Serge Poliakoff was a Russian-born French modernist painter belonging to the ‘New’ École de Paris and who came to be considered one of the most powerful painters of his generation. He was photographed on a brief trip to France when Karsh’s other artistic subjects included Marc Chagall and Alberto Giacommetti.

Poliakoff died on this day, October 12, 1969 (b. 2000)