Russian suprematism and conservatism - Graphic Design History

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM
AND HOW IT CONNECTS TO THE DESIGNS OF TODAY
A presentation by: Kaitlyn Adams, Jessica Buie & Heather White

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: CONTEXT
Context

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: CONTEXT

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: CONTEXT
Piccasso, Still Life with Chair Caning, 1912

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: CONTEXT
Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, 1912
Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in
Space, 1913

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: CONTEXT
Suprematism
Years of influence: 1915 - late 1930s
Earliest and most radical development in abstract art
Name came from Malevich's belief that "Suprematist art would be superior to all the art of the past".
Malevich believed "there were only delicate links between words or signs and the objects they denote,
and from this he saw the possibilities for a totally abstract art".
Intrigued by the search for art's barest essentials
Important in shaping Constructivism, influences abstract art today
Interest in abstraction "fired by a search for the 'zero degree' of painting, the point beyond which the
medium could not go without ceasing to be art
Strong tone of absurdism running through the movement

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: CONTEXT

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: CONTEXT
Constructivism
Years of influence: 1915 - late 1930s
Last and most influential modern art movement to flourish in Russia in 20th century
Borrowed ideas from Cubism, Suprematism, and Futurism
Sought to "abolish the traditional artistic concern with composition and replace it with 'construction'".
Hoped that its investigation would eventually yield ideas that could be put into mass production,
"serving the ends of a modern, Communist society."
The form an artwork would take "would be dictated by its materials"
Desire to "express the experience of modern life," which included it's "new and disorienting qualities of
space and time"

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: CONTEXT

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: PEOPLE
People

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: PEOPLE
Suprematism
Influential artists include:
Kazimir Malevich
Ilya Chashnik
El Lissitzky
Alexander Rodchenko
Olga Rozanova
Nikolai Suetin
Vera Yermolayeva
Olga Rozenova
Ilya Chashnik
Vera Yermolayeva
Kazimir Malevich
Alexander Rodchenko
El Lissitzky
Nikolai Suetin

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: PEOPLE
Constructivism
Influential artists include:
Vladimir Tatlin
El Lissitzky
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Alexander Rodchenko
Naum Gabo
Lyubov Popova
Varvara Stepanova
Vladimir Tatlin
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Varvara Stepanova
El Lissitzky
Alexander Rodchenko
Naum Gabo
Lyubov Popova

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM
Technology

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: TECHNOLOGY
Suprematism
Main medium was paint on canvas. The Suprematists' interest in abstraction was fired by a search for the 'zero
degree' of painting, the point beyond which the medium could not go without ceasing to be art. This encouraged
the use of very simple motifs, since they best articulated the shape and flat surface of the canvases on which they
were painted. Ultimately, the square, circle, and cross became the group's favorite motifs. It also encouraged many
Suprematists to emphasize the surface texture of the paint on canvas. this texture being another essential quality
of the medium of painting.

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: TECHNOLOGY
Constructivism
Constructivist art often aimed to demonstrate how materials behaved - to ask, for instance, what different
properties had materials such as wood, glass, and metal. The form an artwork would take would be dictated by its
materials (not the other way around, as is the case in traditional art forms, in which the artist 'transforms' base
materials into something very different and beautiful). For some, these inquiries were a means to an end, the goal
being the translation of ideas and designs into mass production; for others it was an end in itself, a new and
archetypal modern style expressing the dynamism of modern life.

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM
Contemporary Design

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: TECHNOLOGY
Suprematism
Suprematism is highly influential to modern day abstract art. This is clear if you look at Kandinsky's paintings and
his concept behind them. Kandinsky has a series of paintings that are each a reaction to a particular classical
song. He takes sound and transforms it into color and shape and gives it a physical look that it was lacking
previously.
Kandinsky - abstract art
Suprematism

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: TECHNOLOGY
Constructivism
Constructivism has had a very large impact on Bauhaus and De Stijl "The Style" (also known as neoplasticism)
movements. Bauhaus, like Constructivism, was a movement that grew beyond the canvas into architecture. De Stijl
is best recognized by the "tetris" paintings of the primary squares. All three are very minimalistic movements that
focus more on functionality and simplicity than extravagance.
Bauhaus
Bauhaus
De Stijl

RUSSIAN SUPREMATISM & CONSTRUCTIVISM: TECHNOLOGY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ng, Tracee. "Constructivism."Constructivism Movement, Artists and Major Works. The Art Story Foundation, 2012.
Web. 04 Oct. 2012. .
Ng, Tracee. "Suprematism."Suprematism Movement, Artists and Major Works. The Art Story Foundation, 2012.
Web. 04 Oct. 2012. .