Curatorial Narrative The anonymous artist’s “Cog-wheel with tri-star and rays of light” situates itself within the Modernist canon, a period marked by a desire to reconcile the machine age’s technological advancements with the aesthetic values of traditional craftsmanship. Executed between 1939 and 1946, this work embodies the era’s fascination with industrial motifs and their transposition into art. At its core, “Cog-wheel” exemplifies the linear brushwork characteristic of Modernist painting, yet it subverts expectations through an unexpectedly vibrant palette that injects a sense of tension into the otherwise austere composition. The artist’s use of black, white, gray, and orange creates a chromatic structure that oscillates between the industrial and the cosmic, as if the mechanical and celestial planes have converged. The tri-star motif, rendered in stark black, assumes a monumental presence against the canvas’s somber backdr