Dimensions: 33 x 39.6 cm
Signed and dated in pencil on the lower right: 'H. Berlewi. 1953', numbered on the lower left: '1/50'
Provenance
purchased from the artist
Gmurzynska Gallery, Cologne
private collection, Europe
Biography
He studied at the State School of Fine Arts in Warsaw, and then continued his studies in Antwerp and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Recognized as a pioneer of Op Art. A representative of the most avant-garde movement in Polish modern art. He was a member of the “Blok” group and was also associated with the European artistic avant-garde—including T. van Doesburg, V. Eggeling, M. van der Rohe, L. Moholy-Nagy. His interest in Constructivism was shaped by El Lissitzky, whom he met. In the 1920s, he exhibited and lived in Berlin. There, he had a solo exhibition in 1926 at the Der Sturm gallery. In 1924, he published the “Mechano-Faktura” manifesto, in which he rejected painting that created the illusion of space in favor of two-dimensional canvases. He limited his color palette to white, black, and red and used stencils. In 1928, he settled permanently in Paris and returned to figurative painting—painting mainly portraits. Recognized by international critics as one of the several hundred most outstanding artists of the 20th century (“ART of the 20th Century,” TASCHEN 2000)
