Simultaneous Contrasts: Sun and Moon
Robert Delaunay
French, 1885–1941
Paris 1913 (dated on painting 1912)
A circular oil painting in which Delaunay translates the idea of sun and moon into overlapping, vibrating color discs to explore simultaneous contrast and movement.
At first glance the work reads as a lyrical whirl of concentric and overlapping circles—vivid oranges, blues, greens and purples collide and shimmer so that the paint itself seems to pulse like light.
A key example of Delaunay’s Orphist experiments, this tondo transformed color into an autonomous subject and helped show how juxtapositions of hue and form could generate rhythm, depth, and luminous movement in modern abstraction.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
53" (134.5 cm) in diameter
Classification
Department
Credit
Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund
Accession
1.1954
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
