Alfred LENICA (1899–1977), Composition I, 1965

watercolor, gouache, paper; 29.5 x 42 cm;
signed lower right: lenica (in pencil)
signed and dated on the reverse: A. Lenica / 1965 (in pencil)

Provenance:
private collection, Poland

The dynamic energy of the composition is strongly concentrated in its central section. Against a pink background, an intense structure dominates, surrounded by translucent, undulating planes. The painting draws attention to the tension between the compact center and the large sections of a calmer background. It is precisely this coexistence of spontaneous gesture, color patches, and the lines that control them that is one of the characteristic features of Lenica’s mature artistic language. The date of 1965 links the work to the period of his involvement with the Krakow Group.