Serge Poliakoff was born on January 8, 1900 in Moscow, Russia. He fled the Russian Revolution in 1917 and went to Constantinople, Turkey. In 1923 he moved to Paris, France where he worked as a cabaret guitarist and began to study art. In 1935 he studied art in London. He was strongly influenced by the work of Vasily (Wassily) Kandinsky (Lawyer turned artist; Born in Moscow 1866, German citizen 1928, French citizen 1939, died 1944). Poliakoff's art is in the abstract genre -- he used colors without form. His works are in numerous museums around the world. His works include five textile designs printed on cotton fabric in France in the late 1940's. He designed the 1972 wine bottle label for Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, one of the many world-famous artists who have been commissioned to illustrate the wines from this famous winery in the Bordeaux region of France. He died in Paris, France on October 12, 1969 before his Olympic poster was actually printed.
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left: 1972 Wine label for Chateau Mouton Rothschild
right: 1988 French commemorative stamp honoring Poliakoff with his 1954 abstract composition
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