Orphism & Romanticism:

An Exploration of Light and

Colour

Jonathan Foulston

Introduction
During my time studying Art at A Level I have become obsessed with the
different ways that artists use colour to convey different feelings and motifs. The
focus of my personal study is to gain a deeper understanding of my chosen
artists backgrounds, their methods and intentions and how certain events in
time made an impact on their work during their careers. I will also investigate the
artists personal influences and the artists that they inspired. Links will be made
to renowned artists who use similar techniques to my chosen artists. I intend to
explore the different artists methods by studying my favourite examples of their
work in order to figure out how they conveyed the element of light differently
through their work. I chose to study Joseph Mallord William Turner and Robert and
Sonia Delaunay as they all explore light in various contrasting ways. This factor
interests me deeply as it relates to my current line of work.
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner was a British Romantic Landscape artist,
printmaker and water-colourist who lived from April 23 rd 1775 until December
19th 1851. He was met with much criticism during his time. His work was
described as indistinct by collectors such as James Lenox however despite this;
his work has been cited as examples of abstract art before it became recognised
in the early twentieth century. He is considered to be the sole artist who elevated
landscape painting to the standard that it is at now. Turner is mostly recognised
for his oil paintings however he is also known as one of the masters of
watercolour landscape paintings.
In his early life, Turner travelled around Europe and composed many of his
landscape works during this time. As his personal style developed, he began to
produce paintings that were exaggerated in form and colour, rather than realistic

or detailed. Some of his watercolour pieces are the most abstract of his
paintings. It is suggested that Turner strapped himself to the mast of a ship for
four hours in order to paint the intensity of a snowstorm as accurately as
possible. Whether it is true or simply fiction, I feel that this story depicts Turners
devotion to art and his reluctance to stop working. In this respect, I admire Turner
profoundly.
Turner was influenced by the painters Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain in his
early career who both painted historical landscapes. Turner was fascinated by
natural phenomena and his paintings tended to revolve around the light of the
sun in its infinite varieties. His pieces are visually similar to the works of artists
such as Frederic Edwin Church, John Constable and Caspar David Friedrich in
their composition and accurate use of colour.
Joseph M.W. Turner lived through the greatest period of political upheaval in
European history. In a number of his pieces created between 1829 and 1833,
Turner summoned his demand for a parliamentary reform in Britain which was,
without a doubt, the biggest political issue during his entire lifetime. Turner had
to be extremely cautious when expressing his political views as the majority of
his wealthy supporters were Tories and in turn opposed a parliamentary reform.
However, Turner never turned his back on the social class from which he had
emerged and their political desires.
Turner lived through the period of the Romanticism art movement. This art
movement led Turner to take landscape painting to its utmost extreme of
Romanticism. His work is regarded as a Romantic prelude to Impressionism. His
critics described his work as an unintelligible chaos of colour, yellow fever
and even claimed that his seas looked like soap and chalk. However, Turner

and the Impressionists who admired his work didnt care too much about the
opinions of the art critics at the time.
Joseph Turner has gained a reputation as one of the most important British
painters ever and I think that this is deserved. I adore his Impressionist style and
the fact that he ignored all of the traditional laws of Art back in his time makes
me love him even more. I chose to study him and his work as I enjoyed walking
around his exhibition at the Tate Modern in September. He also inspired me to
choose Light as my line of work and focus towards my mock exam. I admire
how Turner didnt tend to put hidden meanings in his work and instead
considered his back catalogue as an exploration of light in its many varieties and
forms. After witnessing his exhibition at Tate first-hand, I decided that my
favourite piece of his is Rocky Coast. I adore the application of various tones of
colour to create the illusion of colliding waves. I also love the sheer amount of
depth that is presented through the crashing of the enormous waves that span
towards the horizon and past a distant hill. Turner definitely would have not been
able to create this effect had he chosen to use watercolour. I have a fondness for
when artists messily apply their paint and this could explain why I love Rocky
Coast so much. I also tend to prefer darker compositions to lighter ones but yet
this piece disputes that attachment as I enjoy the gradient of the sky from an
intense blue to a faint pink. The tonal range of Rocky Coast varies from a pastel
yellow to a deep prussian blue. The texture is particularly rough in the waves but
smooth and delicate in the coastal hills and sky.
Turner once said If I could find anything blacker than black, Id use it. I agree
with this statement tremendously as I sometimes feel that black isnt dark
enough a colour to fully portray the tenebrosity of shadow and the absence of
light.

Robert Delaunay

Robert Delaunay was a French theatrical designer turned artist who lived from
April 12th 1885 until October 25th 1941. He co-founded the Orphism art
movement with his wife, Sonia. The movement was recognised for its use of
geometric shapes and strong colours. Delaunays work was linked to the NeoImpressionist movement in his early career due to his use of mosaic-like cubes
that constructed small but symbolic compositions. This method inspired the likes
of Piet Mondrian and the Futurists.
During the prime of his career, Delaunay moved towards abstraction and started
to paint nonfiguratively based on the characteristics of dynamic colours that
functioned as form. His theories were concerned mostly with light and colour. He
influenced many American artists including Macdonald-Wright and Morgan
Russell. His influence can be seen in Macdonald-Wrights Natural Energy and
Morgan Russells Cosmic Synchronomy. Both examples are extremely similar
aesthetically to Delaunays work in their application of dark backgrounds
juxtaposed with complimentary foreground colours. I chose to study Robert

Delaunay as his work has provided me with lots of ideas that have helped me in
finding a direction with my own work. His use of colour and theories on light has
influenced the way in which I have worked and approached my most recent
outcomes in this unit.
In 1912, Delaunays first major exhibition was held in Paris at the Galerie
Babazanges where his early Impressionist compositions were showcased. This
propelled him to worldwide status and he was praised by art critics. Guillaume
Apollinaire proclaimed Delaunay as an artist who has a monumental vision of
the world. I agree wholeheartedly with this quotation as Delaunay successfully
captured the essence of light and nature in his early works notably Landscape
(Girl In The Woods). Despite achieving success through his Impressionist
artworks, Delaunay aimed to set himself aside from the rest. This continued
when his work began to lead him to abstraction and his work was linked to the
Cubism art movement. He wished to isolate himself and declare that he had
nothing in common with Cubist artists such as Jean Metzinger and Henri Le
Fauconnier.
In his later life, Robert Delaunay and his wife were forced to travel around Europe
a lot to escape conflict after the First World War broke out in 1914. They both
settled in Madrid after deciding not to return to Europe. They subsequently left
Madrid for Portugal where they shared a home with the American painter Samuel
Halpert and Eduardo Viana. The four formed an artistic partnership and
composed a series of artworks together during their time in exile. The situation
and their surroundings influenced them greatly. Delaunays early work is visually
similar to Halperts In The Cove in choice of composition whereas Vianas
Untitled painting is incredibly reminiscent of his later work in its use of

geometrical shapes and dark colours. Untitled is almost identical to Delaunays

Le Premier Disque.
Robert was declared unfit for military service at the French consulate in Vigo on
June 13th 1916 and Sonias financial support ran out during the Russian
Revolution. The pair needed another source of income in order for the two to
survive. However in 1917, the Delaunays met Sergei Diaghilev in Madrid and
Robert designed the stage for his production of Cleopatra.
After the war, the couple returned to Paris and Robert continued to produce work
in a predominantly abstract style until World War II began which forced the
Delaunays to move again in an effort to avoid the German forces. It is safe to
say that war affected Delaunays work ethic however it did allow him to branch
out in his artistic endeavours until, suffering from cancer, Delaunay was unable
to endure travelling around Europe constantly and his health progressively
worsened. Consequently, he passed away on the 25 th of October 1941 at the age
of fifty six.
Robert Delaunay was influenced by the Neo-Impressionist artists Georges Seurat
and Paul Signac early in his career. The two used the painting style of tiny
adjacent dabs of primary colours to create the effect of light. My favourite piece
of Delaunays is Rythme no1, Decoration for the Salon des Tuileries. Rythme
no1 is abstract in its subject matter and it was painted using oil on canvas. The
interplay of curves, counter curves and coloured discs gives the illusion of
movement. The overlapping layers of shapes and dramatic angles provide a
great deal of depth to the painting. I adore the use of bold colour and how
precise the entire piece looks. It bears resemblance to a piece of paper art or a
kaleidoscope and I love this effect. I appreciate the contrast between black,
white and grey and bolder colours exhibited such as red and blue. It almost feels

as if the painting has been caught loading from black and white to full colour.
The intersecting lines and repeated use of circles also makes the giant piece look
similar to the mechanics of a watch. This artwork served as a big influence for
me in the construction of my final piece in its composition and style. However,
the difference between my work and Delaunays work is the application of colour.
I choose to apply my colour in an eccentric manner whereas his style is a lot
more precise and exact.
Delaunay claimed that light in nature creates the movement of colours and I
feel as if I know exactly what he is referring to after studying his work in depth
and using it as an influence for my own outcomes.

Sonia Delaunay

Sonia Delaunay was a Jewish-French artist who lived from the 14 th of November
1885 until the 5th of December 1979. Her work extended to stage set designs,
textile designs and paintings. She co-founded the Orphism art movement with

her husband, Robert. Her work is noted for its strong use of geometric shapes
and bold colours. Her work was considered very modern during her time and it
included theories of geometric abstraction. She was also the first living female
artist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Louvre.
Sonia Delaunays work during the period of 1905-1910 was strongly influenced
by the work she viewed during her time staying in Paris. She was inspired by
artists such as Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Van Gogh and Derain. Her work bears
resemblance to Matisses The Sorrows of the King and Derains Landscape near
Chatou in their use of colour and geometric shapes. Sonia first met Robert in
early 1909 and they became lovers in April of that year.
The constructs of Orphism originated when Sonia spontaneously created a
patchwork quilt for her sons crib. It was created using geometry and colour and
it can now be found in the Musee National dArt Moderne in Paris. Sonia once
stated that the pieces of different material evoked cubist conceptions and she
tried to apply the same process when approaching other paintings or objects in
response. Contemporary art critics recognise this period as the catalyst for the
abandonment of her naturalistic style of art and the principles that it entailed.
During the same period, Robert was studying the colour theories of Michel
Eugene Chevreul and expressed these ideas forward to Sonia. The two called
their experiments with these theories Simultaneisme. Simultaneous design
occurs when one design affects both when placed next to another and Sonia took
this theory into the utmost consideration when composing her artwork from that
point forward. Guillaume Apollinaire, a friend of the Delaunays, came up with
the term Orphism to describe their rendition of Cubism in 1913. Through most of
Sonia Delaunays prime, she lived in exile in and around Europe to escape the
conflict of war and revolution. Despite this she continued to produce abstract art

and formed artistic partnerships with other artists around Europe. In her later
life, she worked more privately and fulfilled small jobs for friends and theatre
productions. Sonia Delaunay died on the 5th of December 1979 in Paris, aged 94.
She was buried next to her husbands grave in Gambais.
Sonias work influenced many artists and the Swiss-German artist Paul Klee was
so impressed with her use of squares that he began to frequently feature them in
his own work. He even composed a series of paintings titled the Magic Square
series the most notable of this collection being May Picture. Her work is visually
similar to that of her husbands, Patrick Henry Bruce Painting and examples of
Italian Futurism such as Giacomo Ballas Abstract Speed and Sound. I adore her
use of shapes - specifically circles. My favourite example of her work is Rythme
Colore (Coloured Rhythm). I am fascinated with the use of intersecting lines
contrasted with precise semi-circles and angles. I also love the variety of colours
exhibited in the piece ranging from pastel yellow to a dark green. I am amazed
with how smooth the colours look in the piece despite the use of oil paint. As
previously stated when I analysed Roberts work, Rythme Colore looks like an
example of paper art in its clarity and accuracy. The use of various sizes of
overlapping circles reminds me of our solar system if it were lined up strictly. The
piece is extremely similar to Roberts Rythme, Joie de vivre in its composition
and style.
I absolutely adore Sonia Delaunays artwork and I would go as far to say that I
prefer it to her husbands. Her work relates to my line of study in the intensity of
colours that she used and her abstract method of displaying light through the
theories that she studied. Her work inspired my work more than any other artist
that I have studied during this unit in the use of intersecting lines, geometric
shapes and colour.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I learnt about how J.M.W. Turner, Robert Delaunay and Sonia
Delaunay evoked light through their individual uses of tone and colour. Robert
and Sonia Delaunays work is very similar in their use of primary, secondary and
complementary colours, varied tones and geometric shapes. However, J.M.W.
Turners art exhibits the formal elements very differently in a more traditional
manner. Turner uses the formal elements in his application of highlights and
shadows, neutral colours to imitate his dark settings and mark making to show
visual texture. I also discovered how War and travel affected my chosen artists
careers and the work that they produced during periods of unrest. These
conclusions are significant to my work as it helps me gain a wider understanding
of the artists work and influences how I approach my own outcomes. I learnt
how different tones of colour evoke various effects of light and have applied
some of these methods in my own work.

Bibliography
Shanes, Eric. The Life and Masterworks of J.M.W. Turner, 1990.
Tate Britain. Turner Collection, 2014-2015.
Nathan, Emily. Sonia Delaunay: Reaping What She Sews. Artnet Magazine,
September 2014.
Alley, Ronald. Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than
Works by British Artists. Tate Gallery. 1981.
Wikipedia contributors. J.M.W. Turner. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia.
Retrieved 23rd November 2014.

Wikipedia contributors. Robert Delaunay. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia.

Retrieved 14th December 2014.
Wikipedia contributors. Sonia Delaunay. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia.
Retrieved 14th December 2014.

Snow Storm Steam-Boat off a Harbours Mouth

1842

Rocky Coast 1825-30

Endless Rhythm - 1934

Russell: Cosmic Synchronomy

1913-4

Paysage au Disque 19061907

Macdonald-Wright: Synchronomy No.3

1917

Electric Prism - 1914

Rythme - 1938

Matisse: The Sorrows of theDerain:

King - Landscape near Chatou 1904
1952