Robe Poème, L’Ange a Glissé… 1922

Sonia Delaunay conjured this costume design, Robe Poème, L’Ange a Glissé…, with gouache and ink on paper. Imagine her, trying out different arrangements of shapes and colours. The black and green circle at the top, a focal point. The ochre semi-circle beneath it, echoed in the background. I wonder if she thought of it as a sort of halo, or crown? The brown stripe with the lettering, what does it say? And the orange patch to the right feels like a balancing act. I can imagine her moving things around, testing different positions until it feels right, you know? Like a puzzle where the pieces are feelings, not just shapes. Delaunay was always playing with abstraction and how it could be part of real life, not just something hanging on a wall. Artists like her and others were constantly pushing each other, trying out new ways of seeing and making. It's like they were all in a big, ongoing conversation. I find that really inspiring, don't you?