Market at Minho 1915

Sonia Delaunay made this painting, Market at Minho, with oil on canvas, and the way she handled the paint is so interesting. Look how she builds up these vibrant, concentric circles. The colours vibrate and pulsate with energy! There's such a wonderful tactile quality to it. The paint looks almost scrubbed into the canvas, creating these rich, textured surfaces. The colours are so vivid and intense, and yet there is a great feeling of movement and rhythm. My eye keeps getting drawn to the bull's head on the right. See how it's rendered with these simplified, almost cartoonish shapes, nested circles inside circles? It's so playful and yet, it feels so grounded and earthy too. Delaunay's exploration of colour and form reminds me of some of the later work by Hilma af Klint. They're both exploring these hidden dimensions of reality through abstraction, pushing the boundaries of what painting can be. Art is like a conversation across time, isn't it? Always open to new interpretations.