Simultaneous Windows on the City

French artist Robert Delaunay painted this abstract composition in 1912, reducing the Paris cityscape to fractured planes of color. The Eiffel Tower rises at center, barely recognizable amid rectangles of orange, yellow, blue, and green. The effect suggests looking through multiple panes of glass at once.

Delaunay and his wife Sonia developed an approach they called Simultanism, exploring how colors interact when placed side by side. Their friend, poet Guillaume Apollinaire, labeled this approach "Orphism," linking it to music's abstract qualities. The broken forms owe something to Cubism, but Delaunay's emphasis on color set him apart.

This painting belongs to a series Delaunay made between 1912 and 1913, all exploring the motif of windows. He didn't represent reality as observed but tried to capture the act of seeing itself. The work is now at the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Germany.