Georges Terzian

French, (Contemporary)

The title of the canvas, Cache Cache , translates as hide-and-seek: an apt description for the cubist style which features so heavily in the work. Terzian presents the viewer with a complex combination of geometry and texture, in which they are invited to find hidden forms and shapes. Terzian is particularly known for his experiments with the formation of different objects, often breaking down his subjects into purely abstract components, and Cache Cache stands as one of the artist’s most abstract pieces. With its sharp pointed lines, diverse colours and complex textures, this canvas by Terzian is therefore a perfect encapsulation of the lineage of cubist and constructivist techniques he so successfully emulated.

Cache Cache is typical of Terzian’s work in the 1980s. Where his earlier paintings were often figurative or based on landscapes, and his later works evoke a sculptural prototype, delineating a single abstract solid, this middle period is perhaps the closest the artist came to a pure cubist style. At the same time, Terzian’s main inspiration moved away from Cézanne and towards Picasso, Braque and Leger, his paintings becoming increasingly colourful. This period would also see the artist incorporating Russian constructivist practices into his compositions, bringing a linear straightness to previously sinuous lines.

Cache Cache

Oil on Canvas

50 x 73 cms / 19¾” x 28¾”

Provenance

Private Collection, France.

Gladwell & Patterson, London ; acquired in July 2022.