1. The Utopian Styles
“abstract art represents a new society free from past associations”
Suprematism
Constructivism,
De Stijl,
Bauhaus – School of Art, Architecture, and Design
During and after WWI, artists sought a new Utopian world by creating art that could improve society

2. Non-objective art provides the “supremacy of pure feeling”
Suprematism– the Supreme reality in the world is “pure feeling” – which attaches to NO object
Non-objective art provides the “supremacy of pure feeling”
MALEVICH, Suprematist Composition1915 – RUSSIA
-artist is “free from the
burden of the object”
- “nonobjective reality is
greater than anything representative” b/c we respond more intuitively to universal symbols of color and shape than to imagery
“wipe out past traditions & begin a new society”
Welcomed Russian Revolution b/c it could wipe out past tradition and begin a new culture
Figure KAZIMIR MALEVICH, Suprematist Composition: Airplane Flying, 1915 (dated 1914). Oil on canvas, 1’ 10 7/8” x 1’ 7”. Museum of Modern Art, New York (purchase).

3. Constructivism – additive
RUSSIA
GABO, Column, ca. 1923
Transparent materials – plastic (new!)
Relationship of mass and space…
(we can see the volume of the column because its transparent)
Space flows through and around materials (suggests dynamic movement, and maybe time)
“Space and time are the only forms on which life is built and hence of which ornament should be constructed” - Gabo
Figure NAUM GABO, Column, ca (reconstructed 1937). Perspex, wood, metal, glass, 3’ 5” x 2’ 5” x 2’ 5”. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

4. Tatlin’s Tower Constructivism (Productivism)
“Art is a social product, conditioned by the social environment”
Tatlin’s Tower
Vladimir Tatlin Monument to the 3rd Intnl, 1919–1920 MOSCOW
-Commemorates 1917 Russian Revolution (gov’t commission)
-”Ideal World”…art benefits society and is functional
Industrialism benefits ALL people
- structure has 3 chambers w/ different government activities:
Lecture halls, information centers, gov’t offices of Commies
Made of steel and glass – industrial materials that rep. proletariat (working class)
Meant to be a visual reinforcement of social reality

5. De Stijl (“the Style”)- Holland
-artists sought the “spiritual” in art
-believed in purging art of references to the outside world because reality is opposed to the spiritual
-Neoplasticism:“pure plastic” (refers to visual art – something created)
MONDRIAN, Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow, 1930
believed that all artists try to achieve the essence of beauty… He does this through:
COMPLETE abstraction
-pure primary colors
“dynamic equilibrium”– trying to solve the conflict btwn tension and balance w/in paintings
-SEVERE geometry w/ NO reference to nature
-NO organic designs b/c they reference animal instincts of nature which need to be purified

9. RIETVELD, Schröder House, Netherlands
1924
“plastic architect”
Why “plastic”?
Geometric, grid-like
Breaks “cubic units”
Private / public spaces
Free-flowing interior w/ partitions that open & close
Figure GERRIT THOMAS RIETVELD, Schröder House, Utrecht, the Netherlands, 1924.

12. Bauhaus
School of architecture and interior design
ALL art forms (simply crafted) should create a coherent whole
Marriage of art & technology, art and craft – using basic design principles to meet 20th c needs
Synthesis of ART & industry free from embellishment – “less is more”
GROPIUS, Shop Block, the Bauhaus, Germany, 1925
Building lifted off the ground, glass walls reveal classrooms
Horizontal stringcourses embrace the building
NO embellishment or architectural motifs –no whimsy (ex: letters)

13. Figure 33-60 MARCEL BREUER, tubular chair, 1925.
Art should be incorporated into living environments
Figure MARCEL BREUER, tubular chair, 1925.

15. Malevich was:
A Suprematist
A Constructivist
A DeStijl Artist
A Bauhaus artist
2. Mondrian was:
3. The Schröder House was influenced by which artist’s paintings?:
Gabo
Taitlin
Mondrian
Malevich