Sale: 437 / Post War I, Dec. 10. 2016 in Munich Lot 828

 

828
Serge Poliakoff
Composition abstraite, 1958.
Gouache
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,100
Sold:
€ 33,750 / $ 36,112

(incl. surcharge)
Composition abstraite. 1958.
Gouache.
Not in Poliakoff. Lower right signed. On light gray paper by Montgolfier (with watermark). 48 x 62.2 cm (18.8 x 24.4 in), size of sheet.
The work is registered at the Poliakoff Archive, Paris, with the number 858056. [JS].

PROVENANCE: Erker Galerie, St. Gallen.
Private collection (acquired from aforementioned).

EXHIBITION: Serge Poliakoff, Galerie Charles Kriwin, Brussels 29 March - 30 April 1977, cat. no. 4.



Space, proportions and rhythm are the most important elements in Serge Poliakoff's art. The contours between the color fields are always slightly bent, so that the interlocked forms are subject to an imperceptive vibration. The subtly graded colors, forms that become more dense towards the center and the tension between the color fields make for the composition's overall harmony. In works from around 1960 Poliakoff increasingly worked with subtle nuances, which is also tehe case in this work. The yellow evolves through various shades of orange and eventually turns to red. Owed to his immeasurable creative powers Poliakoff allows us to discover his abstract paintings over and over again: "Many people say that there is nothing to see in abstract painting. If you ask me, I would perhaps need three lives and I would still not be able to see everything I said." (Serge Poliakoff, quote after: Künstler. Kritisches Lexikon der Gegenwartskunst, edition 31, issue 21, III 1995, p. 2).



828
Serge Poliakoff
Composition abstraite, 1958.
Gouache
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,100
Sold:
€ 33,750 / $ 36,112

(incl. surcharge)