Sixty Works by Modern Masters - Flipbook - Page 97
Serge Poliakoff
Serge Poliakoff
Russian, 1906 - 1969
Composition Rouge, Bleue Fonds Jaune, 1959-60
Oil on canvas
35¼ x 45 inches / 89.5 x 116 cm
Signed lower right: Serge Poliakoff
Serge Poliakoff’s distinctive form
of abstraction drew its inspiration
from diverse visual sources. Born
in Moscow, the memories of
his mother’s attachment to the
Russian Orthodox Church and of
the religious icons he saw made a
lasting mark on his career. Poliakoff’s
paintings after the late 1930s take
on the influence of the colourful
Egyptian sarcophagi he viewed in
London between 1935 and 1937.
The present work is a striking late
example of the artist’s Taschist
style, which he developed in
France alongside Jean Dubuffet,
Pierre Soulages and Nicholas de
Staël, among others. Known as the
European ‘branch’ of American
Abstract Expressionism, Taschism
favoured an intuitive form of
painting and rejected any ‘studied’
conception; this highly-coloured and
meditative Composition seems to
draw subconscious reference both
from Russian and Egyptian visual
traditions.
Provenance
Knoedler Gallery, New York
Galleria Gissi, Turin
Literature
Editions Bolaffi Arte, Hommage à Serge Poliakoff, Turin, 1970,
illustrated
This painting is accompanied by a certificate of
authentication kindly issued by Alexis Poliakoff
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