Alexander Liberman, Russian-American, 1912-1999. Large-scale metal sculpture, abstract.

The acrylic and charcoal on paper artwork is signed and dated 1978 lower right. 40 x 25.5 in., 44.5 x 29.75 in. frame

Andre Emmerlich Gallery, NY

Private Collection, MN

Liberman studied in London and in Paris with Andre L'hote. He took up painting regularly in 1936, and turned to abstraction in primary colors after becoming an American citizen. He was the magazine Editorial Director for Conde Nast Publications, commissioning artwork by Joseph Cornell, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, and Marcel Duchamp, and used Jackson Pollock paintings as backdrops for fashion shoots. Liberman began exhibiting his artwork in the mid-1950s in New York City. He received a commission for the 1963 World's Fair Pavilion in NYC from architect Philip Johnson. His work belongs to major museum collections including the Metropolitan, Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Tate Gallery in London, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Corcoran, and Hirshorn. In this artwork the addition of charcoal atop black and white acrylic paint makes for an exciting surface texture to survey up close. Black lines whirl around large smears of paint, and splashes sit throughout the composition.