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Lot n° 738

Serge Poliakoff

Estimate :
180 000 - 220 000 EUR

Serge Poliakoff (1900 Moscow - Paris 1969) - Composition abstraite. Oil on canvas. (1967). Approx. 97 x 130 cm. Signed upper left. Poliakoff V 67-70. - Mature late work by Serge Poliakoff from his most sought-after period - Dynamic composition with different surface structures and an intense red-blue contrast - From the famous art collection of the Danish music promoter Knud Thorbjørnsen "I still remember well how my father (...) took me into the quiet of his studio in the morning to introduce me to his method of constructing pictures. (...) He began by selecting pigments from his deliberately limited color palette: two blues, two reds, one green, one yellow, one black and one white. With these, he achieved richness and variety of color tones through the transparency of the layers painted on top of each other. The ground pigment was carefully mixed with binder on a glass plate using a painting knife. The resulting color was then applied without hesitation but with precision to two or three of the forms so that they could take their place in the composition and echo each other." Alexis Poliakoff (quoted from: WVZ vol. III, p. 10). Serge Poliakoff's early work, which was influenced by his classical-academic training, led him to abstraction from 1935 onwards, and in the following years he developed a formal language of pure color that no longer had any representational references. Poliakoff received important inspiration from Wassily Kandinsky and the artist couple Robert and Sonia Delaunay as well as the sculptor Otto Freundlich. Despite these prominent role models, Poliakoff soon developed a very individual form of abstract painting that is still unmistakable today. In 1945, the Galerie L'Esquisse in Paris presented Poliakoff's first purely abstract exhibition. In the following years, Poliakoff's increasing success also made itself felt financially, allowing him to devote himself exclusively to painting after previously earning a living as a musician. Initially, Poliakoff's color surfaces were still in a more muted color spectrum, but from the 1950s onwards the color palette brightened considerably. The color density of the individual forms increases towards the center of the picture, their contours are always slightly curved, resulting in barely perceptible vibrations and rhythms in the picture. The balanced proportions of the forms in the pictorial space and the finely harmonious gradation of the colors lead to a unique, meditative effect that is so characteristic of Poliakoff's painting. The "Compositon abstraite" from 1967 is given a special dynamic by the strong red-blue contrast and the various surface structures. Today, Poliakoff is one of the most important representatives of European color field painting. The painting comes from the art collection of the Danish concert organizer Knud Thorbjørnsen. He organized the only Beatles concert in Denmark in 1964 and brought major international musicians such as the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Frank Zappa and Liza Minelli to Denmark for the first time. As manager, he looked after the famous Danish bands Gasolin' and Shu-bi-dua. Exhibition: Serge Poliakoff, Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo/Osaka 1978, cat. no. 20, with illus., label on verso of stretcher.Provenance: Knud Thorbjørnsen Collection (1941-2001), Copenhagen; Private collection, Geneva; Galerie Melki, Paris; Private collection, Monaco. Taxation: Differential taxation plus 7% (VAT: Margin Scheme (non EU)).

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