Serge Poliakoff * (Moscow 1906–1969 Paris) Bleu, blanc, rouge et jaune, 1966, signed and dated, oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm, framed This work is registered in the Archives Serge Poliakoff and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Alexis Poliakoff Provenance: Galerie Tronche, Paris European Private Collection Literature: Alexis Poliakoff, Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre de Serge Poliakoff, volume V 1966-1969, Munich 2016, Galerie Française, p. 182, no. 66-282 with ill. Many critics of Poliakoff’s work have likened the tonal range prevalent in his painting to that found in music, which was an integral part of the artist’s life – his aunt was a prolific singer, and he himself was a keen guitar player. Like major and minor musical keys, Poliakoff’s remarkable ability to hone tonal modulations in paint has the ability to evoke sensations of happiness or melancholy in the beholder. Jean Cassou, explaining the analogy between music and Poliakoff’s work, noted that ‘colour is his native element and language, just as it was the native element and language of his fellow Russian, Kandinsky. Colour and music. Colour handled musically and, like music, capable of creating a world of its own, fraught with the same gorgeous and fascinating effect’ (J. Cassou, Serge Poliakoff , Amriswil, 1963, p. 17)