Political Drama

Robert Delaunay

1914 · Oil and collage on cardboard · National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Political Drama

Circular Forms, Moon No. 1

Eiffel Tower (1924)

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Robert Delaunay (1885–1941)
Year: 1914
Medium: Oil and collage on cardboard
Original size: 88.7 × 67.3 cm
Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Movement: Orphism

Around a central target of concentric rings in rainbow colours, two figures are caught mid-action: at left a dark-clad man falls backward, and at right a woman in red and blue raises a pistol, while the name Robert Delaunay is lettered across the bottom of the sheet. The scene is the shooting on 16 March 1914 of Gaston Calmette, editor of Le Figaro, by Henriette Caillaux, wife of the former prime minister and finance minister Joseph Caillaux, after the paper had attacked her husband. Delaunay is thought to have taken the figures from a newspaper illustration of the event and set them inside one of his simultaneous discs, joining a news story to abstract colour. It is painted in oil with collage on cardboard. Sonia Delaunay kept it until at least 1956; the New York collector Joseph H. Hazen and his wife bought it in 1957, and the Joseph H. Hazen Foundation gave it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 1971.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

Rainbow rings around two figures caught in a dramatic moment, for a study, home office or living room at 24×36 in natural wood. A white, stone or warm grey wall; it pairs with Homage to Blériot.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Exhibition poster of a Orphism painting
Era: 20th century (1914)
Orientation: Portrait
Palette: cream & beige
Mood: grand
Rooms: living room, study or library, home office, dining room, hallway or entryway
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.

Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is Political Drama in the public domain?

Yes. Robert Delaunay (1885–1941) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by National Gallery of Art.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Political Drama painted, and in what medium?

Political Drama dates from 1914 and was made in oil and collage on cardboard; the original measures 88.7 × 67.3 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For Political Drama we'd choose 24×36.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Robert Delaunay's Political Drama — two figures, one firing a pistol at the other, set in concentric rings of colour — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. Delaunay: Orphism and the Rhythm of Colour, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

Secure checkout. Payments handled by Stripe; we never see or store your card.

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