LOT DETAILS

Materials:

Jacaranda veneer relief on wood panel

Measurements:

15.63 in. (39.70 cm.) (height) by 24.76 in. (62.90 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed 'Abraham Palatnik' (on the reverse)

Exhibited:

Brazilian-born Abraham Palatnik emerged as a visual artist in the early 1950s in Rio de Janeiro and quickly became one of the pioneers of Kinetic Art. He belonged to a generation of artists, designers and architects whose response to the rapid industrialization of Brazil during the post-war era resulted in one of the most creative periods in the nation's history. Palatnik was especially innovative in this respect, leaving behind traditional media such as oil and canvas and instead creating complex objects from unconventional, manufactured materials. For example, as early as 1951, he experimented with lights and movement in his works, meticulously building mechanized boxes that contained colored bulbs set into perpetual motion through a complex system of pulleys and motors. Azul e roxo em primeiro movimento, 1951 was the first of these works to be and was included in the First Bienal do São Paulo, a landmark exhibition in the history of post-war art. Although Palatnik's mechanics were still fairly rudimentary then, the artwork projected a series of geometric forms from within the box that then moved across its surface to create a seemingly infinite number of constantly morphing abstract composition paintings. This kinetic work was so radical—after all, it was neither painting nor sculpture—that he agreed to recuse himself from any of the prize competitions, so as not to further inflame the judges

Provenance:

A gift from the artist to the present owner