Gouache (modern), 1959

Catalog : Alexis Poliakoff CRSP Vol. III n°59-93 page 102

49.00 cm. x 62.00 cm. | 19.29 in. x 24.41 in. (image)

62.00 cm. x 79.00 cm. | 24.41 in. x 31.1 in. (frame)

This beautiful gouache on gray canson paper is characteristic of the painter's chromatic experiments in the 1950s, his mature period. He experimented more with bright colors, putting aside the brown and saturated tones he had used a decade earlier.

In choosing to paint on this medium, the artist opted for cool tones. The variations of blues and grays give a certain quietness and calm to the work. This beautiful monochrome appears at first glance to be flat, but on closer inspection, the colors blend together without being juxtaposed. They come together and overlap, as if each color was an integral part of the others. We see it in particular thanks to the treatment of the textures brought by the gouache. In places, the finish is polished, in others, it gives the impression of rubbed paint. One perceives at the same time a chromatic uniqueness merging with a disparity of finishes, which creates a certain transparency of the material.

The art critic Roger van Gindertaël also observes the painter's gesture: "Poliakoff has a taste for superb materials that he lays down in successive layers, enriching each other; it seems that he gives greater and greater importance to the touch that he lays down in a fan around a center."

The artist creates a space where the purity of color and the purity of form are expressed. His forms are irregular and asymmetrical, yet an impression of order emerges from the composition. Like three puzzle pieces that fit together smoothly, their purpose is expressed together, as a large part of an inseparable whole.

Certificate of authenticity
Handsigned by the artist in pencil

Ref : LCD5496