By John Chmaj
Robert Delaunay is a pivotal, yet underappreciated figure in the early history of modern art. Picasso, Braque and Gris are most often credited for creating Cubism, building off principles established by Paul Cezanne. Yet, to me, much of their early work seems a bit affected – Cubism for Cubism’s sake. A good deal of it is also contains relatively muted tonaity (browns, greys, some blacks). Perhaps this is intended to focus our attention on the varying planes and clusters offered in these works. Delaunay’s work, on the other hand, has an abundance of color, which animates and brightens many of his pictures. The cubism does not suffer, indeed is arguably enhanced with the addition of the third dimension of color as well as shape and structure.
Delaunay’s role in the evolution of abstract art relates as much to his inspiration of early abstract artists like Paul Klee and Vassily Kandinsky. His work surfaced at exactly the same time that these and other artists were in critical stages of defining their foundational approach. Paul Klee and others made a point to visit him in Paris. His work was often exhibited alongside early abstract artists. Kandinsky and Marc praise his work in their Blue Rider essays. He helped show the way to art that could be self-activating (an organic work in and of itself, without requiring reference to objects and common patterns), yet he often gave a bit of space to known objects, while treating them within a cubist context. The Eiffel Tower was a favorite subject, and examined alone was probably represented in more than a dozen cubist treatments in different pictorial contexts, as in this painting, “Window on the City”. It’s more representational than other works, but is also intensely multi-planed, asymmetrical, and complex as a cubist work.
“Window on the City” is fun to look at. It’s a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors, all surging generally upwards and towards the center, towards the Eiffel tower, unique in its orange and distinctive shape.
The colors work in rhythmic groupings – greens cluster towards the center, the yellows frame the picture, the blues express shapes of buildings. The red building in the foreground draws our eye forward and helps to suggest perspective (as does the wraparound white/blue building at front).
The eye zigs and zags across the various lines and vectors, trying to make sense of the cityscape, gathering a stray shape here and there that suggests buildings, windows, avenues perhaps, but never settling. The bottom blue wraparound building ‘catches’ one at the bottom and the eye ascends yet again.
The tower is echoed at the top by the ‘window’ drapes, the colors and their associated shapes surging in the same general curve. There is a sense of distance, as if it were far away, and yet perspective is rather flattened – one appears to be looking up and down rather than close and far.
The overall effect is one of rhythmic energy and vitality, albeit confused and non-recurring. After one’s eye tires of trying to resolve the general pattern it relaxes back into the simple patterns it CAN find – across the green colors at center, up the drapes, the swatches left to right at top from drape to tower to drape and back.
The general tone is lively, playful, busy. Lots of shapes, activity, angles, energies of motion. Perspective draws eye both up (towards edge of curtains and the tower), and down (forward leaning shapes of the front buildings, reminiscent of Cezanne’s intentional perspective tilts).
There’s a nice balance of tonality – greens permeate evenly, there are blues framing top and bottom, and interspersed. Reds, yellows and orange are accents creating energy among the jumble of white, green and blue blocks.
Even though the scene is familiar, there is a high degree of abstraction – very few actual identifiable objects exist. Green, for example, seems to stand for some form of foliage in the foreground-bottom, for building elements in the middle, and for some aspect of the sky near the tower. So while the eye sees the painting as a city scene as a whole, it’s really quite impossible to resolve all but the most obvious elements in the middle.
In a way this makes the painting a “tone poem” of sorts – using colors and shapes against a familiar scene to create a play of visual energy. It’s almost a dance of energy, representing the energy of Paris more than the details.
So what does such a busy, jagged, abstract yet pictorial scene suggest musically? How about Be-Bop and Bud Powell!! Much more jagged, asymmetrical alignment with the painting. Rhythmically fun and jostling, just like Delaunay’s Paris. And indeed, Bud wrote a song precisely about this experience. I particularly like this work in relation to the Bud Powell musical composition performed with it, “Parisian Thoroughfare”. One can imaging both Delaunay and Powell peering out a third story window with Paris laid out before them, and having somewhat similar impressions. Bud Powell’s work, while set in a song form, also zigs and zags in powerful, abstract patterns in his improvisations. So to me these two artists work well (and have the advantage of a similarly suggestive titles).
Bumping, bustling be-bop licks as the colors and planes alternate, creating a swinging, alternating rhythm across the canvas with shape/color groupings lighting
Walking one’s eyes through the shapes down from the Eiffel Tower in the streets, back up the curtains to the tower, then more energetic/random groups in similar planes. The performance goal here is to properly reflect the raw energy, linear lyricism, and sense of joy in Bud’s music. Perhaps a title for the whole would properly be “Parisian “Windowfare”….!
