A dynamic composition in which lively color fields collide, interlock, form fascinating, partly orderly and partly orderless, rhythms. "Composition abstraite" (1967) has all the characteristic features of Serge Poliakoff's late creative period combined with the enormous conciseness and expressiveness that mark the apex of his oeuvre. The powerful orchestration of the surfaces adds to the spirit of a composition of intensive color accents in golden yellow, red and tinted white arranged around an exposed center.

Inspired by acquaintances with formative artists such as Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Wassily Kandinsky or Otto Freundlich, Poliakoff's interest in the expressive abilities of color increased in the 1930s. After figurative beginnings, his work became more abstract. Within a few years he developed an unmistakable compositional technique and thus a unique pictorial language that quickly earned him great recognition. In 1945, the gallery L'Esquisse in Paris hosted his first exhibition solely with abstract works. Fleeing Russia in 1917, he had to make a living with his music for decades, however, as of the early 1950s, he was able to devote himself entirely to painting.

One of the most important representatives of European Color Field Painting today, Serge Poliakoff explores the effects of the interaction between geometry, color and form with various surface structures in his paintings. Over the years he changed his approach: While he initially conceived his compositions through lines, he would later use surfaces in different shapes with which he created much more powerful arrangements. The resulting dynamic appeal invites observers to explore the interaction of color, image carrier and design.

Accordingly, Poliakoff conceived a depiction of an enormous suggestive effectiveness in "Composition abstraite" (1967). Through the integration of varying, heavily structured and modelled, partly coarse-grained surfaces into the individual, specifically shaped color segments, they enter into a complex relationship: they raise and lower one another, they expand or contract, they equalize and condense the picture. "Space," says Poliakoff, "not the painter, models the forms. They have to be half sculpture, half architecture. The geometric form must turn into an organic form through the inner pressure of space. Space creates form – not the other way around." (Serge Poliakoff, quoted from: Serge Poliakoff. Retrospective 1938-1963, London 1963, p. 15). [AM]