1. Russian Constructivist Photography
Elizabeth Horejs
Media 203
8 May 2015

2. 1917 “Beat the Whites” by El Lissitsky, 1919
In 1917, Russia had a couple of revolutions, aptly named by when they started - the February Revolution and the October Revolution.
The February Revolution caused the last emperor, Nicholas II to abdicate and the Russian Provisional Government was formed by the imperial parliament. However, the Soviets (aka workers’ councils) only allowed this for so long. All the while, the First World War was taking place.
The October Revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin (Bolshevik party) and the Soviets. They overthrew the Provisional Government.
Unfortunately civil war erupted between the “Reds” (Bolsheviks), the “Whites” (anti-socialist clan), and the non- Bolshevik socialists. It lasted for several years. In 1922, the USSR was created from the series of conflicts.
“Beat the Whites” by El Lissitsky, 1919

3. Constructivism
Constructivist art arose from within the Russian avant-garde after the October Revolution. The art was basic, geometric, angular, experimental, and abstract with an affection for modernity.
Although this type of art may be different for the time, Constructivists believed that this was not an individualistic form of art. All constructivism art and architecture was of political means, and Soviet Russia was the canvas.
Artists in Russia took Cubism (i.e. Pablo Picasso) and added futuristic nuances.

4. The most well-known Russian Constructivists are:
Aleksandr Rodchenko,
“Stairs”, 1930
“Spatial Construction No. 12”

5. El Lissitzky, 1890 - 1940 Self – portrait “Proun”, 1920s
“Proun”, 1920s

6. Tatlin’s Tower or the Monument to the Third Internation, 1919-1920
Vladimir Tatlin,
Tatlin’s Tower or the Monument to the Third Internation,

7. Kazimir Malevich, 1878 - 1935 “Suprematism”, 1916
Self – portrait, 1912

8. Photomontage
Constructivists were the early creators of photomontage. The first examples collaged news photographs and painted sections together.
Soviet Constructivists formed a journal, Left Front of the Arts (LEF), which wanted to maintain the avant-garde of Russia.
LEF aided in promoting the distinctive style of cubo-constructivism. It involved jagged angles, contrasting, and abstracting light.

9. Various Other Artworks
“Books!”, Rodchenko & Stepanova,1924
Agitprop poster, Mayakovsky
“The Construction of Architectural and Machine Forms”, Yakov Chernikhov, 1931

10. The End
Government power toiled after the death of Lenin in 1924 which began Stalin’s rule. Those who viewed in agreement with Stalin regarded Constructivist aesthetic too uncommon to be an effective tool in propaganda. The Stalinists decided that all future design should concede with the conservative neoclassical style of socialist realism. Those who refused this decision retired from public life, left Russia, wound up in the Gulag, or the state police visited them in the night.

11. References