Robert Delaunay (French, 1885-1941) Sun, Tower, Airplane, 1913 Oil on canvas, 52 x 51 5/8" A. Conger Goodyear Fund, 1964

Sun, Tower, Airplane reflects Robert Delaunay’s enthusiasm for the technological developments of the time in which he lived. For him, technology was not the antithesis of nature; he believed that they could coexist harmoniously. Thus the sun mentioned in the title suffuses the entire canvas with warm colors and energy.

While the sun dominates the left side of the canvas, the right side celebrates three symbols of technological achievement. In 1889, the Eiffel Tower, the tallest structure of its time, was erected in Paris for the World’s Fair. Designed by French engineer Alexandre Eiffel, it allowed Parisians to view their city from an exciting new vantage point. Although many people considered it an eyesore, Delaunay was fascinated by the tower and painted it many times. He also wrote about "the poetry of the tower, which communicates mysteriously with the whole world. Rays of light, symphonic waves of sound." This could perhaps be a reference to early radio, which must have seemed truly mysterious to people in 1913. At the top, a box-like biplane soars overhead. The Wright brothers had successfully flown the first biplane only ten years before, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The inclusion of the biplane is also an homage to French aviator and inventor Louis Bleriot, who in 1909 became the first to fly across the English channel in a heavier-than-air machine. At the extreme right is an evocation of the popular carnival ride invented in 1893 by American engineer George Ferris for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Delaunay’s feelings about these technological marvels are reflected in the lively, energetic lines and shapes, and the warm, bright colors. The disk-like forms seen floating in the left side of the canvas represented for him the rhythms of the universe and modern consciousness. He felt that the experience of the modern world could not be convincingly expressed in traditional representational forms, so he adopted this more abstract way of painting.

— Mariann Smith

SUGGESTIONS FOR HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES AND DISCUSSION

• Pick a modern convenience or two. Have students make a condensed symbol or logo out of it. Perhaps sketch it once in a realistic drawing, and then using that drawing, simplify it.
• Have the children pick a period of history, research, and draw a few innovations of that time. See if the other children can guess the period of history.
• Explore the psychology of color. For example, some colors make people feel happy, while others imply sadness, anger, or a variety of other emotions. (Remember though, that reactions to colors are personal, and there are no right or wrong answers.)