Brisk Words from Sonia Delaunay

The artist Sonia Delaunay was born in Ukraine in 1885, grew up mostly in St. Petersburg, and moved to Paris in 1905. She married artist Robert Delaunay in 1910 and co-founded with him the artistic movement known as Orphism. At age 89, she was interviewed for Cindy Nemser's collection, Conversations with 15 Women Artists (1975). She was formidable, as the French say, and her remarks in that interview were blunt. Here's a sample:
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S.D.: “I have no dealer. I’m quite free.”
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S.D.: “It’s a false idea you have—an American idea that artists must be famous.”
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S.D.: “Robert [Delaunay] was not secure at all.”
Interviewer: “Do you think that’s why he wanted to explain [his art]?”
S.D.: “Yes.”
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S.D.: “…people don’t say much now. They speak only of money.”
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At the top is a painting by Sonia Delaunay from 1914 (image from Centre Pompidou).