The Large Portuguese Woman by Robert Delaunay

This magnificent figurative and decorative composition, temporarily titled “The Large Portuguese Woman”, illustrates a period of major transition for the great artist Robert Delaunay. Inspired by the shimmering and colorful motifs during his stay in the Iberian Peninsula, the creator merges here popular tradition with his simultaneous research on the disc. The work bears witness to an original and warm aesthetic, where Orphism is expressed through a scene of daily life full of charm and sunshine.

On the right side of the composition, a woman in traditional Portuguese costume is represented in profile, wearing a brick red skirt, an emerald green apron, and a white shawl decorated with stylized floral motifs. She handles yellow and blue discs resembling earthenware plates. On the left, a large flower pot houses an exotic plant with long green, blue, and yellow pointed leaves, surmounted by two large bright orange feather-like inflorescences. The ground and the background are entirely decomposed into multicolored concentric discs in tones of yellow, blue, violet, and green. The whole is bathed in an intense solar light that exalts the decorative vivacity of the shapes.

The artist demonstrates here an exceptional craftsmanship by marrying the textured richness of wax and oil on canvas. His ability to harmonize highly vivid simultaneous contrasts while modeling the human silhouette reveals a unique stylistic mastery, creating an atmosphere of great decorative and poetic warmth.