 Constructivism was an art movement that began around 1915 in Russia however it really had a lot of influence and drive from 1917 when the Russian Revolution began and was heading into a communist society. The forefathers of this art movement were Vladimir Tatlion, Alexander Rodchenko and Aleksi Gan with other artists such as Varvara Stepanova, Liubov Popova and El Lissitzky who also contributed a great deal during this time of change into a new way of life. The main aim of constructivism during the Russian Revolution was to create socialist art for the people. Artists wanted to convey a message through their creations via posters, architecture, and paintings. Images were not based on style or pure talent however more aimed towards intention, simplicity, and boldness so that art could be interpreted and understood by everyone not just the few. Gustav Klutsis was a highly skilled Graphic Designer and Photographer, he was a strong part taker during the constructivist movement and was highly influenced by the communist leadership of Stalin and created propaganda posters throughout the years for the communist party, although sadly even as a true supporter of Stalin’s leadership and of the communist party Gustav was one of many who died during Stalin’s Great Purge during 1938. Another very influential artists during the constructivist movement was El Lizzitzky. He was a talented Designer, architect, typographer, and painter in Russia. Lizzitzky’s actual name was Lazar Markovich Lizzitzky however he adopted this shortened version of his name in 1919 after becoming highly interested in Kazimir Malevich who taught and then ran the People’s Art School in Vitebsk- where Lizzitzky had taught previously and was the creator of the movement Suprematism. This changed El Lizzitzky’s understanding of art by transforming geometric forms into stylized artwork, thus creating exhibitions, paintings and propaganda posters which eventually led him to the constructivist era. During the turn of the revolution from 1917, Lizzitzky and Klutsis were highly political and created many pieces of art work and propaganda to portray their political views and produce art work for the masses that could be seen everywhere and for everyone, constructivism was beginning of a new bold era of art in Russia mainly, that focused on the construction rather than composition. One of the most famous and recognizable pieces of constructivist artwork was produced by El Lizzitzky in 1920 under the name ‘Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge’. This artwork is a lithograph poster in red and black on white woven paper. El Lizzitky was well known for his colour schemes and again he does not disappoint. The image may be of simplicity however the use of the bold geometric forms and clashing tones of red, white, and black convey a deeper meaning. This piece was created after the Russian Revolution but is a celebratory image. The striking red triangle takes centre fold which depicts the Red Army (revolutionaries) piercing the anti-communists White Army’s defence using the definitive white circle as a symbolic metaphor which again takes the viewers eyes to this point. The image is surely conveyed as a battle, the bold black line that diagonally crosses the scene can be viewed as a frontline of an army, the black contrasting colour over the white portrays the old and negative ways that life has been and is a strong indication of death. The other half of the poster is the light and bright white on the Red Army’s side which creates a sense of victory and the new positive ways of life for society, pushing out the old and in with the new. He uses the geometric forms of the main triangle and smaller forms around the image onto the black which could be mistaken to resemble spear heads, bullets or missiles which all have the same equal meaning of War. The basic use of colour and forms is a way that Lizzitzky wanted to be able to speak to the public a message that does not need to be read but interpreted for those who view it, such as the little use of typography this poster has. Like Lizzitzky and many of the constructivists posters were adopted throughout this period in time, Gustav Klutsis was very similar in respect to Lizzitzky and using the power of posters for propaganda but by using images again to convey a stronger meaning and the little use of typography to let the viewer understand what is not needed to be said, whereas posters seemingly to us can be more informative and contain more text for the viewer, whereas propaganda does not inherit this method. Gustav Klutsis created many propaganda posters in his time, 10 years after El Lizzitzky’s ‘Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge’ he created ‘Under the Banner of Lenin’ in 1930. This poster was produced by cutting and pasting photographs and layering on top of each other called Photomontage. This method of production was quick and inexpensive, with the idea in mind to produce large scale posters and a lot of them. The images in this poster display’s Lenin and Stalin’s face’s photographed laid over one another merging halfway between the images as if to form one. The use of photography creates a more life like approach, to show the viewers of society who these leaders are with the focus being on their eyes, as if they are directly staring at the viewer. The technique of merging Lenin’s face with Stalin’s underneath gives the message that Stalin is in Lenin’s shadow with the use of the contrasting light where their faces meet evokes a deeper understanding that Stalin and Lenin are so connected as a political match that they are of one an equal match and strong political agenda. Klutsis’s uses the bold red geometric shape behind the face’s which could be led back to where Lizzitzky started to use the Red Wedge to depict the Red Army, to remind the viewers of the Revolution. In the foreground of the poster contains pictures of manufacturing and construction, this is to show the people they are for the working man, they are for the future of industrialisation with the use of diagonals seemingly towards the top of the page this could indicate the future and expansion of Russia with Stalin and Lenin being the forefathers of this generation. Propaganda posters as such were heavily dependent on artists, the Government helped with Klutsis’s efforts as they needed to shift the mindset at the masses and have clear concise messages which only artists like the constructivists could convey, this was especially important as these posters had to be everywhere in built up cities to rural farming villages. The images used from Lizzitzky’s work and Klutsis’s, were to be given to the people for all to understand and see even without the heavy use of typography. Russia had many poor and underdeveloped areas with less educated people who could only interpret what they saw from posters. This was the importance of the constructivist work for the people.  https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/beat-the-whites-with-the-red-wedge/
http://dighist.fas.harvard.edu/projects/russiaglobal/exhibits/show/objects/item/68 https://properganderpressblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/22/stalin-poster-of-the-week-gustav-klutsis-under-the-banner-of-lenin-for-socialist-construction-1930/#:~:text=This%20well%2Dknown%20poster%20of,literally%20in%20Lenin's%20shadow.&text=Klutsis%20became%20a%20prominent%20graphic,the%20goals%20of%20the%20regime. https://utopiadystopiawwi.wordpress.com/constructivism/el-lissitzky/beat-the-whites-with-the-red-wedge/ http://dighist.fas.harvard.edu/projects/russiaglobal/exhibits/show/objects/politics/klutsis https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/gustav-klutsis?all/all/all/all/0 https://monoskop.org/Gustav_Klutsis https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/el-lissitzky-1519 https://www.britannica.com/biography/El-Lissitzky
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