Serge Poliakoff * (Moscow 1906-1969 Paris) Orange noir, c. 1955, signed, oil on canvas, 61 x 50 cm, framed Provenance: Galerie Bourdon, Paris Galerie im Erker, St. Gallen Private Collection, Switzerland Literature: Alexis Poliakoff, Serge Poliakoff-Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. II, Munich 2011, p. 79, no. 55–39 with ill. Poliakoff does not favour any particular colour or line or construction. Colours have no special identity. Their rôle lies in the expression of the overall ensemble. Its value – or the tone added to other tones – defines the true pictorial substance. Poliakoff oscillates between two solutions to the problem of colour values. Sometimes he uses violent contrasts, such as the use of white in the foreground. At other times, he develops modulation based on a fundamental tone. Often the two techniques coincide; the foreground forming highly stressed opposition, itself profiled on a modulation. Jean-Paul Aron (Excerpt from lecture), in: Alexis Poliakoff, Serge Poliakoff, Catalogue raisonné, Volume II, 1955-1958, p. 21