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Lot Essay
The present picture is a version of La Ville de Paris, Delaunay's first masterpiece, in which the artist succeeded to fuse several contrasting elements into one harmonious whole and thereby capture the simultaneous dynamism and excitement of living in the modern metropolis.
When first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1912, Apollinaire acclaimed La Ville de Paris as a triumph of modern painting. He wrote: "Delaunay's painting is definitely the most important picture in the Salon. La Ville de Paris is more than an artistic manifestation. This painting marks the advent of a conception of art that seemed to have been lost with the great Italian painters. And if it epitomizes all the effects of the painter who composed it, it also epitomizes without any scientific paraphernalia, all the efforts of modern painting. It is broadly executed. Its composition is simple and noble. And no fault that anyone might find with it can detract from this truth: it is painting, a real painting, and it has been a long time since we have seen anything of the kind... . Not an ounce of pretension, not the slightest desire to shock or to appear obscure, yet here is an important work that is epoch-making in the history of modern painting." (Guillaume Apollinaire, 'New Trends and Artistic Personalities' in Le Petit Bleu, March 20, 1912)
Delaunay stated that his aim in the picture was to "create rhythmic relations among the elements of the composition - landscape, woman, and [Eiffel] Tower". In this fully resolved oil version of La Ville de Paris, Delaunay has used more vivid colours than in the final work in a way that generates an overall unity to the composition. A brilliant rainbow dominates the top of this canvas which in the later version has been abandoned in favour of light and dark tones that Delaunay often regretted were "too jerky" and made the whole picture seem grey.
When first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1912, Apollinaire acclaimed La Ville de Paris as a triumph of modern painting. He wrote: "Delaunay's painting is definitely the most important picture in the Salon. La Ville de Paris is more than an artistic manifestation. This painting marks the advent of a conception of art that seemed to have been lost with the great Italian painters. And if it epitomizes all the effects of the painter who composed it, it also epitomizes without any scientific paraphernalia, all the efforts of modern painting. It is broadly executed. Its composition is simple and noble. And no fault that anyone might find with it can detract from this truth: it is painting, a real painting, and it has been a long time since we have seen anything of the kind... . Not an ounce of pretension, not the slightest desire to shock or to appear obscure, yet here is an important work that is epoch-making in the history of modern painting." (Guillaume Apollinaire, 'New Trends and Artistic Personalities' in Le Petit Bleu, March 20, 1912)
Delaunay stated that his aim in the picture was to "create rhythmic relations among the elements of the composition - landscape, woman, and [Eiffel] Tower". In this fully resolved oil version of La Ville de Paris, Delaunay has used more vivid colours than in the final work in a way that generates an overall unity to the composition. A brilliant rainbow dominates the top of this canvas which in the later version has been abandoned in favour of light and dark tones that Delaunay often regretted were "too jerky" and made the whole picture seem grey.