Rythme colore 1952

Sonia Delaunay made ‘Rythme colore’ with paint, probably oil or acrylic, and a brush. The painting has a strong and clear color palette: blocks of red, blue, yellow, green, black, white, and grey. I can imagine Delaunay starting with broad shapes, maybe even squares or rectangles like a Mondrian, then she began to push those shapes and colors around, coaxing them, seeing what they might become. What if she made some circles? What if those circles broke apart into halves? And what if different colors occupied the same circles? I wonder if she was thinking about the dynamism of color, the way colors vibrate and create rhythm when placed next to each other. Maybe she was in dialogue with Matisse, who was interested in color's emotional power, or maybe with Léger, who used bold colors and geometric forms. Delaunay, Matisse, and Léger are all having a conversation through their paintings, each pushing and pulling at the possibilities of color and shape. Painting feels like a conversation, a way of thinking and feeling in color, line, and form.