05/22/2025
We are pleased to announce that Action of Positive and Negative (1952), a seminal work by Nikolai Kasak, has been acquired as part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
This important construction—executed in primary colors and with an irregular form—stands as one of the most significant works from this period in Kasak’s career. It embodies the core principles of the artist’s manifesto on irregular formats, a radical stance he began developing around 1945–46. In his own words (from On Art and Related Manners), Kasak outlined four foundational ideas:
Freedom from the limitations of the traditional rectangular, bidimensional frame.
Integration of painting and sculpture, rejecting their separation as distinct disciplines.
Use of both Negative and Positive Space Energies as structural and final elements of the work.
Assertion that a work of art is an autonomous, self-active reality—a physical invention, not an imitation or representation.
This pivotal piece was also published in Arte Madà Universal, nos. 7/8, Buenos Aires, June 1954, affirming its resonance within the avant-garde dialogues of the time. Kasak’s connection with the Madà movement—founded in 1946 by Gyula Kosice, Rhod Rothfuss, and Carmelo Arden Quin—further situates this work within a broader, transnational trajectory of geometric abstraction and concrete art.
MadĂ artists sought to reflect the vitality of modern life through playful yet rigorous explorations of form, often utilizing irregular supports and incorporating three-dimensional elements. Their journal, Arte MadĂ Universal, was a vital platform for international exchange and would later influence the development of Neo-Concrete art in Brazil.
We are honored to see this historic work enter the collection of such a prestigious institution, where it will contribute to ongoing conversations about abstraction, form, and modernism in the Americas.
