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Serge
Poliakoff

Serge Poliakoff, a Russian-born French artist, is celebrated for his vibrant abstract compositions that resonate with harmonious colours and forms. If you’re looking for original Serge Poliakoff prints and editions for sale or would like to sell, request a complimentary valuation and browse our network's most in-demand works.

Serge Poliakoff art for sale

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Biography

Born in Moscow in 1900, Poliakoff fled his homeland amidst the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, embarking on a nomadic journey that led him through Constantinople and Eastern Europe before he settled in Paris in 1923. Initially drawn to music, Poliakoff's inclinations took flight in Paris, where the city's rich innovation inspired him to enrol at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. His studies furthered under influential painters whose guidance was instrumental in shaping Poliakoff's early artistic direction.

Poliakoff's oeuvre evolved significantly over the years. His initial work, marked by figuration, gradually gave way to an exploration of abstract forms. A pivotal moment in his career came through his acquaintance with fellow artists Sonia and Robert Delaunay. Their theories on colour and abstraction resonated deeply with Poliakoff, propelling him towards the signature style that would define his career – where colour became the primary vehicle of expression, and form was reduced to its most elemental.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Poliakoff's work matured, and he began to gain recognition for his unique approach to abstraction. His compositions, characterised by a sophisticated and intuitive arrangement of form and a rich palette, avoided representational imagery, focusing instead on the emotive potential of colour and the interplay between shapes.

Poliakoff's contributions were celebrated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, most notably his inclusion in the groundbreaking 1961 exhibition, The Art of Assemblage, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His works have found homes in several prestigious collections, including the Tate Gallery in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Passing away in 1969, Poliakoff left behind a body of work that continues to captivate and inspire, a vivid reminder of his unyielding pursuit of visual harmony and the universal language of abstract art.


A large oil and sand featuring balanced interlocking geometric forms in dark blue, red, black, and white, with two central grey and yellow shapes. The textured surface creates a velvety appearance thanks to Poliakoff's layered translucent pigments.

Composition Abstraite © Serge Poliakoff 1959

1. £936,278 for Serge Poliakoff's Composition Abstraite

Composition Abstraite (1959) established Poliakoff's current auction record when it sold at Galerie Kornfeld Auktionen AG in September 2021, significantly exceeding its high estimate. This large-scale oil painting, with sand integrated into the paintwork to add texture, exemplifies the artist at the height of his creative powers in his most productive period. Poliakoff’s technique, to create his colourful works, involved applying countless layers of hand-mixed translucent paint, which created a unique sense of depth and luminosity that distinguished him from other abstract artists of the time. This piece was created when Poliakoff was firmly established as an international artist, and benefits from his exposure to Egyptian art at the British Museum, where he studied layered pigments - an influence that would inform his approach to his materials throughout his career.

An oil painting featuring interlocking colour fields including shades of warm yellow on the left side, moving to off-white, red, and then blue on the right.

Composition Abstraite © Serge Poliakoff 1967

2. £756,906 for Serge Poliakoff's Composition Abstraite

This abstract composition from 1967 achieved more than double its high estimate at Uppsala Auktionskammare, Sweden, in November 2022. The work's relatively small size (100 x 81 cm) stands in contrast to many of his other higher-valued canvases, suggesting that exceptional examples of Poliakoff's work maintain strong market appeal regardless of scale. Like many works from his mature period, this composition reflects Poliakoff's mathematical sensibility and interest in what he referred to as the Golden Section. The painting demonstrates the artist's assertion that "the contours are always slightly bent, so that the interlocked forms are subject to an imperceptive vibration," creating a dynamic visual rhythm that became his hallmark. The work was exhibited extensively between 1968 and 1979, including at the Galerie des Arts, Helsinki, in 1972, before being kept exclusively in a private collection until its most recent sale in 1980.

An oil painting with interlocking organic shapes rendered in luminous layers of warm red, yellow, blue, and black. The carefully modelled forms create tonal as well as colour contrasts, with balanced shape and colour distribution.

Composition Abstraite © Serge Poliakoff 1954

3. £731,932 for Serge Poliakoff's Composition Abstraite

Achieving this significant result at Ferri & Associés SARL, Paris, in June 2011, Composition Abstraite (1954) represents a pivotal period in Poliakoff's career. The 1954 date places this work in the aftermath of his encounter with Kasimir Malevich's paintings, which significantly influenced his approach to colour and form. It coincides with Poliakoff's transition from being a part-time painter supporting himself through music to becoming fully independent as an artist. The sophisticated balance of forms and tones in this composition showcases the artistic maturity that would soon lead to his international recognition, culminating in a dedicated pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1962.

An oil painting featuring interlocking irregular shapes with bold contrasts of a single lipstick-red form surrounded by black, sandy beige, dark blue, and yellow areas. The composition is arranged with rough diagonal symmetry, and combines the earth tones of Poliakoff’s early career with the dramatic contrasts of his later career.

Rouge Bleu Jaune © Serge Poliakoff 1954