She was born in the Russian Empire, now Ukraine, and was formally trained in Russia and Germany, before moving to France and expanding her practice to include textile, fashion, and set design.

She was part of the School of Paris and co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes, with her husband Robert Delaunay and others.

Her work in modern design included the concepts of geometric abstraction, and the integration of furniture, fabrics, wall coverings, and clothing into her art practice.

[7] At five she was orphaned[3] and moved to Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire (now Russia), where she was cared for by her mother's brother, Henri Terk.

They spent their summers in Finland and travelled widely in Europe, introducing Sonia to art museums and galleries.

[10][11] Sonia Terk gained entrance into the art world via exhibitions at Uhde's gallery and benefited from his connections.

Comtesse de Rose, mother of Robert Delaunay, was a regular visitor to Uhde's gallery, sometimes accompanied by her son.

[13] In 1911, Sonia Delaunay made a patchwork quilt for Charles's crib, which is now in the collection of the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris.

When it was finished, the arrangement of the pieces of material seemed to me to evoke cubist conceptions and we then tried to apply the same process to other objects and paintings."

Sonia Delaunay described in an interview that the discovery of Cendrars' work “gave me [her] a push, a shock.”[7] She illustrated Cendrars' poem La prose du Transsibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France (Prose of the Trans-Siberian and of Little Jehanne of France) about a journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway, by creating a 2m-long accordion-pleated book.

At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 Sonia and Robert were staying in Hondarribia, in the Basque Country, with their son still in Madrid.

The Russian Revolution brought an end to the financial support Sonia received from her family in Russia, and a different source of income was needed.

Poiret declined, claiming she had copied designs from his Ateliers de Martine and was married to a French deserter (Robert).

[25] Galerie der Sturm in Berlin showed works by Sonia and Robert from their Portuguese period the same year.

[27] The Delaunays' most acute financial problems were solved when they sold Henri Rousseau's La Charmeuse de serpents (The Snake Charmer) to Jacques Doucet.

[28] Sonia Delaunay made clothes for private clients and friends, and in 1923 created fifty fabric designs using geometrical shapes and bold colours, commissioned by a manufacturer from Lyon.

[31] With Heim she had a pavilion at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, called boutique simultané.

[36] During this period, she also designed haute couture textiles for Robert Perrier, while participating actively in his artistic salon, R-26.

After closing her business, Sonia Delaunay returned to painting, but she still designed for Jacques Heim, Metz & Co, Perrier and private clients.

"[41] The murals and painted panels for the exhibition were executed by fifty artists including Albert Gleizes, Léopold Survage, Jacques Villon, Roger Bissière and Jean Crotti.