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When Soviet aesthetics astounded the world
The groundbreaking impact of Soviet design, architecture and art is reverberating to this very day, writes Christina Lodder in her introduction to this fascinating book
(L to R) Konstantin Melnikov, sketch of the USSR pavilion for the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, 1925; Melnikov, project of USSR pavilion for New York 1964 International Exhibition; Melnikov and V Kurochnin, Gosplan garage in Moscow (1934–36); A restored to original state unit of the famous Constructivist housing of Communa 33/Commune 33 on Gogolevsky Boulevard, Moscow, by Studio Bazi; Varvara Stepanova, costume sketch for Mavrusha a character in Tarelkin’s Death, Meyerhold Theatre, Moscow, 1922
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Soviet Design from Constructivism to Modernism 1920-1980
by Kristina Krasnyanskaya and Alexander Semenov
Scheidegger & Spiess £43.85
“...THE Russians have introduced a new energy and new artistic possibilities... pointing the direction they must follow to reach their ideal, the new human ideal: a constructive way of life. They are the children of the future.”
Lajos Kassak, 1922
IN THE 1920s, the world looked to the young Soviet Union as a byword for new approaches—not only in politics and social organisation, but also in various areas of artistic creativity, including art and design.
Radical creative figures in the rest of the world had been electrified by the Russian Revolution of October 1917 and were eager to learn about the innovative experiments that were being conducted by their colleagues in the young workers’ state.
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The creative imagination is a weapon against barbarism, writes KENNY COYLE, who is a keynote speaker at the Manifesto Press conference, Art in the Age of Degenerative Capitalism, tomorrow at the Marx Memorial Library & Workers School in London
Paul MacGee of Manifesto Press invites you to a special launch on Saturday August 2.