Naum Gabo (1890-1977)
Naum Gabo, Linear Construction in Space No.2, c. 1949–76, this version 1970–1. © Nina & Graham Williams [Sculpture] At: https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/307918/naum-gabo/ (Accessed 08.04.2020)
Naum Gabo Head No.2 1916, enlarged version 1964. The Work of Naum Gabo © Nina & Graham Williams / Tate. Photo: Kirstin Prisk [Sculpture] At: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-st-ives/exhibition/naum-gabo (Accessed 13.03.2020)
American sculptor of Russian origin works with progressive materials and structures. I was interested in his compositions of lines and portraits. The former create intriguing, intricate forms which you want to understand. On the one hand, they look monolithic, finished, and on the other, they are just “threads” organized in an interesting way. The way of realisation, it seems to me, makes the work intriguing because I cannot understand how it is technically implemented.
Such "cosmic" forms refer to the structure of the atom, the structure of space and time. Later I read that Gabo was very interested in the theories of Einstein, and they influenced his works. Made of plastic and an iron structure with original colour, these shapes look complex and simple at the same time.
The portraits of women made of iron are striking in their duality. On the one hand, the image is gentle and sensual, and on the other hand, the material is crude and brutal. Again the master worked in contrast.
The artist worked at the boundary between the two world wars and the revolution in Russia, so his work shows a reaction to these events. He wrote that spiritual experience is the root of artistic creation. And this I find especially interesting - how artist reacted on humiliation and deprivation of that time. Being Jewish he survived and coped with incredible pressure. That's why I think his personal reaction was to go away from this collapse and develop something which could bring new, better things to this world. Gabo created kinetic sculpture and a little later worked with complete abstraction. Kandinsky work on abstraction became a basement for generations of the Russian artist and Gabo was one of them.
For me, Gabo remains a Russian soul seeking meaning in everything that happens. Using modern materials, he gave them the form of what he saw and experienced.
Antoine Pevsner (1884–1962)
Antoine Pevsner [Sculpture] At: https://pelhamcommunications.com/blog/art-on-this-day-antoine-pevsner/ (Accessed 08.04.2020)
It is interesting to compare two brothers. In fact, the sculptors working together, one way or another, could not create radically different things. Here, for example, a composition of lines. The essence of this work is one, only composition and colour are different.
Pevsner said: "Art must be inspiration controlled by mathematics. I have a need for peace, symphony, orchestration." With this statement, the sculptor is not personal for me. He works with his brother and supports him, so for me, it’s not interesting to parse simply other interpretations of Naum Gabo’s ideas.
In 1920, the brothers released the "Realistic Manifesto" where the basic ideas of work were established."Reality is the highest beauty," proclaimed in the manifesto. Five principles were formulated in the text: firstly, the colour was rejected and the tone was approved. Secondly, in the line its descriptive integrity was rejected; the line was recognized as the direction of forces hidden in the work. Third, volume was rejected and depth affirmed as a measure of space. Fourth, the mass in sculpture was rejected; it was argued that volume can be freed from the mass (to build volume from planes). Fifth, static and kinetic rhythms were rejected. (Хан-Магомедов, on-line)
Bibliography and references
1. Селим Хан-Магомедов, Архитектура советского авангарда, Книга первая, Проблемы формообразования. Мастера и течения 11. "Реалистический манифест" и пространственные конструкции Н. Габо и Н. Певзнера [online] At: http://www.alyoshin.ru/Files/publika/khan_archi/khan_archi_1_034.html (Accessed 09.04.2020)
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