Mid Century Expressionist Oil Painting of Two Abstract Figures in Red and Orange

Two figures, one red and one orange, sit facing each other across a canvas that looks as though it was painted in a single afternoon with a palette knife and a great deal of conviction. The red one has a toothy grin and a staring eye; the orange one has a single eye radiating little lines, like a sun. Behind them, bands of teal are scraped across the raw brown ground in short horizontal strokes, and everything is edged in black. It is bold, a bit unhinged and completely alive.

This is an oil on canvas, most likely 1950s to 1970s, signed at lower left in a hand we have not yet managed to read (it begins with a G and looks Italian or French). It belongs to that mid century European moment when painters were looking at Picasso, Dubuffet and the CoBrA group and deciding that faces did not need to behave. The paint is thick and textured, with the weave of the canvas showing through in places and the pigment sitting proud of the surface in others, so it changes with the light through the day.

It measures 60 x 51 cm and comes unframed on its original stretcher, with the reverse showing old dealer or studio numbering in red and blue. The edges show a little wear and there is minor rubbing to the corners, all in keeping with a canvas that has been lived with rather than stored. It would frame very well in a simple floating tray frame in natural oak or black, or hang exactly as it is, which is how we have it.

We would give it a wall to itself in a hallway, a dining room or a study, ideally somewhere with white or soft grey walls so the orange and red can do their thing. It also sits brilliantly on a shelf or mantelpiece leaning against the wall, with a couple of dark ceramics for company. If you like your art with a pulse, this is the one.