Abraham Palatnik. Elephant, c. 1960

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...

Abraham Palatnik (1928-2020) Sculpture "Fish", c. 1960 Polyester resin and pigment in black and white. Signed PAL Kinetic art - Beautiful and rare polyester resin sculpture from the HOME AND FARM collection representing a goose. 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...

Abraham Palatnik (1928-2020) Sculpture "Canard", c. 1960 Polyester resin and pigment in black and white. Kinetic art - Beautiful and rare polyester resin sculpture from the HOME AND FARM collection representing an goose. 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...

Abraham Palatnik (1928-2020) Bird Sculpture, circa 1960 Polyester resin and pigments. Measures: (21.5 x 9.5 x 2.5 cm) This Polyester resin sculpture representing a bird, in the colors yellow and black It 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 that Palatnik 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...

Abraham Palatnik (1928-2020) Sculpture "Fish", c. 1960 Polyester resin and pigment in black and white. Signed PAL Kinetic art - Beautiful and rare polyester resin sculpture from the HOME AND FARM collection representing a goose. 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...

Abraham Palatnik, an essential figure in cinematic art in Brazil, made this very original console in 1961. Resting on four legs and a structure with two iron trays, plus another uppe...

A large black lucite elephant by Abraham Palatnik. Made in Brazil in the early1970’s with its label and signed in the item. In exceptional condition i...

A very good lucite black elephant made by Abraham Palatnik in Brazil in about 1970. This one is mid sized, being 23.5cm in height. It retains its ori...

A Mid-Century Modern art owl designed by Abraham Palatnik. Original label on bottom: Made in Brazil. Abraham Palatnik (born in 1928) is a Brazilian artist and inventor whose innovati...

Abraham Palatnik The giraffe and the cheetah 2 sculptures in amber and black acrylic. circa 1960 Cheetah: 12 x 6 x 2 mm Giraffe: 21 x 12 x 3 mm Super...

Three beautiful large Elephants. Two of them in black, white and grey, the third one is in blue black and turquoise Lucite. All signed C Pal made in Brazil. The Brazilian artist A...

Rare Brazilian modern kinetic sculpture in turquoise made of acrylic resin designed by Abraham Palatnik, part of Artemis Collection made in the 1970's.