Before Class 03/29/10

The 1900's were a dark time for a lot of the world. There were two world wars, and numerous violent overthrows of governments. Russia was not immune to any of this. They country was impacted by the first World War and then the Russian Revolution. However, during these dark times, there was a "brief flowering of creative art in Russia." A combination of cubism and futurism emerged called "cubo-futurism." Russian books were created that were agaisnt "czarist Russia." Kasimir Malevich was an influential artist who developed a painting style called "suprematism." Malevich wanted to abandone the geometric style of cubism and instead paint "expression of feeling, seeking no practical values, no ideas, no promised land." He believed what was most important was how the viewer experienced the painting, it's color and form. Artists who agreed with Malevich used this style to go agaisnt the Russian government and further the revolution. They wanted to abandon all the art of conservatives. However, not all artists agreed that art should be involved with society and politics. Malevich himself and Kandinsky thought that "art must remain an essentially spiritual activity apart from the utilitarian needs of society." They wanted to keep art and politics seperate so as neither of them to pollute or influence the other. Vladimir Tatlin believed the opposite, and he used art to further the communist values of Russia.
The most famous Russian of this period was Lissitzky. This visionary artist changed graphic design forever. Because he was Jewish, he was turned down by the Petrograd Academy of Arts, so he instead went to Germany for his schooling. Encouraged by the headmaster of his school, he invented a painting style called PROUNS. It was an acronym for "Projects for the Establishment of a new Art" This type of art was concerned with created 3D images and illusions in painting. Lissitzky was hopeful that the Russian revolution and communism would "provide for society's needs, and the artist..would forge a unity between art and technology by constructing a new world of objects to provide mankind with a richer society and environment." He designed for Wendingen magazine that was a catalyst for artists and designers to share their work and ideas. He created most of his designs on graph paper demonstrating the "modular structure and mathematical order." His designs also affect book design, as he tried to arrange the words and page designs act as a "violin accompanies a piano." Lissitzky developed rules and organization for how books were to be arranged in columns and rows.
De Stijl was a movement that began in the Netherlands. It was concerned with working with abstract geometric style. Philopsher M.H.J. Shoenmaker beleived that horizontal and vertical lines represented opposite forces in our world, and the primary colors; yellow, blue, and red should be only used. The artists of this movement were very concerned with equilibrium and harmony and purity. Mondrians most famous piece (Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue 1922) is said to create "assymetrical balance, with tension between elements, achieved absolute harmony."