Constructivism

Constructivism is an art movement that originated and gained strength in Soviet Russia in the 1920s. The laconic forms of the artworks, devoid of “prettiness” and d“embellishments”, should be as functional and well-designed as possible for its convenient use in mass production – hence comes another term: “production art”.

The intrinsic asceticism of constructivism in its expressive graphic means distinguishes the trend from the similar styles of Russian avant-garde and futurism, from which it grew and formed. The features of the style are the limited palette (no more than 3 or 4 colours at a time), expressive though simple geometric forms, the presence of mechanistic aesthetics of tools and mechanisms.

The young Soviet power declared Constructivism as the “first Soviet art”, but later it rejected the Constructivist philosophy as a result of the ideological struggle. By a decree of 1932, Constructivism was declared formalistic and, in fact, it was banned. It was replaced by socialist realism in painting and the Stalinist Empire in architecture.

Constructivism had a significant impact on the contemporary art movements of the 20th century, and not only in Russia. The consequences of its influence can be seen in the main trends of the German Bauhaus design school and the Dutch art movement De Stijl, in the works of European and Latin American artists.

Significant constructivist artworks:
Monument to the Third International (Tatlin’s Tower), Vladimir Tatlin (1919−1920)
Books, Alexander Rodchenko (1924)
Space-Force Construction, Lyubov Popova (1921)

Constructivist artists:
Vladimir Tatlin, Lyubov Popova, Alexander Vesnin, Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Wassily Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, Naum Gabo, Carlos Merida, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe.