SERGE POLIAKOFF 1900-1969

The Russian painter Serge Poliakoff settled in Paris in 1923 and devoted himself fully to painting in 1929, while also playing the guitar in cabarets to make a living. He attended Academies such as the Grande Chaumière in Paris, where he worked in a classical academic style; and then in London at the Grosvenor School of Art and Slade School of Art, between 1935 and 1937. This allowed him to broaden his knowledge both in ancient and contemporary art. During a trip to London, Serge Poliakoff also discovered Egyptian art at the British Museum. He was particularly interested in the technique of sarcophagus painting and the principle of color overlay. Influenced by the work of Kandinsky, Delaunay and Freundlich, Poliakoff turned to abstract art in the late 1930s. His painting is characterized by a combination of colored areas, between transparency and intensity, playing with a more or less restricted chromatic spectrum. He would say: "I like all the colors. I never think of the color I will use. The most important is the sound, not the colors."