1920’s Russian Art

SUPREMATISM

“Under Suprematism I understand the supremacy of pure feeling in creative art. To the Suprematist the visual phenomena of the objective world are, in themselves, mean-ingless; the significant thing is feeling, as such, quite apart from the environment in which it is called forth... Hence, to the Suprematist, the appropriate means of representation is always the one which gives fullest possible expression to feel-ing ... and which ignores the familiar appearance of objects.’

Kazimir Malevich 1913

White on White (1918) Supremus No. 58 (1916)

For Malevich, it is upon the foundations of absolute non-objectivity that the future of the universe will be built - a future in which appearances, objects, comfort,

and convenience no longer dominate.

suprematism refers to an abstract art based upon “the supremacy of pure artistic feeling” rather than on visual depiction of objects

influenced development of the bauhaus and constructrivism

Black Sqaure Series (1915)

Black Sqaure Series (1915) self portrait (1933)

EL LISSITKZY

Lissitzky was a Russian artist, designer,photogra-pher, typographer, polemicist and architect. As an im-portant figure of the Russian avant garde, Lissitzky helped develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designed numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works for the former Soviet Union.

Proun series (1921-1923) Proun series (1921-1923)

Proun series (1921-1923) Proun series (1921-1923)

Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919)

The intrusive red wedge symbolises the bolsheviks, who are penetrating and defeating their op-ponents, the White movement, during theRussian Civil War. The image of the red wedge shattering the white form, sim-ple as it was, com-municated a pow-erful message that left no doubt in the viewer’s mind of its intention.

ALEKSANDR RODCHENKO ANDCONSTRUCTIVISM

Considered a leader in the Russian Avante-Garde along with LIissiztky, Aleksander Rodchenko was one of the lead workers in the constructivist movement. Kazimir Malevich coined the term “constructivism when referring to Rodchenko’s work

A movement with origins in Russia, Constructivism was primarily an art and architectural movement. It rejected the idea of art for arts’ sake and the traditional bourgeois class of society to which previous art had been catered. Instead it favored art as a practise directed to-wards social change or that would serve a social purpose. Developing after World War I, the movement sought to push people to rebuild so-ciety in a Utopian model rather than the one that had led to the war.