Alfred LENICA (1899–1977), Abstract Form I, 1965

watercolor, gouache, paper; 30 x 42 cm;
signed lower right: Lenica
signed and dated on the reverse: A. Lenica / 1965 (in pencil)
marked on the reverse: 4783 (in pencil)

Provenance:
private collection, Poland

An intense red-pink field serves as the background for light, fluid forms. These do not form a single cohesive center but arrange themselves into a pulsating rhythm. Delicate white lines drawn over the patches enrich the composition’s space. Particularly interesting is the juxtaposition of soft, organic shapes against the saturated background color. The artist’s date of 1965 places the work during a period of Lenica’s full artistic maturity—it was in that very year that he was accepted into the Krakow Group and held a solo exhibition at Krzysztofory.