Lot 253
  • 253

Francisco Infante

Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
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Description

  • Francisco Infante
  • From the Spirals Series
  • signed in Cyrillic and dated 1965 l.r.; further bearing various exhibition labels on the frame and backing board 
  • gouache on paper
  • 101 by 51cm, 39 3/4 by 20in.

Exhibited

St Petersburg, The State Russian Museum; Moscow, The State Tretyakov Gallery; Frankfurt am Main, Städel et al., Nonkonformisty: vtoroy russkiy avangard 1955-1988, 1996-1997, illustrated on p.126 of the catalogue
Ashdod, Art Museum Ashdod, Persecuted Art & Artists under Totalitarian Regimes in Europe During the 20th Century, 22 June - 21 September 2003, illustrated on p.208 and listed on p.279 of the catalogue
Bern, Kunstmuseum Bern, Avantgarde im Untergrund. Russische Nonkonformisten aus der Sammlung Bar-Gera, 3 February - 24 April 2005, illustrated on p.116 and listed on p.167 of the catalogue
Bratislava, The Slovak National Gallery, Nonkonformisti. Druhá ruská avantgarda 1955-1988. Zbierka Bar-Gera, 14 November 2008 - 22 February 2009, illustrated on p.108 and listed on p.169 of the catalogue

Catalogue Note

Taking its name from the Russian word for ‘movement’, Dvizhenie was an important artist group based in Moscow and organised by Lev Nussberg in 1962. One of the founding members was Francisco Infante, and Tatiana Bystrova joined later in 1966. Their works are characterised by symmetry, geometric shapes, the use of bold or primary colours and a preoccupation with light and dark. Rhythmic repetition of form typically suggests construction or movement such as the bright waving vertical line in the present lot.

Dvizhenie’s aesthetic experiments were directly inspired by the Russian avant-garde artists of the early 20th century, such as Naum Gabo, Antoine Pevsner and Vladimir Tatlin. Although those works were outlawed in the Soviet Union, the Dvizhenie artists boldly imitated them and they enjoyed unusual artistic freedom among their non-conformist contemporaries because their works were seen more as scientific investigations in the field of design rather than Fine Art.