Composition

Poliakoff's strongly textured abstract compositions of the late 1950s are strongly rooted in a Russian tradition of art. Born in Russia in 1906, and descending from a prominent family who lived in Moscow until 1919, Poliakoff was greatly influenced in his early work by the abstractions of Kandinsky and later and more profoundly by the work of Kasimir Malevich, whose work he first encountered in 1952. In addition to this, Poliakoff's use of interlocking and strongly textural forms used to create a sublime and radiating sense of energy and space are, like Malevich's Suprematist forms, also strongly reminiscent of the emotional intensity of Russian Icon painting. In the same way that Russian icons are intended as mediative guides to reach a more profound and spiritual understanding, Poliakoff's mature work reflects the same concerns. Mandala-like in its masterfully controlled use of coloured form Poliakoff's abstractions were also intended as mediative tools that could enable the viewer to reach a higher level of consciousness.

In the present work of circa 1959, a strong diagonal composition is held together into a precisely balanced and solid composition through a dramatic and contrasting use of colour and light. The shimmering blue textures that Poliakoff often used as a means of emphasising the living and vibrating quality of matter, are here counter-balanced by strong purple and red diagonal forms, and both are pinned into a harmonious conjunction by a central golden-yellow form that acts as the focal point of the whole painting.