Serge Poliakoff

Serge Poliakoff (1900–1969) was a Russian emigre who fled his homeland after the Bolshevik Revolution and eventually settled in Paris. An abstract painter known for jigsaw puzzle compositions of irregular blocks of color and surface effects filling the picture plane, he was part of the postwar revival of the School of Paris. Needless to say, he was barely known on this side of the Atlantic, and even struggled for a while to make ends meet, where he supported a family by playing Russian folk music in Parisian nightclubs. Recognition finally came during the last 20 years of his life, and his work kicked into high gear. This show is his first in the U.S. in decades, and offers proof that the development of abstraction in the postwar era was far richer and more varied than conventional history allows.