Robert Delaunay was a French artist best known for his vibratory paintings of modern life. Interested in conveying a sense of dynamism in his work, Delaunay often chose icons of human progress as motifs for his paintings. “Without visual perception there is no light, no movement,” he once explained. “This movement is provided by relationships of uneven measures, by color contrasts, which constitute reality.” Born on April 12, 1885 in Paris, France, he grew up in an affluent family and apprenticed a theater designer as a youth. Meeting Henri Rousseau in 1903 compelled the young Delaunay to pursue a career in the arts, and he quickly became a fixture in the Parisian avant-garde, alongside Jean Metzinger...