Dimensions: 57.5 x 39.7 cm (sheet)
Signed and dated in pencil inside the composition: 'H. BERLEWI. 1922'
on the 'clasp' inscribed in pen: 'Henryk BERLEWI 61 x 50 cm | Frauenakt 1922' and 'Retrosp. Ausstellung | Berlin Okt.-Nov. 64', four inventory numbers: 'N 18', '9.' (in circle), '11. (in circle; all crossed out) and '53' (in circle), fragmentarily preserved paper sticker described: 'BARLEVI HENRYK | 1922. 61 x 50', paper shipping sticker by André Chenue described in pen: 'no 3 - BERLEWI' and two customs stamps (French and German), on the reverse of the frame a paper exhibition sticker from Art Basel, 1978
Origin
Galerie Bargera, Cologne
private collection, Switzerland
Venator & Hanstein, Cologne
private collection, Poland
Exhibited
Art Basel, June 14-19, 1978
Retrospektive Ausstellung H. Berlewi. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Grafik, Mechano-Fakturen, Plastik von 1908 bis heute, Institut Français, Berlin, October-November 1964
Rationale Spekulationen. Konstruktivistische Tendenzen in der europäischen Kunst zwischen 1915 und 1930, ausgewählt aus deutschen Privatsammlungen, Städtisches Museum Mönchengladbach, October 1-November 26, 1972
Literature
Retrospektive Ausstellung H. Berlewi. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Grafik, Mechano-Fakturen, Plastik von 1908 bis heute, exhibition catalog, Berlin 1964, cat. no. 18 (as "Frauenakt", guasch, 61 x 50 cm, Berlin)
Rationale Spekulationen. Konstruktivistische Tendenzen in der europäischen Kunst zwischen 1915 und 1930, ausgewählt aus deutschen Privatsammlungen, exhibition catalog, Städtisches Museum Mönchengladbach, Mönchengladbach 1972, cat. no. 23 (as "Frauenakt", Deckfarben, 61 x 50 cm)
Biography
Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, then continued his studies in Antwerp and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Considered a precursor of op-art. Representative of the most avant-garde trend of Polish modern art. He was a member of the "Blok" grouping, and was 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 directed by El Lissitzky, whom the artist met. In the 1920s he exhibited and stayed in Berlin. He had a solo exhibition there in 1926 at Der Sturm gallery. In 1924, he announced his manifesto "Mechano-Faktura," in which he rejected spatial illusion painting in favor of two-dimensional canvases. He limited the color scale to white, black and red and used stencils. In 1928 he settled permanently in Paris and returned to figurative painting - he painted mainly portraits. Recognized by world critics as one of the several hundred most outstanding artists of the 20th century ("ARTof the 20th Century" TASCHEN 2000)