COLLECTION NAME:
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
mediaCollectionId
ArtArtHiAAH~7~7
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
Collection
true
Image Record ID:
aahi0001855
image_record_id
aahi0001855
Image Record ID
false
Work Title (display):
Architectonic Painting
Image Title:
full view
Work Dates (display):
1917
Work Dates type:
creation
Work Creator (display):
Lyubov' Popova (Russian, 1889-1924)
Work Creator gender:
male
work_creator_or_agent_gender
male
Work Creator gender
false
Work Creator notes (display):
Russian painter and designer. She was born into a wealthy family and trained as a teacher before beginning her artistic studies with Stanislav Zhukovsky (18731944) and Konstantin Yuon. Their influence, particularly through their interest in luminous tonalities reminiscent of Impressionism, can be seen in early works by Popova such as Still-life with Basket of Fruit (19078; Athens, George Costakis Col.; see Rudenstine, pl. 725). Popova travelled extensively: in Kiev (1909) she was very impressed by the religious works of Mikhail Vrubel'; in Italy (1910) she admired Renaissance art, especially the paintings of Giotto. Between 1910 and 1911 she toured many parts of Russia, including Suzdal', Novgorod, Yaroslavl' and Pskov. Inspired by Russian architecture, frescoes and icons, she developed a less naturalistic approach. A more crucial influence was the first-hand knowledge of Cubism that she gained in Paris, which she visited with Nadezhda Udal'tsova during the winter of 191213. She studied at the Académie de la Palette, under the direction of Henri Le Fauconnier and Jean Metzinger, and her paintings of this time clearly display the influence of these artists (e.g. Two Figures, 191314; Moscow, Tret'yakov Gal.). Numerous sketchbooks attest to the rigour with which Popova applied Cubist analysis to the human figure (e.g. notebook C313, 191314; see also Cubo-futurism). This approach was extended to paintings, for example Seated Figure (1914; Cologne, Mus. Ludwig), which has affinities with work by Léger and the Italian Futurist Umberto Boccioni; here, Popova shows a new confidence and fluency, and a more sophisticated integration of form and space into the transparent structures of curved and rectilinear planes. A more complex and dynamic fragmentation appears in canvases such as Travelling Woman (1915; Los Angeles, CA, Norton Simon A. Found.; see Rudenstine, pl. 808). In Russia, Popova was influenced by Vladimir Tatlin and worked at some time between 1912 and 1915 in his studio in Moscow, the Tower. Inspired by his constructions, Popova experimented with collage and in 1915 began to produce painted reliefs in which projecting curved elements made of cardboard are juxtaposed and enlivened with strongly coloured, impasto paintwork (e.g. Jug on a Table, 1915; Moscow, Tret'yakov Gal.). In 1916 she produced her first non-objective canvases, six of which she exhibited as Painterly Architectonics (two repr. in Rudenstine, pls 8267) at the November Jack of Diamonds exhibition. Earlier that autumn Popova had joined Malevich's Suprematist circle, producing several designs for the magazine Supremus (which was never published). Although she adopted the rectilinear geometry and white grounds of the Suprematists, Popova's abstract canvases were distinctive. She produced very powerful and dynamic paintings in which large geometric planes, boldly coloured but with elements of modelling, abut and interpenetrate to create taut and thrusting diagonal compositions (e.g. Architectonic Painting, 1917; New York, MOMA). During the Civil War Popova worked in the Fine Art Department (IZO) of Narkompros (the People's Commissariat for Enlightenment), producing agitational posters, and also taught workers at Proletkul't (Proletarian Cultural Organization). In 1918 she joined the staff of the State Free Art Studios (later known as Svomas), and when these became the Vkhutemas (Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops) she and Aleksandr Vesnin taught colour construction on the Basic Course. A member of Inkhuk (Institute of Artistic Culture) from 1920, Popova was active in discussions concerning the new art and was commissioned to write a paper on the teaching of art, 'K voprosu o novykh metodakh v nashey khudozhestvennoy shkole' ('Towards the question of the new methods in our art school'; unpublished; Moscow, priv. col.). She also participated in the crucial theoretical debates that led to the formation in March 1921 of the First Working Group of Constructivists. Although not a member, Popova collaborated with two of its founders, Aleksandr Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova, in the 5×5 = 25 exhibition (1921), showing five works she described as 'experiments with painterly force structures'. By this time her paintings were more complex in their geometric and spatial construction, making greater use of linear elements (e.g. Spatial Force Construction, 1921; four in Moscow, Tret'yakov Gal.; three in Athens, George Costakis Col.; one in New York, priv. col.; see Rudenstine, pl. 874). Popova seems to have stopped painting in 1921 and, by her own declaration to Inkhuk in December, she espoused more fully the Constructivist emphasis on the utilitarian role of the artist. Her principal contribution to Constructivism was her subsequent work in theatre and textile design. In 1920 she had collaborated with Aleksandr Vesnin on a project for a mass outdoor festival in honour of the Third International, to be directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold. The following year she was invited to teach a course on the 'Analysis of the elements of material design', at the Higher Theatrical Workshops. These were organized by Meyerhold, who in 1922 invited her to design the sets and costumes for his production of Crommelynck's farce The Magnanimous Cuckold at the Actors' Theatre in Moscow. Popova created a Constructivist environment by transforming the water-mill of the setting into a multi-levelled, skeletal apparatus, with enormous wheels that rotated at crucial moments in the action. She dressed the actors in overalls, which she conceived as prototypes for workers' clothing in that they were functional, suitable for mass-production and expressed the new proletarian ideology. In 1923 her set for Meyerhold's production of Sergey Tret'yakov's Zemlya dybom ('The earth in turmoil') consisted of a gantry crane, and the stage properties were selected from mass-produced objects such as projectors and motorcycles. By this means, together with the use of political slogans and newsreel film, Popova created an industrial montage. Late in 1923 or early in 1924 Popova, together with Stepanova, started to design textiles for mass manufacture at the First State Textile Factory in Moscow. In accordance with Constructivist principles, both artists considered it imperative, in order to rationalize cloth production, to replace traditional floral patterns with designs consisting of rigorous combinations of one or two geometric forms in an economic colour range. Popova also designed working clothes, dresses made from her own textiles, and garments that utilized available materials such as flannel to combat current shortages. Popova's theatrical experiments and textile designs were published in Lef ('Left front of the arts'), a magazine set up in 1923 to promote Constructivist ideas in all the arts. She contracted scarlet fever from her son and died prematurely. http://www.groveart… accessed 2008-06-16>
Work Style Period:
Suprematist
work_styleperiod
Suprematist
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
20th century
work_styleperiod
20th century
Work Style Period
false
Work Worktype:
oil paintings
work_type
oil paintings
Work Worktype
false
Work Worktype:
paintings (visual works)
work_type
paintings (visual works)
Work Worktype
false
Work Category (VRC classification):
paintings
work_category__ucbaahvrc_classification_
paintings
Work Category (VRC classification)
false
Work Material and Technique (display):
oil paint on canvas
Work Measurements (display):
80 cm (H) x 98 cm (W)
Work Location (Repository or Site) name:
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)
Work Location (Repository or Site) role:
repository
Work Location (Repository or Site) refid:
14.1958
Work Location (Repository or Site) refid type:
accession
Work Location (Geographic) name:
New York, New York
Image Rights (display):
© Museum of Modern Art, New York. Licensed for educational use via Scholars Resource: Davis Art Images
Work Rights (display):
unknown
Terms of Agreement and Conditions of Use:
YOU AGREE: Luna Imaging's Insight Software and the digital image collection associated with it (the Software) are being provided by the University of Colorado under the following license. By obtaining, using, and/or copying this work, you (the Licensee) agree that you have read, understood, and will comply with the following terms and conditions. 1. The Software contains the University of Colorado's Department of Art and Art History's implementation of a digital image collection; 2. Any images obtained through use of the Software will be used only for non-profit, educational purposes; 3. The use of images obtained through the software will only be used while the Licensee is either: a) an employee of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver, or b) an enrolled student at the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver; 4. When the Licensee is no longer an employee or student of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or Community College of Denver, either by an action of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or the Community College of Denver or due to actions of the Licensee, the licensee will cease to use any images exported from the Department of Art and Art History's digital image collection; 5. The Licensee agrees to indemnify the University for claims and liability arising out of the use of the Software or for any violations of this license; 6. THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO SUPPLIES THE SOFTWARE WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
CU Copyright Statement:
The contents of the University of Colorado Digital Library are available for your use in research, teaching, and private study. Some of these items are protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) and some items may have additional restrictions. If you use the items in this collection, make sure you abide by any restrictions stated in the descriptive data window. The nature of these collections often makes it difficult to determine the copyright status of an item. We have made every effort to provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions in the descriptive data window. Ultimately, however, it is your responsibility to use the item according to the terms governing its use. If you are a copyright holder and the information is either not listed or listed incorrectly, please let us know so that we can update the information on our site.
Holding Institution:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Collection:
Art and Art History Visual Resources Collection
Collection info and contact:
For information about this collection, see