Constructivist Posters

Explore our world-leading Constructivist poster collection.

The term Constructivism was coined by a socially minded group of artists working in the Soviet Union at the end of the Bolshevik Civil War in the early '20s. The Constructivists were young artists who felt that art should have a revolutionary purpose and should contribute to the "construction" of a new communist society, one based on science and modern technology.

Adapting the avant-garde forms of Cubism and Futurism, the Constructivists created a new "agitational" vocabulary for the Revolution, which became the dominant style in the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1933. Their posters were the first to incorporate photography as a graphic design element, along with strident slogans, powerful typefaces and dynamic compositions constructed of strong diagonals. Pioneers of this style were the team of Rodchenko and Mayakovsky in advertising and the Stenberg Brothers in film posters. Gustav Klutsis and his wife Valentina Kulagina carried on this vocabulary into the first Five Year Plan of 1928-1933, creating heroic images of Stalin and his accomplishments in forceful compositions. The style ultimately was superseded by Social Realism, a less dramatic and graphic approach favored by Stalin as the Thirties progressed.

The design legacy of the Constructivists was conveyed to Western Europe by El Lissitsky, who traveled widely in the Twenties. Lissitsky's impact was pivotal to the development of the rational modern aesthetic at the Bauhaus and beyond.

Leading Artists: Barutchev, Blik, Dlugach, Klutsis, Koretsky, Pernikov, Rodchenko, Stenberg Brothers

For more, visit our past gallery exhibitions:
  - War & Revolution - Propaganda Posters from WWI America and Revolutionary Russia
  - Revolution By Design - Soviet Posters 1917 - 1937
  - War and Peace - Tass Agency Posters from the Soviet Union 1941 - 1946