Constructivism

Much, but not all, Constructivist art is three dimensional, and the Constructivism art movement at its source began in Russia. It represents work that was done with a social, ideological and utilitarian basis, and work that was completed in a specific time period, that being 1918-1922.

The term "constructivism art" can also be more broadly applied, to include works by Pevsner and Gabo, and works that show the influence in Germany, of Russia. Tatlin's abstract constructions may be called Constructivist, and they are often mentioned in studies of this type of art. These were made from materials like glass, metal and wood, possibly based on his time spent with the collages of Picasso.

Often the materials of Constructivist art are considered to be junk, and this brings the pieces of art their different type of value. Collages can also be found in the Russian Futurist movement. Russian icons were made from a mixture of materials, including semi-precious stones. Ready-processed and reclaimed materials were used by Tatlin and Rodchenko. This type of work led to the label of Constructivism in art.

Some pre-Constructivist and Constructivist art is two dimensional, sometimes expressed in what were referred to as "reductive" terms, by artists such as Malevich. Elementary pieces utilize more placing, color and shape, although they were felt to be quite stark, when they were originally done. Malevich's Black Cross and his Black Circle both have cultural references, where Illusionism was rejected in the face of simple facts.

Pevsner and Gabo are usually regarded by the West as having been Constructivists. This was after Gabo's early works in abstract, and the feeling was reinforced by Pevsner's Study in Paris. Not everyone agrees that these two artists should be included in the movement.

Pevsner and Gabo were schooled in Western Europe, and came back to Russia after the Revolution in 1917, staying there throughout the Constructivist time period. Pevsner was awarded a position as a professor at Moscow's Free State Art Studio, and he named Gabo as an assistant, although that title was unofficial. By 1923, Constructed Head No 1 was recognized as the first use of the stereometric art method. In this system, the artist represented volume by use of intersecting internal planes.

Tatlin and Gabo had different approaches to the materials they used in their art. Tatlin was more interested in materials as they relate to interaction and juxtaposition in space. Gabo preferred to investigate the internal spacial implications of the structure of form. This is recognized as being mainly a preoccupation within his art.

Moscow's ideological battles as they dealt with art were raging, when Gabo published his "Realist Manifesto", in 1920. It concerns itself with non-factual, transcendental reality and sculptural ideas within that reality. Gabo preferred the term Constructive rather than Constructivist, as it related to his work.

The material style and concept of Russia after the Revolution was epitomized in the Monument to the Third International, by Tatlin. He described is as a union of architecture, sculpture and painting. It would become one of the symbols used to represent Utopia.