Serge Poliakoff
1900 - 1969

Rouge et vert. 1964.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in lower right. 81 x 65 cm (31.8 x 25.5 in).

• An independent first panel of the former triptych of the same name.
• With an extremely painterly application of the colors and a reduced yet vibrant palette, Poliakoff created an atmospherically dense and intriguing composition.
• First exhibited during the artist’s lifetime.
• In the year of its creation, Poliakoff participated in documenta III in Kassel; in 1962, he had his own room at the 32nd Venice Biennale.
• Comparable paintings from the 1960s are part of major museum collections, including the Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

The work is registered at the Poliakoff Archive with the number 964089. We are greateful to Mr Alexis and Mr Thaddée Poliakoff, Paris, for their kind expert advice.

PROVENANCE: Galerie im Erker, St. Gallen (with the label on the stretcher).
Private collection, Southern Germany.
Private collection, Southern Germany (by descent, since 1996).

EXHIBITION: Each as triptych:
Serge Poliakoff, Kunstmuseum, St. Gallen, June 11–July 31, 1966, cat. no. 98.
Serge Poliakoff, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, September 22–November 16, 1970, cat. no. 63.
Serge Poliakoff. Painting, tempera, gouache, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, December 27, 1971–February 1, 1972, cat. no. 23.
Serge Poliakoff. Oil, tempera, gouache, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Mar. 3–Apr. 9, 1972; Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, May 13–28, 1972; Trondhjems Kunstforening, Trondheim, June 2–20, 1972; Lillehammer Bys Malerisamling, Lillehammer, June 23–July 14, 1972, cat. no. 23.
Serge Poliakoff. Nykytaiteen Klassikoita / Museum of Modern Art, Tampere, Aug. 15–Sept. 17, 1972; Kunsthalle Helsinki / Helsingin Taidehallissa, Oct. 27–Nov. 12, 1972, Cat. No. 23.
Poliakoff, Galleria Editalia, Rome, October 26–November 30, 1973, cat. no. 14.
Serge Poliakoff, Christian Fayt Art Gallery, Knokke-Heist, June 23–August 4, 1984, cat. no. 14 (illustrated, shown here as a single work).

LITERATURE: Alexis Poliakoff, Serge Poliakoff. Catalogue Raisonné, vol. IV, 1963–1965, Paris 2012, CR no. 64–66 (illustrated).
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Giuseppe Marchiori, Serge Poliakoff, Paris 1976, p. 111 (with black-and-white illustration of the triptych).
Christie’s, London, Contemporary Art, Dec. 6, 1985, lot 90.

"Poliakoff is like a Phoenix who rises from the ashes whenever one thinks he has exhausted his work. He reasserts himself in a series of pictures that demonstrate his undeniable mastery. More dramatic, more extended, his recent work demonstrates great wealth of invention. Using very simple elements, Poliakoff fills the surface of his paintings and endows it with feeling. However, he achieves this with nothing more than modulation of the greys and reds that cover his work."
Otto Hahn, in: L'Express, November 16, 1964, quoted from: Alexis Poliakoff, Serge Poliakoff. Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. IV, Paris 2012, pp. 35–36.