Russian Constructivism Catalog

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BY THE FIRST DECADE

of the twentieth

century the world was experiencing a series of changes that would affect the art world profoundly. After World War I, while many governments struggled to rebuild and strengthen their nations, Russia was going through a revolution of its own. When the tsarist regime was overthrown in 1918 and the Bolshevik army assumed power, the country underwent a phase of political and social stress, which sparked a creative awakening that would impact the graphic arts for years to come.

THE

ART IN THE SERVICE OF

[ IT WAS A GROUP OF TWENTY-FIVE ARTISTS WHO TOOK THE LEAD ON THIS ENTERPRISE AND PROPOSED AN ARTISTIC MOVEMENT THAT REJECTED THE IDEA OF ART FOR ART’S SAKE...]

STATE Kazimir Malevich, Suprematism, 1915.

Oil on canvas.

Italian Futurism had already influenced the work of many artists. Painter Kasimir Malevich, inspired by its founder Filippo Marinetti, had expressed his intent of going back to pure colors and simple shapes. He promoted Suprematism, a form of art that conveys the use of solid geometric forms, particularly the square and circle. The movement, started in the first decade of the 1900´s served as a major root for Constructivism.

Constructivism involves the principles of tectonics, meaning the close relation between the communist set of ideals with those already present in art. Texture applies to the specific characteristics of a material and the particular role that it plays in the manufacturing process. Also, construction is represented by the creative process and the continuous search for visual organization of the elements on a piece, this being a direct relation with the name of the movement.

The growing support for the ideals of the Soviet Union quickly called for the participation of artists towards social causes. It was a group of twenty-five artists who took the lead on this enterprise and proposed an artistic movement that rejected the idea of art for art’s sake and called for art at the service of the state.

The participants abandoned their previous work and devoted their skills to the production of new and more efficient products, as well as the improvement of the mass visual communication that propagated the ideology of the new regime.

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Filippo Marinetti, Les Mots En Liberte Futuristes, 1915. Collage.

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TATLIN CONSTRUCTING FOR PROGRESS

Vladimir Tatlin is considered the father and leader

as plywood and tubular steel and applied them

of the Constructivist movement. He worked as an

on the design and fabrication of everyday objects

architect until the revolution of 1918 at which time

such as tables and especially chairs. His most

he changed direction towards industrial design.

famous one is the Tubular Steel Chair, 1927, which

He is probably best known for his Monument to

was conceived originally in bent wood, however,

the Third International that was meant to host

problems with it led to further research on the

meetings and conferences among leaders of

properties of tube steel which ultimately served

different countries. The monument was to be a tall

as the final material for this piece. Tatlin´s chairs

tower in iron, glass and steel, which would have

are the only chairs that survive from the period

shadowed the Eiffel Tower. However, it was never

and served as inspiration for modern designers.

constructed due to the high price of the materials.

His radical design made him the subject of critiques that attacked him for trying to design effective structures that were at the same time highly artistic.

Aside from architecture, Tatlin is also recognized for his counter reliefs, which were structures made out of different materials, predominantly

Opposite Page: Vladimir Tatlin, The Monument to the Third International, 1919. Maquette.

Upper Right: Vladimir Tatlin, Counter-relief (Material Selection), 1916. Wood, Iron and Zinc.

wood and iron, that were intended to be hung in wall corners.

With the creation of pieces

such as Counter-relief of 1916, Tatlin intended to question the traditional idea of painting and defy the common methods of producing art.

He experimented with innovative materials such Vladimir Tatlin, Model of the Tatlin Rogozhin Chair, 1927

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Books, 1925. Reconstruction Cover for the series Mess Mend (by Dzhim Dollar), 1924.

Advertisement for Rezinotrest galoshes, 1923.

The Plunge, 1926. Photograph Cover for Pro Eto (by Mayakovsky), 1923.

ALEXANDER

RODCHENKO Alexander Rodchenko had been trained originally

legible text. His designs, mostly for posters, book

capturing them from very high or low angles. These

as a painter, however when he decided to shift his

covers and films distinctively carry a solemn and

qualities can be seen in The Plunge (1926). He made

work towards photography and graphic arts, it was

nationalistic style that has been recreated by many

excellent use of the media in his posters, and his

quite obvious that he was accomplishing strong

of today’s designers. Example of this, the cover of

experimentation with collage and photomontage

and practical designs. Rodchenko’s graphic works

Pro Eto, a poem by Mayakovsky. As a photographer,

worked its way into the book covers, illustrations,

are rigidly geometric and mostly composed of

he picked scenes that were very socially engaged

advertisement,

several bright colored shapes that are organized

and that had analytical and documentary potential.

strategically along the layout with strong bold

He approached his subjects in very particular ways,

and

posters

he

produced.

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EL

LISSITZKY Following the work of several constructivists, El Lissitzky is perhaps the one that best captured in his work the pure essence of the movement. His life long belief was that artists could also serve as

agents of change and this conviction is summarize with his statement “das zielbewußte Schaffen” meaning “goal-oriented creation”.

The multi-

disciplinarian artist’ designs are characterized by the incorporation of type as a shape element that can be tilted and arranged to highlight or balance other elements on the page. His compositions reveal careful planning using different axes by which the sections of the poster are being divided. Among his best known pieces stands Exhibition Poster for the Kunstgewerbe Museum in Zurich, 1929 which features a powerful image that symbolizes the youth of a collective society above the exhibition structure designed also by Lissitzky. He was also very interested in editorial design and saw books as “monuments to the future” because of their permanence and ability to transmit knowledge through time and space thus linking this view with his “goal-oriented” philosophy. As an example of his editorial work Cover of Die Kunstismen (The Isms of Art),1925 and Cover of Broom,1928.

Like other Constructivists, his experiments with photomontage were also powerful tools in the development of his particular style; however, it was his integral involvement with the movement that

Inga,1929. Letterpress.

made him such a prominent figure.

Cover for Die Kunstismen, 1925.

Cover for Merz Matineen, 1923 Exhibition Poster for the Kunstgewerbe Museum in Zurich, 1929.

Cover for Broom, 1927 The New Man, 1925. Collage

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gustav

KLUTSIS Among the Constructivists, Gustav Klutsis was known as the “master of propaganda photomontage”. His skillful use of powerful images that conveyed the message of socialism helped him produce posters that celebrated Soviet victories and accomplishments. His acute comprehension of the relationship between photomontage and the graphic elements that constitute a political poster is evident in his definition of photomontage. “One must not think that photomontage is the expressive composition of photographs. It always includes a political slogan, color and graphic elements¨. His compositions are dynamic, and interesting to the eye due to graphic techniques such as the shift of scale, texture, and excellent use of colors which can be seen in Klutsis’ Spartakiada postcard of 1928 and the Everyone Must Vote in the Election of Soviets poster of 1930.

Therefore, the incorporation of photographic images is merely a representation of reality in communion with the rest of the graphic elements in the poster that symbolize and promote an ideology.

The Development of Transportation, 1929. Gravure.

We Will Return Our Coal Debt to the Country, 1930. Gravure Onward into the Third Year, 1930. Gravure Workers, Everyone must vote in the Election of Soviets!, 1930. Gravure

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Vladimir and Georgii Stenberg were also important figures in the movement. They were involved in the early stages of Constructivism and it was they who issued the first

V. AND G.

STENBERG

published of

the

declaration principles

Constructivism.

of The

brothers designed many film posters that featured the realistic black and white reproduction of images by means of drawing and painting. These were achieved with the use of projections and the use of gridded layouts, which were then complemented by simple, bright colored forms in dynamic compositions.

Symphony of a Great City, 1927. Lithograph Forced Labor, 1928. Offset Lithograph.

Pounded Cutlet, 1927. Lithograph The Three-Million Case, 1927. Lithograph

coNSTRUCTIVISM TODAY Traces of Constructivism can be seen today in Paula Scher’s posters for the PublicTheater. Her heavy use of tilted typography along with photography references of Klutsis’ and the Stenberg brothers’ posters. Scott Hansen’s Progress poster for President Obama’s campaign also incorporates these elements to convey a common social goal. Constructivism began to transform itself as World War II began to change the current ideals. However, the distinctively bold, graphic, dynamic and politically-oriented character of this movement is still present as a source of reference for many designers that wish to send a message of accomplishment, patriotism and support for a cause.

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Shepard Fairey, Hope, 2008. Digital Paula Scher, Poster for The Public Theater, 1996.

Scott Hansen, Progress. 2008. Digital

Graphic design was not the only media to flourish during Constructivism. Many artists also dedicated efforts towards designing everyday objects. Therefore, the textile and clothing industry also benefited from this movement.

Rodchenko,Tatlin and Lyubov Popova

were

among

the

LyUvOB

popova

artists involved in textile design. Popova devised a set of methods and standards that adjusted to the Constructivist style. Although she was involved mainly in the design of theatrical costumes, she conceived the idea of beauty in garments that possessed clarity, simplicity, functionality, economy

of

line,

and

“perfect

accord

between

interdependent and inter functioning parts”. Popova designed overalls that facilitated actors’ movements on stage and used these costumes as prototypes for massproduced clothing. Popova’s designs placed emphasis on the differentiation between genders rather than From left to right: Patterns from Popova’s Sketchbook 1923 – 1926, Pencil and ink.

ornamentation. Her patterns are distinctly geometric,

Last: Designs for Sports Clothing, 1924. Pencil and ink.

dynamic and clearly influenced by Cubism, which also nurtured her early career in painting.

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