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Miscellany (ed. by Chiara Rampazzo)

Vol. 13 (2020): Rooms, Décor, Objects. The Intérieur in the Slavic Area

Constructivist Architecture in the Soviet Visual Arts of the Late 1920s-Early 1930s

Published
2020-12-31

Abstract

The article considers key examples of real and fantastic objects of constructivist architecture found in Soviet painting and graphics of the 1920s and early 1930s. Architectural constructivism found its second life in graphics, and later in painting. Many formal techniques of easel art were appropriated by constructivists: the general minimalism of details; concise compositions in which everything combines smoothly and there is nothing superfluous; and the primacy of straight lines, clear contours and geometric volumes. For these reasons, Soviet constructivist architecture served as a source of inspiration for artists. They were happy to depict constructivist architecture itself, which was for them the embodiment of the spirit of the time: young, fresh, innovative and promising.