Alibabette Editions Delaunay Rythme 3 Mini Artbook B6

Delaunay – Rythme 3 | Pocket Artbook Sketchbook by Alibabette Éditions

Some sketchbooks are simply places to store blank pages. This one opens with a masterpiece.

Rythme n°3, décoration pour le Salon des Tuileries - painted by Robert Delaunay in 1938 and now held at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris - was one of the last major works of a painter who spent his life chasing the energy of pure colour.

The bold, concentric circles and radiating arcs of this canvas became a defining image of Orphism, the movement Delaunay pioneered alongside his wife Sonia. It is joyful, precise, and completely alive.

Alibabette Éditions has reproduced that painting as the cover of this Pocket Artbook: a compact, beautifully bound sketchbook designed for people who draw, sketch, write, or simply want a refined object in their bag.

The details that matter

The format — 12 × 17 cm — is the sweet spot between portable and practical. It fits in a jacket pocket, a tote, or a desk drawer without compromise. The 144 pages of 100 g acid-free drawing paper take pencil, fine-liner, and light washes of watercolour without ghosting or bleed. Because the paper is acid-free, your work won't yellow or degrade over time - a consideration worth having if you're keeping these.

The binding is sewn with exposed ecru thread, a technique that is both structurally sound and visually honest. You can see exactly how the book is made. It opens completely flat, which is not a small thing: there is no fighting the spine, no lost half-inch of page disappearing into the gutter. The full width of every page is yours.

Who it's for

• Artists and illustrators who sketch on location will appreciate the flat opening and the compact size.
• Students of art history will find it a pleasure to carry a piece of the Musée d'Art Moderne in their pocket.
• Gift-givers looking for something thoughtful for someone who draws - or who loves French modernism, or Delaunay specifically - will find it hard to do better at this price point.

It also works perfectly as a travel journal, a planning notebook, or simply a beautiful object that earns its place on a desk.

The work behind the cover

Robert Delaunay (1885–1941) was fascinated by the way colour could create movement and depth without any reliance on form or perspective.

His Rythmes series - of which this is the third - strips everything back to circles and colour relationships, demonstrating in the most direct way possible what he meant when he described his practice as "pure painting."

The 1938 version reproduced here was intended as a decorative work for the Salon des Tuileries and remains one of the most accessible entry points into his late output.

Product Specifications

• Format: 12 × 17 cm
• Pages: 144
• Paper: 100 g acid-free drawing paper
• Binding: Exposed-stitch sewn binding (ecru thread)
• Lay-flat opening: Yes
• Cover: Full-colour reproduction of Rythme n°3 (1938) by Robert Delaunay