Art Movement: Constructivism

Alexander Rodchenko, Books (Please)! In All Branches of Knowledge, 1924.

Courtesy Culture Matters

By Shira Wolfe

“WE DECLARE UNCOMPROMISING WAR ON ART!”

– Aleksei Gan
In 1913, the Russian artist Vladimir Tatlin paid a visit to Picasso’s studio. What he saw there
were Picasso’s experiments with collaged objects (papiers collés). This encounter profoundly
influenced Tatlin, who embarked on an exploration of his own in the collage medium, creating
abstract, three-dimensional collages made of metal and wood. He exhibited these alongside
Kasimir Malevich’s Suprematist paintings at the “Last Futurist Exhibition” that year. This
marked the beginning of Constructivism, an art movement in which the artists were interested
in construction. Art was to be built.

What is Constructivism?
In Constructivism, the role of the artist was re-imagined – the artist became an engineer wielding
tools, instead of a painter holding a brush. For the Constructivists, artworks were part of a greater
visual program meant to awaken the masses and lead them towards awareness of class divisions,
social inequalities, and revolution. The Constructivists believed that art had no place in the
hermetic space of the artist’s studio. Rather, they thought that art should reflect the industrial
world and that it should be used as a tool in the Communist revolution.

Constructivist Style
Constructivist art focused on industrial production. Constructivists used stripped down,
geometric forms and modest materials. Their visual language existed of forms that they could
draw with practical instruments like compasses and rulers. Materials like wood, glass and metal
were analysed and judged on the basis of how suitable they were for use in mass-produced
objects and images.

Constructivism in the Soviet Union

The Russian Revolution had taken place in 1917, and the country was freeing itself from the
grips of the ruling elite. The desire was to revolutionise all aspects of Russia, including its
cultural life. Art was to be in service of the new, Communist society.

The Soviet Union was formed in 1922, the same year in which Russian artist Aleksei Gan wrote
a manifesto that began with the following words: “WE DECLARE UNCOMPROMISING WAR
ON ART!” Aleksei Gan, Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko are considered the founding
members of Constructivism. They were soon joined by artists including Varvara Stepanova,
Liubov Popova and El Lissitzky. These artists were interested in creating art that would serve the
masses. They attempted to find the Communist expression of material construction. Building and
science were emphasised over artistic expression, and Constructivism reached as far and wide as
architecture, design, fashion, and mass-produced objects. Construction ruled over, for example,
classic painterly concerns such as composition.
El Lissitzky, Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, 1920. Courtesy Tate
Vladimir Tatlin, Tatlin’s Tower, 1919. Courtesy Arkinet
 El
Lissitzky, Study for “Proun” 8 Stellungen, 1923. Courtesy Guggenheim

Famous Constructivist Artworks

Vladimir Tatlin’s Tatlin’s Tower (1919)

Tatlin’s Tower, also known as the Monument to the Third International, was Tatlin’s design for a
monumental building that was to be erected in St. Petersburg as the headquarters and monument
of the Comintern (Third International). It was envisioned as a towering symbol of modernity,
built from industrial materials like glass, steel, and iron. Though the tower was never realised, it
has become one of the symbols of Constructivism.
El Lissitzky’s Proun Room (1923)
Proun Room is an installation of dynamic abstract forms that appear to be floating, and which
are meant to activate the viewer, propelling them around the space.

Alexander Rodchenko’s Books (Please)! In All Branches of Knowledge (1924)

This iconic Constructivist artwork depicts a woman shouting the words in the title of the piece in
sharp, linear forms. This gives the artwork a sonic dimension.

László Moholy-Nagy, A II (Construction A II), 1924. Courtesy Guggenheim

Constructivism in Germany
Constructivism was taken up by many artists in Germany. One of the most important artists
influenced by Constructivism in Germany was László Moholy-Nagy, who had come from
Hungary to Germany where he taught at the Bauhaus. El Lissitzky, who became the Russian
cultural ambassador to Weimar Germay, and Naum Gabo, who spent time in Berlin and was
affiliated with the Bauhaus, also contributed a great deal to spreading Constructivism in
Germany.

The Impact of Constructivism

Constructivism may have originated in Russia, but it soon spread out across the continent, for
example through the many Constructivists who taught at the Bauhaus in Germany. By the mid-
1920s, the movement was in decline due to the increasing hostility of the Bolshevik regime
towards avant-garde art. Still, the movement continued to flourish throughout the West until the
1940s. In England, for example, a version of Constructivism was established in the 1930s and
1940s.

Joaquín Torres García and Manuel Rendón helped disseminate Constructivism throughout
Europe and Latin America. In Latin America, artists including Carlos Mérida, Enrique Tábara,
Aníbal Villacís and Oscar Niemeyer were greatly influenced by the movement. Its influence can
also be seen on Minimalist artists, who were occupied with reducing form down to its most
essential elements.

What is Constructivism in art

Rather than emerging from an expressive impulse or an academic tradition, the art is to be built.
Constructivist art focused on industrial production. Constructivists used stripped down,
geometric forms and modest materials. Their visual language existed of forms that they could
draw with practical instruments like compasses and rulers. Materials like wood, glass and metal
were analysed and judged on the basis of how suitable they were for use in mass-produced
objects and images.

Who was the founder of Constructivism Art.

Constructivism was an artistic and architectural theory that originated in Russia at the beginning
of 1913 by Vladimir Tatlin. This was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art by constructing it.
The movement supported art as a practice for social objectives.

What influenced Constructivism?

Constructivism was first influenced by both Cubism and Futurism and is generally considered to
have been initiated in 1913 with the “painting reliefs” – abstract geometric constructions of
Vladimir Tatlin. Lissitzky’s combination of Constructivism and Suprematism later influenced
the de Stijl artists and architects whom he met in Berlin, as well as the Hungarian László
Moholy-Nagy.