Robert Delaunay - The Spire of Notre-Dame - 1909-1910 - Private collection

Robert Delaunay (1885–1941) painter who first introduced vibrant colour into Cubism and thereby originated the trend in Cubist painting known as Orphism (q.v.). He was one of the earliest completely nonrepresentational painters, and his work affected the development of abstract art based on the compositional tensions created by juxtaposed planes of colour. Delaunay was at first a theatre designer and painted only part-time.