Abraham Palatnik Lucite Black Elephant Brazil, c1970

A large Palatnik whale with black decoration, signed in the item ‘Pal’ and retains its ‘Made in Brazil’ paper label to the base. In excellent condition, c.1970.

A large lucite cat with black decoration. The largest size of cat made by Palatnik. Signed in the piece, excellent condition, c.1970, made in Brazil.

A large Palatnik lucite Heron in black, signed in the piece, ‘Pal’. In excellent condition from the 1970’s. It retains its paper label ‘ Made in Brazil.

A highly stylized charging bull in orange and brown, typical of Bagni's designs of midcentury Italian motifs.

Abraham Palatnik Brazil Mid-Century Lucite Acrylic Elephant Op Art Sculpture Kinetic sculpture of an elephant. Made of so-called lucite acrylic with integrated pattern, blue and blac...

Abraham Palatnik (1928-2020) Sculpture "Elephant", c. 1960 Vintage label (made in Brazil). Polyester resin and pigment in black. Kinetic art - Beautiful and rare polyester resin sculpture from the HOME AND FARM collection representing an elephant signed in the base. This sculpture is part of the series of animal sculptures that Abraham Palatnik made from the 1960s, in small format, they are small jewels of kinetic art, a movement of which he was one of the pioneers. "Born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, in 1928 to a family of Russian Jews, Palatnik moved with his family to Tel Aviv (then Palestine) when he was four years old. He attended Montefiori Technical School, where he specialized in internal combustion engines, and studied art under the tutelage of the painter Haaron Avni and the sculptor Sternshus at the Municipal Institute of Art. When he returned to Brazil in 1948, his output consisted mainly of figurative and landscape paintings and charcoal drawings. However, his encounters with the complex works made by schizophrenic patients at the Pedro II Psychiatric Hospital, where he taught painting workshops alongside Almir Mavignier and Ivan Serpa, caused him to abandon his early approach to traditional image-making: “I decided to start all over from scratch,” Palatnik said. “The discipline from the school, the studio, was no longer of any use.” Freed from the perceived restrictions of his training, Palatnik became closely associated with Grupo Frente, a movement started by Serpa and rooted in geometric abstraction. He used his knowledge of engineering and mechanics as well as his interest in natural forces to build his first Kinechromatic work. Titled Azul e roxo em seu primeiro movimento (Blue and Purple in First Movement), 1949, the piece debuted at the inaugural São Paulo Bienal in 1951. “In reality, it was luck that got me into the biennial,” Palatnik said in a 1986 interview. “At first, my machine was rejected, because it wasn’t a painting, a sculpture, a drawing, or a print.” The piece, which eventually gained entry, shocked the biennial’s grand prize jury, who gave Palatnik an honorable mention, calling his work an “important manifestation of modern art.” By 1969, he had participated in seven more editions of the international exhibition. Palatnik would also present work in the 1964 Venice Biennale, the 1966 Biennial of Córdoba, and the 1997 and 2005 editions of the Mercosul Biennial. His art was featured in significant exhibitions on kinetic art, including “Mouvement 2” (1964) at Denise René gallery in Paris; “Lumière, Mouvement et Optique” (1965) at the Brussels Palace of Fine Arts; “Kinetic Art” (1966) at the Museum of San Francisco; and, more recently, “Delirious: Art at the Limits of Reason, 1950–1980” (2017) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and “The Other Trans-Atlantic: Kinetic & Op Art in Central & Eastern Europe and Latin America 1950s–1970s” (2018) at Sesc Pinheiros in São Paulo. A major retrospective, “Abraham Palatnik—The Reinvention of Painting,” was staged at several venues across Brazil, including the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Rio de Janeiro (2017); the Fundação Iberê...

Kinetic art - Beautiful and rare polyester resin sculpture from the HOME AND FARM collection representing an elephant signed in the base. c. 1960. This sculpture is part of the seri...

1950s EBONY ELEPHANT DECORATIVE ELEPHANT FROM THE 50'S IN EBONY AND BONE . MEASURES: 28 CM HIGH good condition.