Artist : DELAUNAY Robert d'après (1885 - 1941)
Title : The Eiffel Tower
Medium : Lithography on BFK RIVES paper
Type of work : Posthumous edition of the original lithograph printed in 1925 by Robert Delaunay withdrawn in 1969 by Jacques Damase under the control of Sonia Delaunay. The lithograph is signed in the plate by Robert Delaunay lower left, titled and dated lower right. It is also hand signed in the lower right margin by Sonia Delaunay with the mention: "Pour Robert Delaunay". Lithograph numbered 14/75.
Dimensions : 65 cm x 50 cm
Condition : Excellent
Provenance : Private collection, a certificate of authenticity engaging the responsibility of the gallery may be issued to you
Commentary from our expert : With a work such as the "Eiffel Tower" by Robert DELAUNAY, the scope of which is indisputable, it is the history of art that comes to you! This lithograph is extremely rare because Robert Delaunay made very few prints in his career and given the small print run of 75 copies. In addition, the importance given by the artist himself to this composition and the artistic movements with which it can be associated make it an emblematic work. In this lithograph, we immediately feel the influence of cubism (Picasso) on the artist but also of futurism, a movement which highlights technical progress, particularly in terms of urban construction. Robert Delaunay was fascinated by this subject, which was a symbol of modernity for him, having witnessed the construction of the Effel tower when he was four years old. He painted a first series of 30 paintings between 1910 and 1920 on the subject (see the paintings "the curtain tower" and "the poet Philippe Soupault" below). Delaunay took up this subject again between 1920 and 1930, notably with this lithograph from 1925. In this view of the Eiffel Tower captured from the inside, the painting becomes a window. The background, made up of the Eiffel Tower with its distorted architecture, is also made of clouds similar to soap bubbles which form a striking contrast with the tip of the tower. This lithograph is a characteristic work of the period where Delaunay wonders about the relevance of cubism and futurism before switching to abstraction with Orphism and simultanism. The work is of real importance in the creation of the artist and its contribution to the history of art is indisputable.
References : You will find below a photo of the paintings mentioned in the expert's commentary, a photo of Robert DELAUNAY in 1923 as well as a video in English on the Eiffel Tower by David Wistow for the Musée des beaux arts of Ontario.
La Tour Eiffel au rideaux Le poète Philippe Soupault Robert DELAUNAY en 1923
Huile sur toile de 1910 Huile sur toile de 1922
BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST :
Painter (creator of vital need), scientist, musician, sportsman and writer, Charles LAPICQUE is first drawing school. Orphan adopted by his uncle, he find adults rudes, inquisitives and talkatives. He loves also being deeply animals. Young engineer in Normandy, he meets the painters SIGNAC, MARQUET and Albert ANDRE which makes him want to become a painter (it's in the Normandy loneliness that his vocation was born). He is fascinated also by the cubists BRAQUE and PICASSO. Galerie Jeanne Bucher quickly exhibited his works having spotted independent living. In 1978, the Georges Pompidou museum organizes an exhibition of his drawings imporante which hold an important place in his work. In the drawings, oils and lithographs, it's the same vivacity, the same security trait spouting the same search for invention, the same transformation of the imagination becomes reality. He also leaves through his approach to his subjects glimpse the future adventure. Throughout his life, his palette and technique will change depending on his travels (Normandy, Britain, Italy, Greece, Spain, Holland ...), making faithfully the impression of a day.

It will certainly have been one of the most influential painters of the School of Paris which were part of great artists such as Altan, Dewasne, Dubuffet, Hartung, Kijno, Lanskoy, Manessier, Pignon, Poliakoff, ... His painting is ardie and reflects the fun painter and vibrating color. His works, figurative mixture of abstract and surrealism let perceive various aspects of the creator:
- Normal cruelty given the artist's character
- A melee sympathy a little sadness
- A wonderful constant humor
- A youth incomparable spirit
- A cultured man, passionate and original
This biography was developed by us following our expertise and various reference books on the artist in our possession, copying is prohited.
