El Lissitzky, real name Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (1890 - 1941) - one of the greatest masters of the Russian avant-garde, showed himself as an artist, architect, book graphic artist, photographer, poster master, exposition space design reformer, teacher and theorist of new art. Lissitzky graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Higher Technical School in Darmstadt (1909-14), and the Riga Polytechnic Institute, which was evacuated to Moscow (1915-18). Lissitzky, despite his devotion to the Soviet system, was known and in demand in the West. Solo exhibitions were held in 1922 in Hannover, in 1924 in Berlin and in 1925 in Dresden. An excellent catalog was published for the Berlin exhibition, designed by the artist himself. In 1965 in Basel and in Hannover, in 1966 in London. In 1958, a book by Horst Richter was published in Cologne, with the significant title: “El Lissitzky. Victory over the sun . In 1967, in Dresden, the album “El Lissitzky. Artist, architect, typographer, photographer”, in which the main works of the artist were reproduced in color. Among them is the book "For the Voice", though in a greatly reduced size. In 1977, a collection of selected works by L.M. Lissitzky was published in Dresden, however, articles related to the art of the book, for some reason, were not included in it. Works about Lissitzky are published abroad today, and the last of them appeared in Hannover in 1999.
Lissitzky is an architect.
Lissitzky interacts with different architectural trends (modern, constructivism, etc.), combining them in his work, but preserving the individuality and freedom of each. Lissitzky designed a considerable number of architectural objects, but for the most part all of them remained only projects that were not destined to come true. Including because there were not enough technologies and means. Some of them were built as part of temporary exhibition spaces abroad and have survived only through photographs.
The most famous architectural projects of Lissitzky:
Horizontal skyscraper project (1925).
It was supposed to raise large cantilever platforms on high supports made of glass, concrete and metal, which would give the building lightness. The object was planned as an element of a series of buildings at the main town-planning nodes of Moscow. All skyscrapers are oriented towards the Kremlin and are located above the crossroads.
The project was unusual for several reasons:
- the materials used dictated its delicate proportions;
- the situation on the main highways took into account the problems of historical development, which the author did not violate; one of the vertical supports went underground and connected the building with the metro station, providing direct access for people.
- The construction of this structure did not stop the life of the intersection.
Mobile Tribune of Lenin (1920)
It is a diagonal structure, at the base of which is a glass cube with a built-in elevator mechanism. The elevator takes the speakers to the intermediate platform, where they wait in line to take the upper podium and become the center of attention of the audience. The object is completed by a screen onto which various images and texts accompanying the performance are projected.
Of particular interest are Lissitzky's research on cabinet furniture and economic apartment project, which were included in the all-Union collections of recommendations on housing. Developing the space of the apartment, taking into account its small area, Lissitzky creates a dynamic system - he allows the tenant to determine for himself what part the bedroom and living room will occupy. This is realized with the help of a rotating partition that accommodates a bed, a wardrobe and a desk.
Lissitzky is an artist.
In 1919, Lissitzky became close to Kazimir Malevich and was imbued with his Suprematist ideas of depicting simple geometric shapes. Passion for Suprematism can be seen in Lissitzky's poster "Beat the Whites with a Red Wedge" built on the interaction of the simplest shapes: rectangles, circles and triangles in a bright dynamic composition.
In 1920, together with Malevich and Ermolaeva, he founded the Unovis art association (Affirmative of the New Art). The main tasks of the group were to update the possibilities and forms of art on the basis of Suprematism.
The most striking contribution of Lissitzky to artistic culture was his Prouny ("PROJECTS FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE NEW")- three-dimensional compositions that combine the possibilities of plane and volume. The compositions did not have a clear vertical and horizontal orientation, but were intended to be viewed from four or six sides. Prouns were for the artist an attempt to overcome the boundaries of various types and genres of art. Lissitzky himself spoke of them as "stations along the way of building a new form ... from painting to architecture." It is no coincidence that the names were given "bridge", "city".
Lissitzky is an artist of the book.
Being primarily an architect, Lissitzky considered the book like a building, where each spread is like a room. Lissitzky sought to engage the viewer so much that he did not miss a single page.
Lissitzky publishes the children's book "Suprematist tale about 2 squares" (1922).
The main semantic load in this small book is carried not by the text, but by occupying almost the entire space of the sheet, made up of clear geometric shapes - squares, circles and parallelepipeds - a constructive drawing, and all the figures are either black, or red, or gray. The drawings are emphatically dynamic, they are dominated by diagonal lines directed from the lower left corner to the upper right corner, they rush the viewer, arouse his curiosity, forcing him to move on to the next page. The text of the book, not counting the title, consists of only 33 words, but the narration here is conducted using visual rather than verbal means.
This is a construction book that requires active perception of the author's thought, it forces the viewer to study what is in front of his eyes. The word “skaz” in the title of the book is not used in vain: forming the space of the sheet, the artist tries to reproduce oral speech using graphic means, by combining vertical, horizontal and oblique lines and arcs, imitating the intonation transitions and facial expressions of the narrator inherent in oral speech. The text turns into a graphic element, becomes an integral part of the pictorial series. It is not aligned along a straight line, not parallel to the bottom edge of the sheet, the letters in one word jump and dance, their size changes within the word, setting the rhythm of reading, semantic stresses.
Lissitzky proposed to single out the places of condensation of meaning with expressive means of typesetting, compacting, thinning and enlarging the type in the right places. But sometimes he often deliberately complicated the perception of the text, turning it into a charade - he placed some letters inside others, included title fonts in the typesetting line.
She drew attention to the exceptional role of typographical typesetting, plates and other attributes of printing production. The book has a cutting-register, which is used for some reference publications, and this gave the book additional volume, and Lissitzky marked each poem with a special pictogram. The book is printed in red and black inks. A flat grotesque font was used for the set. Due to the multi-level asymmetrical arrangement of letters, the variation in size and font style within even one word, a special convexity of the page is created here, which is unattainable with a different type of typing. It is also significant that all other elements of the page construction were also taken from the typesetting box - these are rulers and arcs, with the help of which Lissitzky built images (anchor, little man), and individual large letters, by building which Lissitzky deliberately left gaps between the constituent elements.
In 1923, Lissitzky published the article "The Triumph of Topography", where he formulated 8 principles for book design:
1. Words printed on a sheet are perceived by the eyes, not by ear.
2. With the help of ordinary words, concepts are represented, and with the help of letters, concepts can be expressed.
3. Economy of perception - optics instead of phonetics.
4. The design of a book organism with the help of typesetting material, according to the laws of typographical mechanics, must correspond to the forces of compression and stretching of the text.
5. The design of the book organism with the help of cliches implements a new optics. Supernaturalistic reality improves vision.
6. A continuous sequence of pages - a bioscopic book.
7. New book requires new writers. The inkwell and quills are dead.
8. The printed sheet conquers space and time. The printed sheet and the infinity of the book must themselves be overcome.
“I believe,” he wrote on September 12, 1919 to Kazimir Malevich, “that the thoughts that we drink from the book with our eyes, we must pour through all the forms perceived by the eyes. Letters, punctuation marks that bring order to thoughts should be taken into account, but besides this, the running of lines converges at some condensed thoughts, they need to be condensed for the eye.
Lissitzky is a reformer of the exposition space of the exhibition.
Lissitzky also designed the exhibition space. Lissitzky designs pavilions of the USSR at international exhibitions of the 1920s and 1930s in Germany.
In the design of the exposition, in addition to the already traditional arrangement of objects - paintings or sculptures - he uses new means of influencing people: complex lighting, cinema tools, moving mechanisms, for Soviet pavilions he often uses giant photo collages that invariably attract attention.Creating rooms of prouns (a project for the approval of the new), he develops space as a system of interconnected planes, assigning a certain abstract composition to each of them and uniting them with one or two elements. The viewer entering this hall actually enters the space of the proun, which was previously flat.
Decoration of the introductory hall of the Soviet pavilion at the exhibition in Cologne 1928.
Lissitzky is making a revolution in the design of the exhibition space by designing an abstract cabinet in this way. If the proun room was an independent work of art, then the office served as an exhibition hall for the works of contemporary artists, sculptors and designers - Piet Mondrian, Vladimir Tatlin and others.
The complex solution of the planes of the walls according to the principles of avant-garde painting connected the content of the exposition and its form. Lissitzky reduces the number of art objects simultaneously perceived by the viewer in order to draw attention to each of them individually. The author turns the exposition into interaction with the viewer, using simple decoration techniques: wooden slats painted black and white, moving along which the color of the wall changes from dark to light; textile screens separating this hall from others; moving tablets, giving dynamics to the exhibition.
Literature:
1 El Lissitzky. Topographie der Typographie // Merz. 1923 Juli. Nr. 4. Reprinted in: El Lissitzky. Maler, Architekt, Typograf, Fotograf. Erinnerungen, Briefe, Schriften. Ubergeben von Sophie Lissitzky-Kuppers. Dresden, 1967.
2 Khardzhiev N. El Lissitzky - book designer // Art of the book 1958-1960. M., 1962. Issue 3.
3 El Lissitzky.Typographische Tatsachen z.B. // Gutenberg Festschrift. Zur Feier des 25-jaerigen Bestehens des Gutenbergmusseums in Mainz. Mainz, 1925. S. 152-154. The same, but without the drawings and the extended captions accompanying them, was published in the book: El Lissitzky. Maler, Architekt, Typograf, Fotograf. Erinnerungen, Briefe, Schriften. Ubergeben von Sophie Lissitzky-Kuppers. Dresden, 1967.
6 Conrads U., Sperlich H.G. Phantastische Architektur. Stuttgart, 1960.
7 El Lissitzky. Russland. Die Rekonstruktion der Architektur in der Sovjetunion. Berlin, 1930.
8 El Lissitzky. Russia: An architecture for world revolution. London, 1970.
9 El Lissitzky. Russland: Architektur fur eine Weltrevolution. Berlin, 1985.
10 Eine Serie von Hochhausern fur Moskau // El Lissitzky. Proun und Wolkenbugel. Schriften, Briefe, Documente. Herausgegeben von Sophie Lissitzky-Kuppers und Jen Lissitzky. Dresden, 1977. .
11 El Lissitzky. The artist in production // 1990. Memorable book dates. M., 1990.
12 Schwitters K. Theses on typography // Typography as an art. Printers and publishers of the XVIII-XX centuries about the secrets of their craft. M., 1987.
13 Richter H. El Lissitzky. Sieg uber die Sonne. Zur Kunst des Konstruktivismus. Koln, 1958.
14 El Lissitzky. Proun und Wolkenbugel. Schriften, Briefe, Documente. Herausgegeben von Sophie Lissitzky-Kuppers und Jen Lissitzky. Dresden, 1977.
15 Tupitsyn M. El Lissitzky. Hanover, 1999.
16 Khardzhiev N. In memory of the artist Lissitzky // Decorative Arts of the USSR. M., 1961. No. 2. S. 29-31; his own. El Lissitzky - book designer // Art of the book 1958-1960. M., 1962. Issue. 3.
18 E.M. Lissitzky. 1890-1941. Exhibition of works dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth. [Catalog]. M.; Eindhoven, 1990; E. Lissitzky. 1890-1941. Catalog of the exhibition in the halls of the State Tretyakov Gallery. M., .
19,400 years of Russian printing. 1564-1964. [T. 2]. Book publishing in the USSR. 1917-1964. M., 1964.
Lissitzky can equally be regarded as an artist of the Soviet avant-garde of the 1920s, one of the founders of Jewish modernism in 1916–1919, and a classic representative of the international European avant-garde of the 1920s.
He studied at the 1st city school in Smolensk. In 1909, after an unsuccessful attempt to enter the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, he left for Germany, where he studied at the Faculty of Architecture at the Higher Polytechnic Institute in Darmstadt (1909–1914), one of the leading centers of German modernism. During the summer holidays he comes to Smolensk and Vitebsk, where his parents lived, gets acquainted with Yu.M.Pen.
L.M. Lissitzky. Proun #4. 1923. 60.1 × 43.5. GTG
L.M. Lissitzky. Proun #2. 1923. 60.4×44. GTG
L.M. Lissitzky. Bully. Sheet from the folder “Figures from the opera by A.E. Kruchenykh “Victory over the Sun””. 1920–1921 Paper, gouache, ink, graphite and colored pencils. 49.4×37.9. GTG
L.M. Lissitzky. Cover of the pamphlet "Committee on Combating Unemployment". Vitebsk. 1919. Color lithograph
In 1911 he visited one of the oldest synagogues in Europe in Worms. In 1912, in Paris, he met O. A. Zadkine. For the first time he shows his works at the exhibition of the Artistic Association in St. Petersburg. In 1913 he wandered around Italy. He graduated from the institute in 1914 and, in connection with the outbreak of the First World War, went to Russia through Switzerland, Italy and the Balkans.
Since a diploma from a Russian institute was required to work in Russia, he entered the architectural faculty of the Riga Polytechnic Institute in 1915, which was evacuated to Moscow during these years. Works as an assistant in the architectural bureau of B.M. Velikovsky and R.I. Klein, helping in the architectural design of the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
Lissitzky is rapidly entering artistic life: he participates in a variety of exhibitions and events, such as the creation of the Circle of Jewish National Aesthetics; he is one of the activists of the Jewish Society for the Encouragement of Artists, secretary of the organizing committee of the exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Jewish artists in Moscow in March-April 1917 at the Lemercier Gallery. He was invited to show his works at the exhibition of the Society of Artists "Jack of Diamonds", where he first neighbors with K.S. Malevich, at the exhibitions "World of Art" in 1916 (Moscow) and in 1917 (Petrograd, Moscow).
But, perhaps, the main thing at this time is books - a completely new phenomenon in the Jewish graphics of these years, for the design of which Lissitzky masterfully uses the traditions of Jewish popular prints, ancient miniatures, and calligraphy. In the spring of 1917, bibliophiles enthusiastically welcomed the release of M. M. Broderzon’s “Prague Legend” (“Sihat Khulin”), twenty out of one hundred and ten copies the artist himself painted and laid like old scrolls-ribbons in wooden cases. The Legend of Prague was followed by The Goat (Had Gadya) by Moshe Kulbak (1919) and The Mischievous Boy (Ingl-Zingl-Khvat) by Mani Leib (1919). In 1916, he designed in the spirit of cubo-futurism "The sun is running out" by K.A. Bolshakov. In addition to books, Lissitzky illustrates various periodicals.
A special chapter in the artist's biography is a trip to the synagogues of the Western Territory (he makes sketches from the murals of the Mogilev synagogue). In February 1919 Lissitzky discussed with I.B. Rybak in Pushcha-Voditsa near Kiev the forthcoming first exhibition of the Kultur-League. It seemed that his artistic program was predetermined for years. But in May 1919 he received an invitation from M.Z. Chagall to come to Vitebsk and teach classes at an art school. Chagall hopes that Lissitzky will continue to develop the foundations of Jewish modernism within the walls of VNHU. But Lissitzky is already interested in other problems. In the workshop of architecture led by him, they begin to work in terms of Suprematism. Lissitzky with I.G. Chashnik in Moscow persuades Malevich to come to Vitebsk. On November 8, at the 1st state exhibition of paintings by Moscow and local artists, Vitebsk residents saw for the first time a Suprematist painting by Malevich.
During these months, Lissitzky is actively working on abstract compositions, which he will soon call prouns. The cover of the pamphlet "Committee on Combating Unemployment" reproduces one of the master's first prouns. In December, Lissitzky with Malevich and students make a curtain in the city theater, decorate the podium and three buildings. In January 1920, Lissitzky and Malevich created the Posnovis group (Followers of the New Art), which from February 14 will become Unovis. At the same time, Lissitzky does not break ties with the Kultur-League. In February-March, he shows Jewish graphics of 1917-1919 in Kyiv, becomes one of the organizers of the multilateral work of Unovis. Under the influence of Lissitzky, a serious interest in architectural projects arose in Unovis (N.M. Suetin, Chashnik, L.M. Khidekel). One of the most unusual projects of this period is the lithographic poster Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1920).
Lissitzky made the cover and layout of the almanac "Unovis No. 1" (1920). It was at this time that he chose the pseudonym "El" for his works. In June 1920, prouns were exhibited in Moscow at an exhibition for the First All-Russian Conference of Teachers and Students. In the summer he travels with Malevich to Orenburg, where they meet I.A. Kudryashov.
In 1921, work continued on the lithographs of Prouna. Lissitzky is finishing the first folder of eleven lithographs (fifty copies). In the spring of 1921 he gave a lecture on "Architecture and monumental painting" at the Vkhutemas, the prouns were shown at the one-day exhibition of Unovis in Vitebsk (March 28), in June - at the exhibition for the III Congress of the Comintern at the Continental Hotel in Moscow.
On September 23, Lissitzky makes a report on "Prouny" in Inkhuk, and in December he shows them at the second Unovis exhibition in Inkhuk. In 1922, the Prouns were included in the First Russian Art Exhibition at the Van Diemen Gallery in Berlin (in 1923 - in the SMA).
In 1922 Lissitzky was in Berlin. Together with I. G. Ehrenburg, he edits the magazine "Thing". It turns out, conceived back in Vitebsk, "Suprematist tale about two squares." Designs various publications in German and Russian-language publishing houses. Supports attempts to create an international style in the 1920s. Participates in the International Congress of avant-garde artists in Düsseldorf. September 13 in Weimar participates in the Congress of Constructivists and Dadaists.
In 1923 he meets in Berlin with V.V. Mayakovsky and draws up his collection "For Voice". This edition will become a classic example of modern printing. In Hannover, the second folder of Proun lithographs is published - “1st Kestnermappe”. According to the sketches of 1920–1921, the “figurine” folder “Victory over the Sun” was published.
The Great Berlin Art Exhibition exhibits Proun Space, perhaps the first installation in 20th-century art.
In February 1924, due to illness (pulmonary tuberculosis), he was forced to leave for Switzerland. Despite his illness, he continues to work actively - he writes articles, and with Hans Arp he prepares an anthology of contemporary art "Kunstisms" (1925). Makes one of the most original photographic works “Self-portrait. Designer "(1924). Begins to develop the idea of a horizontal skyscraper for Moscow. Maintains contacts with ASNOVA.
June 13, 1925 sails on a ship to Leningrad, where he meets with Malevich, Suetin, Chashnik.
In the West, Lissitzky's works are shown at many exhibitions in different countries. In 1926, the Goltz Gallery in Munich hosted the Lissitzky-Mondrian-Man Rey exhibition. In 1926 - an exhibitor of the exhibition "4 Arts" in Moscow (from October 31), where he shows "Tribune for the Square" (1920), the project of the Cabinet of Abstract Art for the museum in Hannover and a photo portrait of Hans Arp.
In January 1927, S.Kh. Kuppers arrived in the USSR, with whom Lissitzky entered into marriage. Designs Mayakovsky's poem "Good". One of the organizers of the All-Union Printing Exhibition, where he proposes new principles for the exhibition space. This work had a great resonance. He teaches at Vkhutemas. In 1928, he directed the design of the Soviet pavilion at the International Press Exhibition in Cologne.
He continues to design books (I.L. Selvinsky. "Notes of a Poet". M., 1928) and exhibitions ("Film and Photo". Stuttgart. 1929; Küppers-Lisitskaya took part in the work). During a short stay in Austria, he makes a project for the book-film Four Arithmetic Operations (1928).
In Moscow, he joins the Oktyabr group. V.E. Meyerhold invites Lissitzky to arrange a performance based on the play by S.M. Tretyakov “I want a child”. One of the unusual projects is a poster for a Russian exhibition in Zurich at the Museum of Applied Arts (1929). In Vkhutemas, he works with students on furniture and interior projects.
In the early 1930s, he continued to work on the design of various exhibitions (International Hygiene Exhibition, 1930, Dresden). In the 1930s, he made photo albums and designed a number of issues of the magazine "USSR in Construction".
Lissitzky's works are kept in many museums around the world and in Russia - in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, RGALI, MoMA, the Guggenheim Museum and others.
Literature:
- El Lissitzky. Maler, Architect, Typograf, Fotograf. Errinerungen, Briefe, Schriften. Übergeben von Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers. Dresden, 1967;
- El Lissitzky. Koln, Galerie Gmurzynska, 1976;
- El Lissitzky. Proun und Wolkenbügel. Schriften, Briefe, Documente. Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers und Jen Lissitzky (Hg.). Dresden, 1977;
- Kai Uwe Hernken. El Lissitzky. Revolution and Avantgarde. Koln, 1990;
- El Lissitzky. Jenseits der Abstraktion. Ausst-Kat. hg. M.Tupytsin. Hannover, 1999;
- Lazar Markovich Lissitzky. 1890–1941 Exhibition dedicated to the centenary of the birth. M.-Eindhoven, 1990. [Catalogue] Eindhoven, 1990;
- El Lissitzky. 1890–1941 To the exhibition in the halls of the State Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow. 1991. [Catalogue] M., 1991.;
The art of inventing something new, the art of synthesizing and crossing different styles, an art in which the analytical mind lives side by side with romanticism. This is how you can characterize the work of a multifaceted artist of Jewish origin, without which it is difficult to imagine the development of the Russian and European avant-garde, - El Lissitzky.
Not so long ago, the first large-scale retrospective of his works took place in Russia. The exhibition "El Lissitzky" - a joint project and - reveals the ingenuity of the artist and his desire for excellence in many areas of activity.
El Lissitzky was engaged in graphics, painting, printing and design, architecture, photo editing and much more. On the sites of both museums, one could get acquainted with works from all of the above areas. In this review, we will focus on part of the exposition presented at the Jewish Museum.
Right next to the entrance to the exhibition you can see the artist's self-portrait ("Designer. Self-Portrait", 1924). In the picture he is 34 years old, he is depicted in a white turtleneck sweater and with a compass in his hand. The photo was taken using photomontage, by superimposing one frame on another. But the large hand holding the compass does not overlap or block the author's face, but harmoniously merges with it.
Lissitzky considered the compass to be the most important tool of the modern artist, so in some of the works that can be seen in this exhibition, the compass symbolizes precision and clarity. Other significant tools of the Artist of a new type - namely, as El Lissitzky called himself - are a brush and a hammer.
Further, the Jewish Museum presents works from the early period of El Lissitzky's work. At that time he was an architecture student at the École Polytechnique in Darmstadt, so he mainly painted buildings. As a rule, these are architectural landscapes of native Smolensk and Vitebsk (Holy Trinity Church, Vitebsk, 1910, Fortress Tower in Smolensk, 1910). Later, the artist designed works from a report on a trip to Italy, where he went on foot, making sketches of landscapes of Italian cities along the way.
In the same period, the artist turned to one of the main themes of his creative activity - his origin. He studied the origin of Jewish culture, its heritage, aspects of Jewish art. Lissitzky was not just interested in this topic - he made a huge contribution to its development, for example, he actively participated in the activities of the Kultur-League and other organizations whose task was to revive the national Jewish culture.
So, in the museum you can see a copy of the painting of the Mogilev synagogue (1916). Unfortunately, this work - the fruit of the artist's great inspiration - has not been preserved, since the synagogue was destroyed.
A special impression is made by a book-scroll in a wooden ark - Moishe Broderson. Sihat Hulin, 1917. El Lissitzky designed an ancient Hebrew manuscript. He illustrated it by hand, wrote the text with a pen, and then wrapped it in elegant fabric, tied with gold cords. Thanks to the incredible attention to detail and reverent attitude to the national culture, the scroll began to resemble an ancient jewel.
The most accessible format for promoting the new national art was a children's book. The exhibition features sketches and illustrations by El Lissitzky for the first children's books in Yiddish (for example, the design of the book Had Gadya, 1919). But these are not just illustrations - this is a long process of finding yourself as an artist and your own style. In them, the author is looking for a simple expressive language, modernist techniques are traced in the works, including references to style. And it is in the illustrations for children's books that El Lissitzky's passion for the three primary colors appears, to which he will remain faithful for a long time - red, black and white.
A huge influence on further creativity had an acquaintance with. El Lissitzky was inspired by his new style in painting - Suprematism. The non-objective form fascinated the artist so much that he joined the Unovis group (Affirmers of the New Art) and began working with Malevich.
At the same time, El Lissitzky began active experiments with simple geometric shapes and colors. A deep analysis of the new fascinating style led the artist to a three-dimensional interpretation of Suprematism and the creation of a visual concept of models of Suprematist architecture, which he called "proun" (the project of affirming the new).
About the creation of prouns, Lissitzky himself wrote the following:
“The canvas of the painting became too small for me… and I created prouns as a transfer station from painting to architecture”
The exhibition at the Jewish Museum presents a sufficient number of prouns, including lithographs from the Kestner folder (1923). They provide an opportunity to analyze the concept of the artist and the spatial solution of these abstract, but at the same time voluminous figures. The works are geometrically verified, and the lines and shapes seem to come to life and soar in the air.
Step by step, building a bridge between the abstraction of Kazimir Malevich and reality, El Lissitzky persistently developed the utopian ideas of reorganizing the world in his already architectural projects. An example is the sketch of "Lenin's Tribune" (1920).
This huge structure made of industrial materials with various mechanisms, including mobile platforms and a glass elevator, forms a diagonal in space. At its top there is an oratory balcony, and above it is a projection screen, on which slogans were supposed to be displayed.
It is important to note that the artist introduced Suprematism not only into the three-dimensional world, but also into design, for example, in posters and children's books. A vivid example of this is the famous poster “Beat the Whites with a Red Wedge” (1920), which can also be seen at the exhibition.
The work is a composition of geometric shapes, made in the artist's favorite colors - red, white and black. It seems to lead the viewer from sign to sign, focusing his attention on the visual elements of the poster. It is easy to guess from the title that the red triangle symbolizes the red army, the white circle symbolizes the white army, and the propaganda poster itself becomes one of the strongest symbols of the revolution.
The idea of the prouns was integrated by the artist into theatrical projects. The exhibition presents his and unrealized project of the electromechanical production of "Victory over the Sun" (1920-1921). In fact, the artist decided to create his own opera, his own story, which was designed to praise technology and its victory over nature.
In his production, El Lissitzky proposed to replace people with machines, turning them into puppets. He even gave them his own name - "figures". Each of the nine figures presented at the exhibition is based on prouns. In the production, a place was also allocated for the engineer, who, according to the author's idea, was to manage the entire performance: figurines, music, eclectic phrases, and so on.
The exhibition also cannot ignore El Lissitzky's experiments with photography. He introduced it into the construction of new works of art, introduced photograms into posters, created photo collages - in fact, he tried and used all the technical and artistic possibilities of this art form.
One example of a photogram presented at the exhibition is the work "Man with a Wrench" (1928). On it, a full-length image of a person was obtained by a photochemical method. The way the figure moves in space attracts attention and sets the overall dynamics of the work. In the hands of a man is a wrench, which merges with the brush and forms a single object with it.
In conclusion, I would like to note that incompatible things are combined in the artist’s work: on the one hand, a tendency to romanticism and utopian ideas of the world order, on the other hand, an analytical approach and conscientiousness to any business. And although El Lissitzky did not single out the main sphere in his activity and did not create his own style-forming concept, he undoubtedly significantly influenced the development of the Russian and European avant-garde.
A distinctive feature of his method of work is the ability to synthesize different styles and artistic techniques and transfer them to various areas of art and human activity. And, perhaps, one exhibition is not enough to understand and feel how inventive and versatile (in the good sense of the word) the artist was El Lissitzky.
Biography
Outstanding Soviet artist. Graphic artist, painter, designer, architect, art theorist; representative of Suprematism, stood at the origins of constructivism. One of the leaders of the avant-garde movement in the USSR.
The universality of Lissitzky as an artist and his desire to work in several areas of art is not just a feature of his talent, but to a large extent the need of that era (such were K. Malevich, V. Tatlin, L. Popova, A. Rodchenko, G. Klutsis and etc.), when the features of modern aesthetic culture were formed in the interaction of various types of art. L. M. Lissitzky was one of those who stood at the origins of the new architecture and had a significant influence on the formal and aesthetic searches of Soviet innovative architects with his theoretical and creative works, many of his architectural projects surround us in varying degrees in modern reality.
Lazar Markovich Lissitzky was born on November 10, 1890 at the Pochinok station of the Smolensk province in the family of an artisan. He studied at a real school in Smolensk, living with his grandfather. He spent his summer holidays in Vitebsk, where in 1903 he began studying at the "School of Drawing and Painting" by I. Pan. After graduating from college, he entered the architectural faculty of the Higher Polytechnic School in Darmstadt (Germany), graduating in 1914. Then, to obtain a Russian diploma, he studied for two more years (1915-1916) at the Riga Polytechnic Institute, which was evacuated to Moscow.
Returning to Russia was, to some extent, "falling back to the roots", he is actively involved in the work of the Artistic Section of the Ukrainian "Culture League", a Jewish association created in April 1916. Lissitzky designed several books in Hebrew (“Prague Legend” 1917, “Kozochka” 1919, “Ukrainian Folk Tales” 1922, etc.), combining in them the traditions of handwritten scrolls with the techniques of “world art” graphics.
At first, he took part in exhibitions of the association "World of Art" (1916-1917), the Jewish Society for the Encouragement of Arts in Moscow (1917-1918), in Kyiv (1920).
The books designed by the artist in 1917-1919 are a necessary link for understanding the logic of the creative development of Lissitzky the artist: from book to book it is obvious how Eliezer Lissitzky, fascinated by the study of folk traditions and the creation of new Jewish art, turns into El Lissitzky, who professes the supranational principles of Suprematism and constructivism.
In 1919, the artist arrives in Vitebsk, Marc Chagall offers him the leadership of the architectural workshop of the Vitebsk People's Art School. He taught at an architectural workshop (1919-1920).
Lissitzky collaborates with Vitebsk publications, created illustrations for newspapers, scenery for the play "The Woman from the Sea" based on the play by G. Ibsen.
In November 1919, Kazimir Malevich, the creator of Suprematism, came to Vitebsk to teach. In Vitebsk, Malevich created the legendary avant-garde art association UNOVIS (“Affirmative of the New Art”), Lissitzky takes an active part in its work. The UNOVIS manifesto was published by Kazimir Malevich in the Vitebsk magazine Art (1921).
Malevich and Lissitzky participated in the festive decorations of Vitebsk, decorated the city's buildings in the Suprematist style, decorated the theater for the second anniversary of the Vitebsk Committee to Combat Unemployment, organized numerous exhibitions, and philosophical debates. In Vitebsk, Lazar Lissitzky first used the pseudonym El Lissitzky. In the summer of 1921, the artist was called to Moscow to VKHUTEMAS to teach a course in the history of architecture and monumental painting.
Lived in Germany and Switzerland (1921-1925). In 1922, together with Ilya Ehrenburg, he founded the magazine "Thing", together with M. Shtam and G. Schmidt - the magazine "ABC" (1925), with G. Arp in Zurich he published a book-montage "Kunstism". Joined the Dutch group "Style".
After returning to Moscow, he was engaged in the design of books, magazines, posters. Since 1926 he taught at the Leningrad VKhUTEIN, joined INKhUK. Created several architectural projects.
Revolution, a social turning point, cardinal changes in people's consciousness, in the 20s awakened cosmopolitanism in the creators of that time, and El Lissitzky was no exception. Under the influence of Malevich's ideas, he plunged into the world of Suprematism, developing his own recognizable style. Creates Suprematist posters ("Lenin's tribune" 1920-1924), draws up books ("Suprematist tale about two squares", 1922). One of the most famous works of Lissitzky was the poster “Beat the Whites with a Red Wedge”, printed in Vitebsk in 1920.
In 1923, the artist published the book "Two Voices", which became a triumph of typography - the art of designing printed works by means of typesetting and layout. Yes, and this term itself, so popular now, owes its birth to Lazar Lissitzky. In the same year, when the collection "For the Voice" was released, Lissitzky published the notes "Topography of Typography", where eight basic principles of the new art were formulated. In these principles, Lazar Lissitzky was ahead of his time, the artist seemed to foresee the onset of the computer era, in the last four paragraphs the artist accurately describes our time: “5. The design of the book organism with the help of cliches implements a new optics. Supernaturalistic reality improves vision. 6. Continuous sequence of pages - bioscopic book. 7. New book requires new writers. The inkwell and quills are dead. 8. The printed sheet conquers space and time. The printed sheet and the infinity of the book must themselves be overcome.
The design of the collection "For the Voice" was perceived by professionals as a revelation. This book opened the way for the artist to the international Gutenberg Society, founded in 1900 in Mainz, the birthplace of the inventor of printing. In 1925 the Society and the Gutenberg Museum celebrated their anniversary. It was decided to release the imposing "Celebration Edition" of the artist's book for him.
Based on the achievements of the inventor of Suprematism - Malevich, E. Lissitzky created spatial compositions, which he called "prouns" (1919-24). Prouns were axonometric images of the artist's utopian architectural fantasies - they are detached from the ground, directed to the sky, or in a state of balance impossible for earthly architecture. In fact, these are three-dimensional three-dimensional Suprematist models and spatial worlds, with the help of which the author made a revolution in the art and architecture of the 20s.
Developing his theory, in 1923 El Lissitzky created a “room of prouns” for the Great Berlin Art Exhibition. Once in it, the visitor suddenly found himself in the proun itself, the space of which turned from a plane into a volume. The exposition interacted with the viewer, the screens divided the hall into different spaces, the color of the pavilion changed - and even the walls moved! All these finds of the artist were then used at many other exhibitions and expositions, including now.
El Lissitzky was one of the first to understand the significance of the formal artistic searches of left-wing painters for the development of modern architecture. Working at the intersection of architecture and fine arts, he did a lot to transfer to the new architecture those aesthetic discoveries that helped shape its modern avant-garde look.
Lissitzky's architectural activity consisted in creating projects of "horizontal skyscrapers" (1923-25). One of the most far-sighted and spectacular was the project of a horizontal skyscraper in Moscow near the Nikitsky Gate. And although this project was not implemented then, modern architects in our time - the time of new materials and technologies - return to it more than once. In 1930-1932, a printing house for the Ogonyok magazine was built in Moscow according to the project of Lissitzky.
L. M. Lissitzky takes an active part in architectural competitions: the House of Textiles in Moscow (1925), residential complexes in Ivanovo-Voznesensk (1926), the House of Industry in Moscow (1930), the Pravda plant. He designs a water station and a stadium in Moscow (1925), a village club (1934), takes an active part in the planning and design of the Park of Culture and Rest named after. Gorky in Moscow (In 1929, Lissitzky became its chief architect).
L. Lissitzky was fond of photography, used photomontage techniques in posters, magazines and books. In 1924, using the technique of photomontage, he created a self-portrait.
In the 1930s, El Lissitzky was one of the main creators of the peculiar face of the USSR at a Construction Site magazine, and many issues of this publication were made entirely according to his layout, for example, the February 1933 issue dedicated to the Red Army. At the same time, the artist designed the albums "15 years of the USSR" and "15 years of the Red Army".
Closely connected with the development of modern interior design is Lissitzky's work in the field of exhibition design, in which he introduced a number of fundamental innovations: design for the Soviet pavilion at the exhibition of decorative arts in Paris (1925), the All-Union Printing Exhibition in Moscow (1927), Soviet pavilions at international press exhibition in Cologne (1928), at the international fur exhibition in Leipzig (1930) and at the international exhibition "Hygiene" in Dresden (1930). E. Lissitzky created new principles of exhibition exposition, perceiving it as an integral organism.
The artist created a project for the organization of space for the unrealized production of the theater by V. E. Meyerhold based on the play by S. M. Tretyakov "I want a child" (1929-1930).
Lazar Lissitzky stood at the origins of folding and transforming furniture, which we see to this day. In 1930, his project for a Soviet economical apartment made a splash at the exhibition. The owner of such an apartment could, at his own discretion, determine and change the functional properties of the apartment. Change the bedroom to the dining room and the study to the nursery. There was also presented a collapsible armchair, which has become a classic of avant-garde furniture.
The fate of Lissitzky as a theoretician developed in such a way that most of his works were published abroad in German in the 1920s in articles in the journals ABC, Merz, G, and others. In the book “Russia. Reconstruction of architecture in the Soviet Union” or remained unpublished at the time. Some theoretical works were published much later, for example, in 1967 in the book "El Lissitzky" published in Dresden.
The artist died in 1941 from tuberculosis at his home in Skhodnya. A few days before his death, his poster was printed in thousands of copies, one of the best of the war - “Let's have more tanks ... Everything for the front! Everything for the victory!
Despite the fact that Lazar Lissitzky exhibited quite actively in the USSR and abroad, the personal exhibition of the artist in Russia took place only in 1960 at the Mayakovsky Museum. It was prepared by Nikolai Khardzhiev and Efim Dinershtein. Based on the materials collected for this exhibition, N. I. Khardzhiev wrote two articles. The following exhibitions took place in 1990-1991 and were timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the outstanding artist.
El Lissitzky is not a "dead classic", but a living figure, a source of ideas and new approaches to modern architecture. He had an undeniable influence on many of the most famous architects of our time, without his ideas and creativity there would be no such famous architects as Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas and many others.
Paintings and graphic works, printed editions and posters of L. M. Lissitzky are kept in the largest Russian museum collections: the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the State Hermitage, the Russian State Library, the Theater Museum. A. Bakhrushin, RGALI, Tomsk Regional Art Museum, Novosibirsk State Museum of Local Lore; in the largest museums of the world: the Van Abbe Museum in the Netherlands, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, MOMA, the Tate Gallery in London and others.
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Poster of El Lissitzky's lecture "Modern Art in Russia" in Hannover 1923
Paper, lithograph 41.3 x 58.5 cm. Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Introduction. How Lissitzky ended up with Shukhov
These days in Moscow there is a retrospective exhibition of El Lissitzky. The organizers decided to take an interesting step to divide it into 2 parts, geographically separate: Part I - in the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, and II - in the New Tretyakov Gallery.
I decided to write down my impressions immediately after visiting the Jewish Museum, without going to the Tretyakov Gallery. I suppose there will be 3 notes: I, II - dedicated to the exposition of the Tretyakov Gallery and containing the chronology of the artist's life, and III - I would like to shine a light on EL book graphics.
The placement of part of the exhibition in the Jewish Museum seems symbolic. It's not about nationality, but about the museum space itself. The Tolerance Center occupies the building of the former Bakhmetevsky garage - an architectural monument of the Soviet avant-garde. It was built in 1927 according to the design of Konstantin Melnikov and Vladimir Shukhov for the English buses of the Leyland company. That is, the building itself sets the viewer in the right mood.
The Jewish Museum is the most technologically advanced in Moscow (interactive technologies, etc.). I'm sure Lissitzky the engineer would have liked it.
"Constructor". self-portrait
According to Nikolai Khardzhiev, the impetus for the creation of this self-portrait was Michelangelo's quote from Giorgio Vasari: "The compass should be kept in the eye, not in the hand, for the hand works, but the eye judges." According to Vasari, Michelangelo "followed the same thing in architecture."
Lissitzky considered the compass to be an essential tool for the modern artist. The motif of the compass as an attribute of the modern artistic thinking of the creator-designer repeatedly appeared in his works, serving as a metaphor for impeccable accuracy.
In theoretical writings, he proclaimed a new type of artist "with a brush, hammer and compass in his hands", creating the "City of the Commune". In the article "Suprematism of Peacebuilding" Lissitzky wrote:
“We, who have gone beyond the limits of the picture, have taken into our hands the plumb line of economy, the ruler and the compass, because the splashed brush does not correspond to our clarity, and, if we need, we will take the machine into our hands, because to reveal creativity and the brush, and the ruler, and the compass, and the machine are only the last joint of my finger that traces the path.
Holy Trinity Church, Vitebsk, 1910
Paper, graphite pencil, gouache 30 x 37.7 cm. Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Vitebsk branch of the Russian avant-garde
I've always had trouble with terminology. A huge number of isms invented by art historians has put me in a dead end. But if we assume that the first third of the 20th century is the era of the avant-garde (without going further). One may be surprised how many artists of this era the Belarusian land gave. , Chagall (Vitebsk), Soutine (Smilovichi) and finally our hero, who was born at the stopover Pochonok of the Smolensk region, but grew up in Vitebsk.
Lissitzky and Soutine are now separated by a distance of literally two kilometers (Soutine's exhibition is being held in Pushkinsky).
Probably, at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a special air in Vitebsk: Chagall (who remained in the canvases to live in Vitebsk), Lissitzky, Repin (who had an estate near Vitebsk and worked there), and immediately after the revolution, the landing force led by K. Malevich and M. Kerzin .
Organization of the exhibition
I was most struck by the entrance to the exhibition (see photo in the title of the note). A huge space, two walls (one black, with the former written "Lissitzky", the other snow-white with raised letters "El"), formed a corner. There are two white inconspicuous doors in the white wall: entrance and exit. Very ... constructivist :)
There are 4 halls for the exhibition itself. The first graphics - I really liked the work with views of Italy (I had not seen them before). There are also illustrations and the book itself "Sihat Khulin" ("Prague legend" 1917); R. Kipling "The Tale of the Curious Baby Elephant" (in Yiddish) Berlin, 1922 - got carried away, we'll talk about book graphics separately. Sketches for the painting of the ceiling of the Mogilev Synagogue.
Moishe Broderson. Prague legend. Moscow, 1917
State Tretyakov Gallery
The second hall - graphics design. Characters from the opera Victory over the Sun. A curious advertisement for the stationery company Pelikan, which he made to pay for his treatment.
The rest are reserved: for his famous "prouns", the magazine "USSR at a Construction Site", which he headed; photo experiments and design projects for international exhibitions.
I really liked that next to each book there is an iPad with a book downloaded into it, and you can look through it, see it in its entirety. Just great. A great option for book exhibitions, however, expensive.
You can take pictures. But the quality, taking into account the glass in all works, is average. Be sure to go and see it live.
I would especially like to note the excellent joint edition of the Jewish Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery "El Lissitzky", prepared for the exhibition. Made in the style of constructivism, with colored trimmings. It contains a lot of information (336 pages) and excellent printing (all exhibited works, many rare photographic materials). It costs 2500 rubles. - inexpensive for such a publication.
A lion. Zodiac sign. A copy of the painting on the ceiling of the Mogilev synagogue 1916
Paper, black chalk, watercolor 22 x 24.5 cm. Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Collection of Boris and Lisa Aronson Posthumous gift of Dvora Kohen, Afeka, Israel
I have no purpose to tell the biography of the artist (especially the chronology of life I will give in the second part). I have mixed feelings about his work. It is too different. As he himself wrote: "The Path of Creativity - Invention". He is an engineer, his constancy is in diversity, in the synthesis of various techniques. In the field of book graphics, I consider the most ingenious edition: Mayakovsky, V. For voice / designer of the book El Lissitzky. Berlin: Gosizdat, 1923.
The avant-gardists were captivated by the idea of the expansion of art into everyday life. All these isms (Suprematism, Constructivism, Neoplasticism) were transferred to design, theater, and book graphics. And this is exactly about Lissitzky. But there is another side.
He himself wrote: “Each state had its own David, who, depending on the need, could write the “Oath of the Horatii” today, and tomorrow the “Coronation of Napoleon”. David is missing today. He spoke of Jacques-Louis David, a revolutionary republican who later became an imperial court painter. Apparently, he, the editor of the magazine "USSR at a Construction Site", saw himself like that.
Ravenna. 1913
Paper, graphite pencil, gouache, chalk 31.8 x 23.7 cm. Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Memories of Ravenna. 1914
Paper, engraving 33.9 x 36.6 cm. Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Pisa. 1913
Sepia on paper 24.9 x 32.5 cm. Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Wood preparation. Drawing for a calendar for November - December. Late 1910s
Paper, ink, whitewash, pen, brush, drawing tools 10.2 x 24.7 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery Gift of A. A. Sidorov in 1969
Proun. 1920–1921
Paper, graphite and black pencils, watercolor 24.35 x 22.1 cm. Russian State Archive of Literature and Art
"Remember, communication proletarians, 1905"
Sketch version of the poster for the festive decoration of Vitebsk for the 15th anniversary of the 1905 revolution. 1919-1920. Paper, gouache, ink, graphite pencil 18.2 x 22.9 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery
Beat whites with a red wedge. Poster. 1920
Paper, lithography 53 x 70 cm. Russian State Library
They fly to the ground from afar. Building No. 2. 1922
Paper, lithography 25.5 x 21 cm. Collection of Vladimir Tsarenkov
"New person". Not dated
Parchment, graphite pencil, gouache 35 x 35.5 cm. Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Design (layout) for the play "I want a child". The inscription inside: a healthy child is the future builder of communism
"To help party education." Magazine cover layout 1927
Cardboard, graphite pencil, ink, gouache 26.55 x 18.1 cm. Russian State Archive of Literature and Art
Sketch for the cover of the magazine "Thing" 1922
Paper, collage, ink 31.3x23.5 cm. Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
The Constitution of the USSR. Poster 1937
Insert in the magazine "USSR at a construction site", 1937. No. 9-12 On the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution Museum of the History of Jews in Russia
“Peace, peace at all costs! Reforge swords! 1940
Paper, ink, pen 32 x 29.6 cm. The State Tretyakov Gallery
