“Everything is a movement of color within depth. Everything is simultaneous and all celestial.”

—Sonia Delaunay

In 1962 Delaunay showed forty-three of her gouaches dating from between 1947 and 1962 at Galerie Denise René, in Paris. Published for the occasion was Poésie de mots, Poésie de couleurs that brought together poems by Rimbaud, Mallarmé, and such friends and major figures of the literary avant-garde as Cendrars, Delteil, Soupault and Tzara. To compliment this work Delaunay produced a series of six pochoirs inspired by each poet. Printed and painted at the studio of MPD, one of the greatest stencil printers of the period, these are amongst the finest prints the artist produced. Because of the brush application of the thick gouache paint, the stroke effects of the color are beautifully unique. These collaborations between poetry and visual art are perfect incarnations of the Simultaneous Movement that she founded with her husband, Robert Delaunay. Poésie de mots, Poésie de couleurs is the result of a collaboration where poetic words dialogue with abstract colored compositions. Instead of simply illustrating the poems, the colors and geometric shapes harmonize with the verses, thus weaving a deep link between words and painting.