Alphabet (1972)

Alphabet (1972)
Sonia Delaunay
Casebound, illustrated paper over boards. H285 x W255 mm. 54 pages. Acquired from Argosy Bookstore, 7 August 2021.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Building on a French scientist’s exposition of how perception of colors changes depending on the colors around them, Sonia and Robert Delaunay claimed that rhythmic, musical and spatial synesthetic elements were also at play.  At least one page in Sonia Delaunay’s Alphabet suggests that this theory of simultanéisme may have extended to the sense of taste.

The lithographs that led to Alphabet appeared ten years before Delaunay’s death, so maybe it is greedy to wish for at least a fine press edition rather than this trade edition. Given the effort and inspiration needed to fuse the elements of alphabetic art with the elements of book art, it is definitely greedy to wish for an artist’s book edition.

Sonia Delaunay’s genius for merging colors, shapes, canvas, paper and fabric was celebrated in “Sonia Delaunay – A Retrospective” at the Tate Modern in 2015. Asserting a family bond with Delaunay, the artist Alla Malomane revived Maison Sonia Delaunay in 2014. In 2019, Kitty Maryatt re-created Delaunay and Blaise Cendrars’ famous work of book art, which they called le premier livre simultané — La Prose du Transsibérien et de la petite Jehanne de France. And more recently, the exhibition “Maison Sonia” appeared at the Kunstmuseen Krefeld in Germany. So perhaps Sonia Delaunay’s spirit endures, and a greedy wish may be fulfilled by some quarter. Since Maryatt’s effort, a pochoir revival certainly seems to be afoot.

Further Reading

“Abecedaries I (in progress)“. Books On Books Collection.

“La Prose du Transsibérien Re-Creation” by Kitty Maryatt”. 5 October 2020. Books On Books Collection.

“Le Cadratin“. 8 February 2022. Books On Books Collection.

Cohut, Maria. 17 August 2018. “Synesthesia: Hearing colors and tasting sounds“. Medical News Today. Accessed 2 February 2022.

Campen, Crétien van. 26 July 2012. “Bibliography: Synesthesia in Art and Science“. Leonardo. Accessed 2 February 2022.

Cytowic, Richard E. 2018. Synesthesia. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Delaunay, Sonia, Katia Baudin-Reneau and Waleria Dorogova. 2022. Maison Sonia Delaunay. Berlin: Hatje Cantz.