Serge Poliakoff

The dynamic relationship between space, form and color can be identified as the central element of Serge Poliakoff's works. As one of the leading representatives of the legendary 'Ecole de Paris', the Russian-born painter is one of the most important artists of the European post-war avant-garde and one of the leading figures of abstract painting in general. Detached from representational and also geometric forms, a new diversity emerges. The immediately adjacent color areas constantly produce new interactions, which allows us to speak of a certain rhythm, even if this has no regularity. In our painting "Rouge bleu gris et lie-de-vin" the color fields seem to move from the four corners into the center of the picture. Alternating dark and brilliantly strong reds, soft pastel grays, and clear blues surround a white color field. Light has a significant effect in Poliakoff's works. In some parts the canvas seems to swallow the light - to absorb it into itself - and in other parts one finds luminous elements - which radiate from themselves. The artist always pays attention to an appropriate composition of different colors within a painting. Thus, our work is exemplary for a balanced, calm atmosphere, in which individual color areas full of luminosity, draw the eye. Even without a classical division into background and foreground, or definite directions of movement, possibly also precisely because of this lack of clear division, a timeless aesthetic emerges. While the individual surfaces are clearly separated by color, there are no hard dividing lines between them, creating an ambivalent mood of separation and transition. Poliakoff represents color itself as form and is fascinated by the effect of simultaneous contrasts in his works. The abstract forms interact and create tension, but this can never upset the harmony and balance of his most beautiful works.