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Although Constructivism was suppressed in Russia by the 1920s, core members of the group continued to spread its ideas across Europe and the Americas. Constructivism influenced many contemporary and subsequent modern art movements, including the Bauhaus in Germany, De Stijl in Holland and the post-war Zero art collectives that sprang up across ...
- Summary of Constructivism
- Key Ideas & Accomplishments
- Beginnings of Constructivism
- Concepts, Styles and Trends
- Later Developments - After Constructivism
Constructivism was the most influential modern art movement in twentieth century Russia. With its aesthetic roots fixed firmly in the Suprematism movement, Constructivism came fully to the fore as the art of a young Soviet Union after the revolution of 1917. The movement was conceived of out of a need for a new aesthetic language; one benefitting o...
The shared goal of the founders of Constructivism was to produce artworks and buildings using modern materials and designs that would awaken the proletariat to imperialist class divisions and other...Constructivism became closely aligned with the idea of agitprop (agitational propaganda) which applied to an artwork that aimed to educate and indoctrinate its audience to the prevailing Bolshevik...Once evolved into Productivism, Constructivist art promoted the idea of an industrial production must directly address the needs of the proletariat. Without abandoning their commitment to basic geo...Constructivist art often aimed to demonstrate how materials behaved and to test, for instance, the properties of materials such as wood, glass, and metal. The form an artwork would take would be di...Roots in Suprematism
Suprematism was a radical abstract art that, mostly through the efforts of Kazimir Malevich, went in search of a “zero degree” in art; that being the point at which art could be reduced to its “vanishing point”. Malevich reduced art to basic shapes (squares, circles, crosses) as a means of making art that was about the “supremacy of feeling” over pictorial art that was always about “meaning”. In 1915, Malevich was joined by Russian artists Kseniya Boguslavskaya, Ivan Klyun, Mikhail Menkov, Iv...
Agitprop
The disjunction between Suprematism and Constructivism can be attributed chiefly to the idea of agitprop (agitational propaganda). The Suprematist’s search for the “supremacy of feelling” was overtaken by the idea that domestic art (ergo Constructivism) should explicitly support the interests of the nascent Soviet Union. It was a state backed policy that even warranted its own bureau, The Communist Party’s Department of Agitation and Propaganda(established in 1920). The term itself refers to...
Agit Trains
Historian Adelheid Heftberger explains how, in 1919, Anatolii Lunacharskii “The Soviet People’s Commissar of Enlightenment”, stated that “Education in the wider sense of the word consists in the dissemination of ideas among minds that would otherwise remain a stranger to them. Cinema can accomplish both these things with particular force: it constitutes, on the one hand, a visual clarion for the dissemination of ideas and, on the other hand, if we introduce elements of the refined, the poetic...
Architecture
Constructivist architecture grew from the radical theories on design as espoused by Tatlin, Lissitzky, and Malevich. Their ideas translated into architectural jargon as “stereometric forms” which described an architectural style purged of all decorative elements and all references to past styles. Architecture historian, William C. Brumfield, explains how the Institute of Artistic Culture (INKhUK), “attempted to establish a science examining analytically and synthetically the basic elements bo...
Sculpture
There were many overlaps between Constructivist artforms, not least in sculpture and architecture. Discussions on Constructivist sculpture typically begin with Tatlin’s Tower(1919) because it amounted to an attack on the “carved” and “cast” academic sculpture which it replaced with a preference for modern industrial materials (steel, glass, plastic and so on). The Constructivist sculpture thus rejected the academic principles of harmony in “mass” and “volume” in favor of constructed geometric...
Photomontage
Photomontage has been the medium of choice for producers of propaganda and agitprop. Following in the vein of the Dadaists, the Constructivists favored the photographic image because it communicates with an immediacy and objectivity that can be lost with painting and written text. Indeed, Lissitzky declared that "No form of representation is so readily comprehensible to the masses as photography”. By combining images with text, photomontage was seen as a modern, attention-grabbing, technique...
Constructivism had, following a steady decline, all but ceased in Russia by the early 1930s. The movement had fallen victim of Stalin’s hostility to intellectualism and avant-garde art and gave way to the new regime’s preference for Socialist Realism. Nevertheless, the style of Constructivism (now divested of its original political purpose) would c...
This article delves into the fascinating world of Constructivism Art, a groundbreaking art movement that emerged in early 20th-century Russia. It explores the origins, key characteristics, and significant figures of Constructivism, along with its global impact and enduring legacy in contemporary art. Through an engaging narrative, the article offers a comprehensive overview of Constructivism's ...
Sep 16, 2024 · Emerging from the 1917 revolution in the newly formed Soviet Union, Constructivism wasn’t only the most influential modern art movement in 20th century Russia, but its visualization of a new aesthetic language brought with it a sea change in how we view art that redefined the role of art in society. Deeply intertwined with social, political ...
Jan 22, 2021 · The Constructivist manifesto was written in 1922 by Aleksei Gan, a Russian artist. The opening line of the manifesto declared: “UNCOMPROMISING WAR ON ART”. Five years earlier, in 1917, the Russian Revolution had taken place, and the Russian people were disentangling themselves from the shackles of the ruling elite.
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Silka P. Russian Constructivism was the last and most influential modern art period to flourish in Russia in the 20th-century. Looking back in 1924, the painter Kazimir Malevich wrote: “ We have drawn two conclusions from Cubism, one is Suprematism, the other Constructivism…. ” Like Suprematism, Russian Constructivism was formed in 1914 ...
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Mar 26, 2024 · Constructivism, a movement that emerged in early 20th-century Russia, demonstrates the significant role of art and architecture in shaping society. This article explores the journey of Constructivism, from its beginnings in a time of political and social upheaval to its lasting impact on modern art and architecture. Through this examination, we discuss the principles, influence,
