Russian Constructivism
The constructivist art
movement started its roots in the early 20th century Russia. This
new radical art movement was developed shortly before the Bolsheviks revolution
of 1917. Constructivism
was a development of Russian futurism which was a post-World War 1 artistic style.
Its main influences came from Cubism, Suprematism and Futurism. The aim behind the
constructivist philosophy was the rejection of the idea of autonomous art. They
moved away from the traditional artistic beliefs and sought to replace ‘composition’
by the element of ‘construction’. The movement was in favour of art as a
practice for social purposes.
Constructivism as a term
for art was first used by Kazmir Malevich (originator of geometric abstract art
and Supermatism) to descirb the work of Alexander Rodchenko which was a crucial
element in the foundation of Constructivism.
The constructivist movement spanned a range of artistic fields which
included Architecture, Graphic Design, Theatre design, photography (photomontage)
and film. Also artists at the time started working with industrial
materials such as glass, steel, and plastic in clearly defined arrangements. These
new materials were used due to the Constructivist modernistic beliefs and their
admiration for machines and technology, functionalism, and modern mediums.
Constructivist also started using new technologies for their art and
photography and photomontage was highly used. The constructivists like the Dad
movement were the pioneers for this new artistic technique.
Famous artists of the
Constructivist movement include Vladimir Tatlin (Architecture) which is known
as the father of constructivism, Kasimir Malevich, Alexander Rodchenko ,and El
Lissitzky. (both Graphic designer at the time)
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| Tatlin tower 1919 |
| El lissitsky beat the whites with red wedge 1919 propoganda poster |
 |
| Alexander Rodchenko Lengiz books in all branches of knowledge 1925 |
 |
| poster 1929 El Lissitsky photomontage |
The elements of ‘Construction can be seen in these artists work as the use of symmetry, geometry and geometric shapes is very strong in their work. Another factor of the style is the use of sharp diagonal lined which give a sense of movement and dynamism to their work. The colour palette was always limited to few colours and the most common combination of colour that was used was red, white and black.From a Graphic Design point of view artists strictly used bold Sans Serif type which was also in line with their geometric ideology.
Constructivism was a very influential artistic movement and its legacy inspired later artists and artistic movement.
The German design school Bauhaus was highly influenced by the constructivist
works, Jan Tschichold was highly influenced by Alexander Rodchenko and El Lissitsky Graphic
design.
Constructivism spread and
made its way the west and in 1920 international Constructivism was founded and
spaned until 1950s.
References
References
(all accessed 23/01/2014 @ 14:30)
The Thames and Hudson
Dictionary of Graphic
design and Designers
1992-98 Thames and Hudson Ltd, London
UK
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