John Piper was one of the pioneers of abstract art in Britain. In a surprising break with his previous work, paintings of women on the beach, he made his first abstract pictures in the winter of 1934-5. Piper recast the beach scenes in terms of abstract design and colour, and carried the design into real space on painted rods. This development ushered in two years of abstract work that, however, brought him little reward. Construction, Intersection came to Tate from the estate of the artist's widow, and has never, unlike some other examples, been modified or repaired.