Rhythm No. 2 (Rhythme II)

1938

French, 1885 - 1941

Robert Delaunay was one of the pioneers of Orphism, a term coined by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire in 1912 to describe an offshoot of Cubism that emphasized the
relationship between color, abstract form, and music. Delaunay himself noted that he aimed to produce “pure painting” which was based solely on these relationships. In Rhythm No. 2, he achieves a heightened level of abstraction characterized primarily by fractured space and color, the swirling disk-like forms reminiscent of a pulsing musical beat.

Oil on canvas

64 1/4 x 51 1/2 in. (163.2 x 130.8 cm)

Gift of Gladys and Sam Rubinstein

2014.26.1

Provenance: The artist (inventory no. F640); private collection, Basel, Switzerland; [Galerie Gmurzynska, Cologne, Germany, 1984]; purchased from gallery by Gladys (1921-2014) and Sam Rubinstein (1917-2007), Seattle, Washington,1984; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2014

Photo: Mark Woods

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryParis, France, Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Premier Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, 1946.

Paris, France, Grand Palais, Salon des Artistes Indépendants, 1954.

Liège, Belgium, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Robert Delaunay, 1955.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Modern in Europe: Featuring Selections from the Collection of Gladys & Sam Rubinstein, Nov. 5, 2004 - Apr. 17, 2005.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Paintings and Drawings of the European Avant-Garde: The Rubinstein Bequest, Apr. 23, 2014 - May 16, 2021.

Published ReferencesHabasque, Guy. Catalogue de l’oeuvre de R. Delaunay. Paris, 1957. Cat. no. 341, p. 224, reproduced no. 16.

Degand, L. “Langage et signification de la Peinture.” In Architecture Aujourd’hui, reproduced p. 108. Boulogne, France: 1956.

Dorival, Bernard. Robert Delaunay, 1885-1941. Brussels, Belguim: 1975; reproduced p. 144; Robert Delaunay. Liège, Belgium, 1955, no. 27, p. 19, illus.

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