative and even structural elements, like the stairs and doorways, had yet to be added. Several pieces of furniture featured in this project, such as a sleek rounded bar stand, a walnut daybed and a desk, were designs that Delaunay had created for Georges Guerchenovich’s prior apartment in Montrouge.


Cabinetmaker and decorator Adolphe Chanaux, associate of esteemed decorator Jean-Michel Frank, supplied the furniture for the apartment. Chanaux had worked with the Delaunays since at least 1928 and provided pieces made from exquisite materials in a modern style. For Georges Guerchenovich, Chanaux made a set of angular armchairs upholstered with white bouclé (a textured fabric). They were grouped by the chimneypiece, around a table that Delaunay had first designed in 1921 and later remade for various interior projects, including a set for the 1926 film Le P’tit Parigot. The table could be flipped on its side to serve as an H-shaped chair.


When designing interiors, Sonia Delaunay often included paintings by her husband, Robert Delaunay. She regarded his work as a true expression of modern times that not only served a decorative purpose but also helped “to cultivate one’s soul and body.” In this sketch, Robert’s 1926 painting, La Ville de Paris à l’arc en ciel (The City of Paris with a Rainbow), purchased by Guerchenovich in 1933, is featured. During World War II and the German occupation of Paris, the artwork was looted while the Jewish Guerchenovich and his family lived in exile in the South of France. Guerchenovich, who changed his name to Gersen in 1940 to avoid persecution, only recovered the artwork in 1977. Sonia Delaunay was instrumental in its lawful restitution.


A second painting in the art collection of Georges Guerchenovich was Tour Eiffel rouge (Red Eiffel Tower) by Robert Delaunay. Created in 1926, this work was part of a well-known series of Eiffel Towers that the artist developed between 1910 and the 1920s. The Eiffel Tower symbolized progress, Paris, and the accomplishments of modern engineering––themes that had long been of interest to the Delaunays. Along with La Ville de Paris à l’arc en ciel, the Tour was stolen from Guerchenovich’s apartment. It was never recovered and is, today, considered lost. Similar works from this series give an impression of how it may have looked.


Plants and flowers were among Sonia Delaunay’s greatest pleasures in life, and she regarded them as essential components of a well-designed interior. In Georges Guerchenovich’s apartment, she had planters built into the entryway between the main salon and study and arranged for a florist not only to fill them with cacti and other flowering plants, but also to refresh them twice yearly. In a photograph of the completed interior, the succulents appear in the same location as they do in Delaunay’s design sketch. When the Delaunays renovated their own apartment on rue de Saint-Simon between 1935 and 1939, Sonia included flowerbeds by the windows as well as large potted plants.


Sonia Delaunay’s gouache portrays a tall painting with a striking composition typical of Robert Delaunay’s Rythme-Hélice (Rhythm-Propeller) series of the mid-1930s. Her journals reveal that she advised Guerchenovich to commission this piece from Robert, but he did not acquire it in the end. In the completed apartment, La Ville de Paris à l’arc en ciel, originally intended for a different wall, was hung in its place. This Rythme-Hélice was meant to be a wall panel rather than a traditional easel painting. The Delaunays favored such fusions of painting and architecture, seeking a deeper connection between their art and human life.


Tap on the image highlights to explore Delaunay’s interior design project for 32, quai d’Auteuil in Paris.

Design drawing for Georges Guerchenovich’s apartment on quai d’Auteuil (today quai Louis Blériot), Paris
Sonia Delaunay
1934
Watercolor and gouache on paper
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, gift of Sonia Delaunay, 1977
Design drawing for Georges Guerchenovich’s apartment on quai d’Auteuil (today quai Louis Blériot), Paris
Sonia Delaunay
1934
Watercolor and gouache on paper
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, gift of Sonia Delaunay, 1977

32, QUAI D’AUTEUIL

Guerchenovich rented the apartment at 32, quai d’Auteuil before the building was completed. Delaunay thus worked with a blank space in which decorative and even structural elements, like the stairs and doorways, had yet to be added. Several pieces of furniture included in this project, such as a sleek rounded bar stand, a walnut daybed and a desk, were designs that Delaunay had created for Georges Guerchenovich’s prior apartment in Montrouge.

Cabinetmaker and decorator Adolphe Chanaux, associate of esteemed decorator Jean-Michel Frank, supplied the furniture for the apartment. Chanaux had worked with the Delaunays since at least 1928 and provided pieces made from exquisite materials in a modern style. For Georges Guerchenovich, Chanaux made a set of angular armchairs upholstered with white bouclé (a textured fabric). They were grouped by the chimneypiece, around a table that Delaunay had first designed in 1921 and later remade for various interior projects, including a set for the 1926 film Le P’tit Parigot. The table could be flipped on its side to serve as an H-shaped chair.

When designing interiors, Sonia Delaunay often included paintings by her husband, Robert Delaunay. She regarded his work as a true expression of modern times that not only served a decorative purpose but also helped “to cultivate one’s soul and body.” In this sketch, Robert’s 1926 painting, La Ville de Paris à l’arc en ciel (The City of Paris with a Rainbow), purchased by Guerchenovich in 1933, is featured. During World War II and the German occupation of Paris, the artwork was looted while the Jewish Guerchenovich and his family lived in exile in the South of France. Guerchenovich, who changed his name to Gersen in 1940 to avoid persecution, only recovered the artwork in 1977. Sonia Delaunay was instrumental in its lawful restitution.

A second painting in the art collection of Georges Guerchenovich was Tour Eiffel rouge (Red Eiffel Tower) by Robert Delaunay. Created in 1926, this work was part of a well-known series of Eiffel Towers that the artist developed between 1910 and the 1920s. The Eiffel Tower symbolized progress, Paris, and the accomplishments of modern engineering––themes that had long been of interest to the Delaunays. Along with La Ville de Paris à l’arc en ciel, the Tour was stolen from Guerchenovich’s apartment. It was never recovered and is, today, considered lost. Similar works from this series give an impression of how it may have looked.

Plants and flowers were among Sonia Delaunay’s greatest pleasures in life, and she regarded them as essential components of a well-designed interior. In Georges Guerchenovich’s apartment, she had planters built into the entryway between the main salon and study and arranged for a florist not only to fill them with cacti and other flowering plants, but also to refresh them twice yearly. In a photograph of the completed interior, the succulents appear in the same location as they do in Delaunay’s design sketch. When the Delaunays renovated their own apartment on rue de Saint-Simon between 1935 and 1939, Sonia included flowerbeds by the windows as well as large potted plants.

Sonia Delaunay’s gouache portrays a tall painting with a striking composition typical of Robert Delaunay’s Rythme-Hélice (Rhythm-Propeller) series of the mid-1930s. Her journals reveal that she advised Guerchenovich to commission this piece from Robert, but he did not acquire it in the end. In the completed apartment, La Ville de Paris à l’arc en ciel, originally intended for a different wall, was hung in its place. This Rythme-Hélice was meant to be a wall panel rather than a traditional easel painting. The Delaunays favored such fusions of painting and architecture, seeking a deeper connection between their art and human life.

Tap on the image highlights to explore Delaunay’s interior design project for 32, quai d’Auteuil in Paris.

Design drawing for Georges Guerchenovich’s apartment on quai d’Auteuil (today quai Louis Blériot), Paris
Sonia Delaunay
1934
Watercolor and gouache on paper
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, gift of Sonia Delaunay, 1977

While renovating their apartment on rue Norvins, textile manufacturer Robert Perrier (1898–1987) and his wife, Madeleine (1904–1983), commissioned Sonia Delaunay to decorate the bedroom of their six-year-old daughter, Marie-Jacques “Jacotte” Perrier (1924–2012). Using one of her popular textile designs from 1926, Delaunay created curtains and upholstery, and she painted a wooden table as part of a bright white furniture ensemble. The playful pattern echoed the room’s archway and porthole windows, which evoked windows in a luxury ocean liner.

While renovating their apartment on rue Norvins, textile manufacturer Robert Perrier (1898–1987) and his wife, Madeleine (1904–1983), commissioned Sonia Delaunay to decorate the bedroom of their six-year-old daughter, Marie-Jacques “Jacotte” Perrier (1924–2012). Using one of her popular textile designs from 1926, Delaunay created curtains and upholstery, and she painted a wooden table as part of a bright white furniture ensemble. The playful pattern echoed the room’s archway and porthole windows, which evoked windows in a luxury ocean liner.

Marie-Jacques Perrier in her bedroom, 26, rue Norvins, Paris, 1930. Perrier Family Archive.
Marie-Jacques Perrier in her bedroom, 26, rue Norvins, Paris, 1930. Perrier Family Archive.

This armchair is one of a surviving set of four with two matching poufs designed by Sonia Delaunay for the family’s living room. The chair’s embroidery coordinated with the room’s wallpaper, which was printed after a textile design by Sonia, and its color palette complemented the rug—also created by her. Like the apartment itself, these chairs served multiple functions: seating for guests and customers, set pieces for photo shoots, and examples of Delaunay’s craftsmanship and skill as an interior decorator.

This armchair is one of a surviving set of four with two matching poufs designed by Sonia Delaunay for the family’s living room. The chair’s embroidery coordinated with the room’s wallpaper, which was printed after a textile design by Sonia, and its color palette complemented the rug—also created by her. Like the apartment itself, these chairs served multiple functions: seating for guests and customers, set pieces for photo shoots, and examples of Delaunay’s craftsmanship and skill as an interior decorator.

Armchair for the living room of the Delaunays’ apartment on boulevard Malesherbes, Paris
Sonia Delaunay
ca. 1923
Wood, canvas embroidered with wool, and velour
Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, gift of Sonia Delaunay, 1979, 46053
Armchair for the living room of the Delaunays’ apartment on boulevard Malesherbes, Paris
Sonia Delaunay
ca. 1923
Wood, canvas embroidered with wool, and velour
Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, gift of Sonia Delaunay, 1979, 46053
Interior shot of the living room of the Delaunays’ apartment on boulevard Malesherbes, Paris
Joaillier Frères
ca. 1925
Photograph
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, gift of Sonia Delaunay, 1977
Interior shot of the living room of the Delaunays’ apartment on boulevard Malesherbes, Paris
Joaillier Frères
ca. 1925
Photograph
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, gift of Sonia Delaunay, 1977

In 1929 a group of artists led by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens (1886–1945) formed the Union des artistes modernes (UAM), which emphasized form over decoration and advocated use of new, cost-effective materials. For the group’s first exhibition, Delaunay designed an office with three chairs, a bookcase, and a multipurpose desk. The blue-and-red color scheme of her sketches, a common thread in Delaunay’s interior design projects, suggests that the ensemble was quite vibrant. The display also featured a rug, a folding screen, and curtains, as well as Robert Delaunay’s 1914 painting Hommage à Blériot.

In 1929 a group of artists led by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens (1886–1945) formed the Union des artistes modernes (UAM), which emphasized form over decoration and advocated use of new, cost-effective materials. For the group’s first exhibition, Delaunay designed an office with three chairs, a bookcase, and a multipurpose desk. The blue-and-red color scheme of her sketches, a common thread in Delaunay’s interior design projects, suggests that the ensemble was quite vibrant. The display also featured a rug, a folding screen, and curtains, as well as Robert Delaunay’s 1914 painting Hommage à Blériot.

Design for an armchair for the first Salon de l’Union des artistes modernes
Sonia Delaunay
1930
Pencil and colored pencil on paper
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Bibliothèque Kandinsky, Paris, Fonds Delaunay, gift of Charles Delaunay, 1985

Sonia Delaunay conceived Simultanism as not just an aesthetic practice, but also a way of life. To visually demonstrate this, she created both small- and large-scale paintings of abstracted figures wearing her designs and situated in colorful spaces often modeled after her own apartment and boutique space on boulevard Malesherbes. These bold compositions, which were also reproduced as pochoir prints, show how Delaunay’s painting, fashion, and decorations were meant to exist in lively conversation with one another.

Sonia Delaunay conceived Simultanism as not just an aesthetic practice, but also a way of life. To visually demonstrate this, she created both small- and large-scale paintings of abstracted figures wearing her designs and situated in colorful spaces often modeled after her own apartment and boutique space on boulevard Malesherbes. These bold compositions, which were also reproduced as pochoir prints, show how Delaunay’s painting, fashion, and decorations were meant to exist in lively conversation with one another.

Group de femmes
Sonia Delaunay
1925
Gouache and watercolor on paper
Galerie Zlotowski, Paris
Group de femmes
Sonia Delaunay
1925
Gouache and watercolor on paper
Galerie Zlotowski, Paris