Russian Constructivism

Left: 'Russian Exhibition poster' by El Lissitzky (1929)
Middle: 'Poster for the Russian State Airline Dobrolet' by Alexander Rodchenko (1923)
Right: 'Books (Please!) In All Branches of Knowledge' by Alexander Rodchenko (1924)
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Constructivism was a movement in art, design and architecture that began in Russia in 1913, and rose to popularity after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Russian constructivism was considered more of a philosophy than just a style, and reflected a belief in art for social change. The Russian constructivists were proponents of functional art and design rather than decorative art, which echoed the revolutionary mood of the times where the bourgeois culture was being replaced by the revolutionary proletariat movement. In constructivist art, the tools and techniques of the more traditional, figurative painting and art styles were replaced by 'constructed' photo montages and heavy typography. Russian constructivism characteristically had minimal colour palettes, often just red, black and white, which were the colours for the government party that were running for the revolution at the time. The use of bold colours and geometric shapes engaged the audience, and the influence can be seen in today's modern design.

Left: 'Hit the Whites With the Red Wedge' by El Lissitzky (1920)
Right: 'Oppressed Peoples of the Whole World' by Gustav Klutsis (1924)
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'Hit the Whites With the Red Wedge' is a 1920 lithographic Soviet propaganda poster by artist El Lissitzky. It is considered symbolic of the Russian Civil War in Western publications. Lissitzky produced this politically charged work in support of the Red Army shortly after the Bolsheviks had waged their revolution in 1917. The Red Wedge symbolised the revolutionaries, who were penetrating the anti-communist White party. Here, Lissitzky uses the signature colour combination of red, white and black, which reinforces the message indicated by the work's title. For example, the smooth, curvlinear walls of the white circle are pierced by the red triangle, emphasising how the the Red Army has pierced the defenses of the White Party. A similar colour palate is used in Gustav Klutsis' photo-montage 'Oppressed People's of the Whole World' in which he uses red and black geometric shapes to convey his political message. In a similar manner  to Lissitzky's piece, Klutsis makes use of a black triangle which leads the viewers eye towards the red circle which contains the key text, translating to "Opressed people's of the whole world, under the banner of Comintern overthrow imperialism!". The major difference between the two pieces of work is that Lissitzky's poster only consists of bold geometric shapes, while Klutsis' photo-montage combines bold shapes with cut outs of political figures.