Composition verte, rouge et jaune 1964

Serge Poliakoff made this painting, Composition verte, rouge et jaune, using a really interesting approach to colour and shape. It's like he's building a world from colour blocks, almost architectural, but in a totally free way. Looking closely, the surface has this incredible texture – you can practically feel the strokes where the paint was dragged, maybe with a palette knife? There’s something raw and honest about how the colours meet; they don’t blend so much as bump into each other, creating these electric edges. Take that green block over there; see how it’s not just green, but a whole universe of greens, layered and alive? It's these areas of detail that bring a real physical punch to the piece. Poliakoff's got a real ancestor in someone like Sonia Delaunay who like him, understood that colour and form could sing together on their own terms. It's all about how these shapes speak to each other, no right answers, just a conversation happening on canvas.