Constructivism in painting. Styles and trends in the visual arts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The rapid technological progress of the beginning of the last century gave rise to the latest trends in art and, as a result, a trend towards the destruction of traditional canons, the search for other forms and aesthetic principles. This was most clearly expressed in avant-gardism - a complex of artistic phenomena of the first third of the 20th century. One of the numerous avant-garde trends was the style of constructivism, which arose in the young Soviet state of 1920-1930. It is also called "industrial" or "building" art.

Areas of influence and distribution

Constructivism in painting is too weakly expressed, the direction is mainly associated with architecture, in which simple geometric forms and extreme functionality are most characteristically applied. But the principles of constructivism, spreading comprehensively and rapidly, also had a significant impact on graphic, industrial design,photography, theatre, cinema, dance, fashion, fiction and music of the period.

Soviet constructivism had a significant impact on contemporary creative movements of the 20th century, and not only within the Bolshevik country. The consequences of his influence can be traced in the main trends of the German Bauhaus design school and the Dutch art movement De Stijl, in the work of the masters of Europe and Latin America.

The emergence of the term

The term "building art" was first used as a sarcastic expression by Kazimir Malevich in 1917 to describe the work of Alexander Rodchenko. The term "constructivism" was coined by sculptors Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo. The latter developed an industrial, angular style of work, and for its geometric abstraction, he owed something to Malevich's Suprematism. The term first appears in N. Gabo's "Realistic Manifesto" (1920), then as the title of a book by Alexei Gan (1922).

The birth and development of the movement

Constructivism among the many styles and trends in the visual arts was formed on the basis of Russian futurism, in particular, under the influence of the so-called "Counter-reliefs" (various textured collages from various materials) by Vladimir Tatlin, exhibited in 1915. He was (like Kazimir Malevich) one of the pioneers of geometric abstract art, the founder of the avant-garde Suprematist movement.

The concept of a new direction was developed in the MoscowInstitute of Artistic Culture (INKhUK) in the period 1920 - 1922, the first working group of constructivists. Lyubov Popova, Alexander Vesnin, Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Alexei Gan, Boris Arvatov and Osip Brik, headed by the first chairman of the group Vasily Kandinsky, developed a theoretical definition of constructivism as an inseparable combination of the main elements of industrial culture (constructions, texture and specific material properties of an object with its spatial position).

Principles and features

According to constructivism, art is a means exclusively intended for the artistic design of everyday-utilitarian, practically applicable objects. The expressive laconic form of works, devoid of all sorts of "beauties" and "decorations", should be as functional as possible and designed for convenient use in mass production (hence the term "production art").

The non-objectivity of Kandinsky's sensory-emotional forms or Malevich's rational-abstract geometry were rethought by constructivists and transformed into real-life spatial objects. Thus, a new design of work clothes, fabric patterns, furniture, utensils and other consumer items appeared, and the characteristic look of Soviet-era posters was born.

Special asceticism in visual means of expression distinguishes this trend from similar styles, but in many respects generalizes it with rationalism. In addition to theoretical ideology,constructivism is distinguished by such external properties:

1. Small tonal range ranging from blue, red, yellow, green, black, gray and white. The colors were not necessarily locally pure, their tinted muted variants were often used, but no more than 3-4 at a time.
2. Shapes and lines expressive, simple, few, limited to vertical, horizontal, diagonal or regular circle shape.
3. The contours of objects give the impression of a monolithic structure.
4. There is a so-called "machine" aesthetic that displays graphic or spatial engineering ideas, mechanisms, parts, tools.

The Art of Construction and Productivism by Tatlin

The key point of the direction was the model of Vladimir Tatlin, proposed for the construction of a monument to the Third International (1919 - 1920). The design had to combine the aesthetics of the machine with dynamic components that celebrated technologies such as spotlights and projection screens.

At this time, the work of Gabo and Pevsner on the "Realistic Manifesto", which affirms the spiritual core of the movement, was coming to an end. Gabo publicly criticized Tatlin's project, saying, "Either create functional houses and bridges, or create pure art, and neither at the same time." The idea of erecting monuments with no practical use was at odds with the utilitarian-adaptable version of constructivism. But at the same time, Tatlin's designfully reflected the new progressive idea of the form, the materials used and the manufacturability of creation. This caused serious controversy and controversy among the members of the Moscow group in 1920.

German artists proclaimed Tatlin's work revolutionary in international, and not just Soviet fine art. Drawings and photographs of the model were published in Taut Fruhlicht magazine. The Tatlinskaya Tower became the beginning of the exchange of creative ideas of "building art" between Moscow and Berlin. The monument was planned to be erected in Leningrad, but the plan was never implemented due to lack of money in the post-revolutionary period. Nevertheless, the image of the Tatlin Tower remained a kind of symbol of constructivism and the world avant-garde.

A talented self-taught artist, the founder of the movement, Tatlin was the first constructivist who tried to offer his design abilities to industrial production: projects of an economical stove, workwear, furniture. It should be noted that these were very utopian ideas, like his tower and the “letatlin” flying machine, on which he worked until the 1930s.

Constructivism in painting

The very idea of the movement, excluding pure art and any "beautifulness" has already denied painting as a form of creativity that is not capable of serving the utilitarian needs of the people. The new artist was proclaimed an engineer who creates things that must influence the consciousness and way of life of a person. The postulate "… do not decorate the walls with paintings, but paint them …" meant a dead end for easel painting - an element of bourgeois aesthetics.

Constructivist artistsrealized their potential in posters, design projects for industrial products, design of public spaces, sketches of fabrics, clothes, costumes and scenery for theater and cinema. Some, like Rodchenko, found themselves in the art of photography. Others, like Popova in her Space-Force Constructions cycle, argued that their paintings were an intermediate stage on the path to engineering design.

Not being fully embodied in painting, constructivism contributed to the development of the art of collage and spatial-geometric installation. Tatlin's "counter-reliefs" and El Lissitzky's "prouns" served as an ideological source. The works, in essence, like easel painting, had no practical application, but looked like fantastic engineering developments and looked in the technogenic spirit of that time.

Prouny

Developed by the beginning of the twenties by the artist and architect El Lissitzky, the so-called new art projects (“prouns”) were abstract geometric compositions made in a picturesque, graphic form in the form of applications and three-dimensional architectonics. Many artists (not only constructivists) in their paintings of the 20s depicted such “prouns”, which remained abstract images. But many of Lissitzky's works were later implemented in furniture, interior, theater design projects or were embodied as decorative and spatial installations.

Art in the service of agitation

In the mid-1920s - 1930s, a special style of Soviet-era posters was established, which later became a separate design section. It covered theatrical and film posters, commercial and industrial advertising. The followers of the movement, picking up Mayakovsky's dictum, called themselves "advertising constructors." In the same period, the nature of the propaganda poster was formed as one of the mechanisms for influencing the consciousness of the masses.

Constructivists were the first to use collage techniques for a poster in Russia, combining drawing, photography and elements of printed products. The font, as well as the carefully thought-out placement of the text, played a special artistic role and often looked like a laconic graphic ornament. The artistic methods of poster design developed in those years remained basic throughout the Soviet period.

Rodchenko's progressive photography

The discrepancy between the utilitarian ideas of constructivism in painting was opposed to their embodiment in photography - a real reflection of life itself. The unique works of the multifaceted artist Alexander Rodchenko are recognized as masterpieces of this art form.

Spare no consumables, he tried to capture every object or action in different conditions and from several angles. Impressed by the photomontage of the German Dadaists, he was the first to use this technique in Russia. His debut photomontage, published in 1923, illustrated the poemMayakovsky "About it". In 1924, Rodchenko created what is probably his most famous poster montage, an advertisement for the Lengiz publishing house, sometimes referred to as "Books".

He made a revolution in composition: nature was shot by him amazingly picturesquely and often resembles a rhythmic graphic pattern or abstraction. At the same time, his images are incredibly dynamic; they can be generally characterized by the slogan: “Time, forward!”. Rodchenko's works were also striking in that nature was often shot from rather unusual angles, for which the photographer sometimes had to take simply dizzying positions.

Rodchenko's groundbreaking shots have remained classics for generations of photographers and inspired many design makers. For example, the American conceptual artist Barbara Kruger owes the success of her numerous works to Rodchenko. And variations of his photo portrait of Lilia Brik and the poster "A Sixth of the World" became the basis for the covers of music albums of foreign punk and rock bands.

Russian constructivism in world art

Some constructivists taught or lectured at the Bauhaus school, where some of the VKHUTEMAS teaching methods were adopted and developed. Through Germany, stylistic principles “emigrated” to Austria, Holland, Hungary and other European countries. In 1930 - 1940, one of the leaders of the world avant-garde, Nahum Gabo, founded in England a variant of constructivism, which was established after the First World War inBritish architecture, design and various fields of artistic creation.

The creator of the constructivist movement in Ecuador, Manuel Rendon Seminary, and the artist from Uruguay, Joaquin Torres Garcia, played an important role in spreading the style in European, African, Latin American countries. Constructivism in painting is expressed in the works of contemporary Latin American artists: Osvaldo Viteri, Carlos Merida, Theo Constante, Enrique Tabara, Anibal Villak and other equally famous masters. Followers of constructivism also worked in Australia, the most famous of which was the artist George Johnson.

Graphic designer Neville Brodie recreated the style in the 1980s based on constructivist Soviet posters, which aroused keen interest among connoisseurs of contemporary art. Nick Phillips and Ian Anderson in 1986 created the famous graphic design studio The Designers Republic in Sheffield, England, based on constructivist ideas. This strong company continues to thrive today, especially in the direction of music logos and album art.

From the beginning of the thirties, when any progressive and avant-garde trends were banned in the Soviet country, constructivism continued to develop and influence world art abroad. Having lost its ideological basis, the style became the foundation for other areas, and its elements can still be traced in modern art, design and architecture.