The fight for paint

Dated 1964, the year of the artist’s full maturity, this painting by André Lanskoy will take part in the Ivoire Live Tour. It will captivate you with its inner tension, sublimated by a dynamic and ultimately balanced composition.

The 1960s were the years of consecration for André Lanskoy. In 1960, the Guggenheim Museum bought his work Lecture à voix basse; in 1965, the Knoedler & Co gallery in New York organized an exhibition for him, and in 1967 the French government acquired Une autre source. This international recognition saluted a singular style of painting, distinguished from that of other representatives of abstraction by its rhythm and movement, its attachment to organic forms that build almost musical compositions, shot through with spontaneous bursts and chromatic vibrations. Dated 1964, this canvas, which will be accompanied by a certificate from André Schoeller, is a fine testimony to André Lanskoy’s work. No rigidity is apparent. A feeling of constant movement emanates from this canvas, whose evocative title contributes to its effect. Un péril à vaincre evokes a struggle, a combat in which painting is bound to emerge victorious, thanks to the artist’s inventiveness. He has created a new plastic language in which color predominates. Although the intense pink contrasts with the black of the background, there is a beautiful harmony in this composition structured by a network of curved lines, drawn beforehand in charcoal, shaping geometric forms that impart a fragile rhythm and balance.