Henryk Berlewi (1894–1967), Seated Woman

Technique: black and white crayon on cardboard, 50x32.5 cm

Work purchased at an auction held at the artist’s studio.

Condition: Very good.

*

Henryk Berlewi—Polish painter, printmaker, and art theorist, one of the most important figures of the European avant-garde. He studied in Warsaw, Antwerp, and Paris. In the 1920s, he became involved with the Constructivist circle in Berlin, where he developed his most important concept—mechanofacture—based on rhythm, flatness, the geometrization of forms, and a limited color palette (black, white, red). This theory became one of the precursors to later Op Art and Minimal Art.

Previously associated with the Jung Idysz group, he created Expressionist works on Jewish themes. After 1926, he returned to figurative art, focusing mainly on portraiture and graphic design. From 1933 onward, he lived in Paris, where he continued his artistic and critical work. In the 1950s, he turned once again to abstraction, and his body of work was rediscovered and appreciated

[JR]