Sale: 461 / Post War I, Dec. 09. 2017 in Munich Lot 817

 

817
Serge Poliakoff
Composition, 1962.
Oil on paper
Estimate:
€ 120,000 / $ 129,600
Sold:
€ 150,000 / $ 162,000

(incl. surcharge)
Composition. 1962.
Oil on paper , firmly laid on canvas.
Poliakoff 62-61 . Lower right signed. 116 x 89 cm (45.6 x 35 in).

Accompanied by a photo confirmation from Marcelle Poliakoff dated February 2nd 1974.
The work is registered at the Poliakoff Archiv, Paris, with the number 965012.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Armand Zerbib, Paris (with a stamp on verso of stretcher and on verso of canvas.
Private collection Rhineland.

EXHIBITION: Serge Poliakoff, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 17 April -19 May 1963, cat. no. 82.
Serge Poliakoff, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover et al, 12 June - 24 July 1963 cat. no. 63.

"In relation to the world as it lets us see it, one can in fact attempt a list of its elements, of its definable forms, either because they correspond to objects or beings we are familiar with or because they are related to classical shapes identified by geometry. In both cases, the formal repertoire from which we extract our references gives rise to compositions in which the eye has as little trouble pinpointing its habitual referents as it is automatically seconded by a discourse capable of reinforcing its own organizing principle, in the act of naming, for instance, what the eye recognizes.“
Gerard Durozoi, Serge Poliakoff: Monograph, vol. I, 2004, p. 161.

In his later period of creation Poliakoff reduced the strong polychromy in favor of a more muted palette and shows, as it is the case with this composition, a tendency towards a more monochrome design. The calm and balanced harmony of colors is completed by the massive effect of the blue surfaces and the bright red nuances. Poliakoff's oeuvre was presented at numerous international exhibitions as of the late 1950s. In 1960 the Kunsthalle Bern honored him in a comprehensive solo show which comprised 137 abstract compositions. The early 1960s marked the peak of the artist's international recognition, he was represented at the Venice Biennial with an own showroom in 1962. In 1965 the artist suffered a heart attack.



817
Serge Poliakoff
Composition, 1962.
Oil on paper
Estimate:
€ 120,000 / $ 129,600
Sold:
€ 150,000 / $ 162,000

(incl. surcharge)