Paul Osipow (1939) - Geometric composition III

Paul Osipow: Geometric Composition II (1979)

A serigraph on paper, 40 × 70 cm, printed by Edition Partanen, Schluchsee, in 1979. From an edition of 80; this impression is numbered 15/80. Signed and dated. In good condition (2+).

This sheet dates from the central phase of Osipow's geometric work. In the 1970s his painting was decisively shaped by his encounter with Barnett Newman, when space and colour took on a governing role and his compositions distilled to a few clear, rigorously balanced forms — precisely the reductive language at work in this print.

Paul Osipow, born in Kymi, Finland, in 1939, is one of the leading figures of Finnish post-war art. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and the Vapaa taidekoulu in Helsinki and at the University of Texas at Austin. He made his breakthrough in the Finnish art world around 1960 and first became known for his pop-art paintings, before turning towards the disciplined geometric abstraction for which he is most highly regarded. His exhibitions in the 1990s revealed a gradual move away from pure geometric expression towards a more painterly and unrestricted manner, drawing on the pioneers of modern painting with extensive references to late Impressionism, Cubism and Fauvism.

Osipow received the Finnish Art Society's Ducat Prize in 1966, a fifteen-year state artist's grant in 1985, the Swedish Prince Eugen Medal in 1989 and the Pro Finlandia Medal in 1990. His work is held in major Nordic collections, including the Ateneum / Finnish National Gallery in Helsinki, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm and the Nasjonalmuseet in Oslo.

Year: 1979
Technique: Serigraph (screenprint) on paper
Edition: Numbered 15/80
Signature: Signed and dated
Dimensions: 40 × 70 cm
Condition: Good (2+)
Printer: Edition Partanen, Schluchsee