Composition
Serge Poliakoff (Moscow 1906 – Paris 1969)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1956 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas in a giltwood frame
Measurements
875 x 1147 mm
Order this imageCollection
Dudmaston, Shropshire
NT 814229
Caption
The colours and forms in this work suggest an aerial image, looking down over fields or buildings as you might see them in a diagram or map.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Composition by Serge Poliakoff (Moscow 1906 – Paris 1969), signed, bottom right: Serge Poliakoff, 1956. An abstract composition, 'composed of non-geometrical shapes with particular emphasis on shades of blacks and greys.' This abstract composition of interlocking colour shapes demonstrates Poliakoff’s controlled, expert handling of paint, which was ground by the artist himself. This is a clear composition using powerful, contrasting colours – black, yellow, scarlet and grey – which shows Poliakoff’s deep respect for the purity and construction of space in the work of Gris and Klee. Initially a talented guitarist and then a figurative painter, Poliakoff painted his first abstract pictures in 1938 having studied at the Slade School in London between 1935 and 1937. On returning to Paris in 1937 he became acquainted with Wassily Kandinsky, Sonia and Robert Delaunay and Freundlich. A gouache on paper composition by Poliakoff from 1959 is also included in the collection at Dudmaston (National Trust Inventory Number 813613).
Provenance
With The Hanover Gallery Ltd, 32a St George Street, London W1; bought by Sir George Labouchere; handed to the National Trust by Deed of Gift from Sir George Labouchere 30th September 1994
Credit line
The Sir George Labouchere Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: The Hanover Gallery Ltd (label pasted on reverse)
Makers and roles
Serge Poliakoff (Moscow 1906 – Paris 1969), artist