Composition multicolore à dominante bleue 1969

Serge Poliakoff made this painting, Composition multicolore à dominante bleue, with oil on canvas. The layering of colors creates a real sense of depth. See how the blues, yellows, reds, and greens are built up, one on top of the other? The way he lets some of the underlayers peek through really activates the surface. It’s almost sculptural, right? Looking closely, you can see the texture of the paint itself. It's not smooth or blended; you can see the individual strokes and the way the colors interact. Especially where the crimson and green intersect at the bottom, those areas give a special resonance to the piece as a whole. You can almost feel Poliakoff working and reworking the surface, adding and subtracting until he achieved this particular balance. Poliakoff’s paintings of this time remind me of the later work of someone like Sean Scully, but with a warmer, more intimate palette. Both artists invite us to get lost in the process. It's a conversation across time about form, color, and the sheer joy of painting.