Moscow, 1917. Liubov Popova works in her studio, in the midst of revolution. She constructs a new vision of the world, form after form, color after color. Art must create its own architecture.
A Construction of Pure Forms
An orange rectangle dominates the composition. It floats, slightly tilted, at the center of a fragmented space. Around it, colored planes overlap: deep blues, muted greens, luminous whites, touches of red and pink. Each form possesses its own volume through subtle gradations and cast shadows. Popova paints in oil with remarkable mastery of the medium. The surface vibrates with energy. This architectonic painting constructs an autonomous universe, freed from all reference to the visible world.
The Laboratory of the Russian Avant-Garde
In revolutionary Russia, artists reinvent everything. Popova belongs to the Suprematist movement, inspired by Malevich, then develops her own approach: architectonics. She seeks to unite painting and construction, art and space. Her compositions explore the dynamic relationships between forms, visual tension, unstable equilibrium. This work bears witness to a period of extraordinary creative ferment, where abstraction becomes the language of a new world. Russian artists believed that abstract art could transform society.
Liubov Popova, a Constructivist Painter and Designer
Liubov Popova (1889-1924), trained in Moscow and Paris, integrated Cubist and Futurist influences. She developed a powerful geometric style, collaborated on Constructivist theater, and taught at Vkhutemas. Her premature death cut short a brilliant artistic trajectory.
💭 And you, what energy do you feel when facing these forms that seem to float freely in space?
About This Work
- Architectonic Painting, Liubov Popova, circa 1917, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
- Oil on canvas, 83.82 × 61.6 cm
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
- https://collections.lacma.org/node/170802
