Liubov

Popova

Popova truly embodied the avante-garde with a spirit that passionately sought to be on the frontlines of the latest revolutionary movement. Her voracious appetite for revolution began with her embrace of post-Impressionists Gauguin, van Gogh and Cezanne. She devoured the principles set forth in their work during her study in Paris from 1912 – 1913 while also assimilating Cubism. While in Italy the following year, she discovered the dynamism of Futurism and began incorporating its artistic ideals. She was quite unlike the Futurists, however, in that she also embraced the classical ideas of logic and form dictated by the Italian Renaissance. Russian icon painting also informed her work with its reduced spatial relationships and the wooden ‘icon board’ which found its way into most of her later works including this new acquisition.

Popova was pivotal in the Russian art world and held weekly gatherings that occasionally included Kasamir Malevich. She worked in the studio with Vladimir Tatlin and her unique synthesis of Suprematism and Constructivism translated to developments in design including book covers, posters, stage sets, costumes and textile design.