12 February – 17 May 2009
Explore: Room 5
Kandinsky
One of the great pioneers of abstract art, Wassily Kandinsky was an influential figure in the early development of Constructivism, but his relationship with the younger generation of Russian artists became increasingly contentious. Rodchenko and Stepanova were particularly close to him, and moved into his apartment in 1919. Several of Rodchenko's paintings from this period show the influence of Kandinsky's brand of expressionism, notably Abstraction 1920. Another work, Composition no.117 1920 was a direct response to Kandinsky's writings, with a sprinkling of coloured dots over one of Rodchenko's characteristic black on black surfaces.
Kandinsky was appointed by the Bolsheviks to a number of prestigious cultural posts, notably the director of inkhuk. As part of his research programme, he circulated a questionnaire on how artists perceived colour and form. One of Popova's studies in this room was made in answer to the questionnaire, along with the painting Construction 1920.
However, even in these sympathetic responses to Kandinsky, significant differences emerge. At his most abstract, Kandinsky still referred back to figurative elements, while Rodchenko and Popova's works are entirely abstract. And the Constructivists came to reject Kandinsky's emphasis on psychology, subjectivity and symbol. In December 1922 he left Moscow, never to return.
Architecture
The Constructivists regarded architecture as an intermediary between aesthetics and everyday life, which would allow them to realise their ideas in a practical form. There was considerable dialogue between artists and architects in the early years after the Revolution. For example, Popova collaborated with Aleksandr Vesnin on decorating the Moscow City Council building for the May Day celebrations, and engaged in theoretical discussions with the architects at inkhuk. Rodchenko, similarly, worked on numerous architectural projects through his involvement in Zhivskul'ptarkh, the 'Painting, Sculpture, Architecture' collective. For both artists, however, suchambitions were largely frustrated. Ultimately, their architectural ideas could only be manifested in art works, such as Popova's print series City or Rodchenko's Architectonic Compositions.
The Struggle and Victory of the Soviets was Popova's first collaboration with the director Vsevolod Meirkhol'd. This revolutionary spectacle was to include more than 2,000 participants and substantial military hardware in a battle between 'The fortress of Capital' and 'The City of the future'. Meirkhol'd and Popova envisaged a transformation of urban space, replacing monumental architecture with a series of Constructivist elements that interact with the flow of the crowds. However, the performance was cancelled after the 1921 famine led to a ban on mass festivals.