Antoine Pevsner (12 April 1962) was a Russian-born sculptor and the older brother of Alexii Pevsner and
Naum Gabo
Naum Gabo, born Naum Neemia Pevsner (23 August 1977) (Hebrew: נחום נחמיה פבזנר), was an influential sculptor, theorist, and key figure in Russia's post-Revolution avant-garde and the subsequent development of twentieth-century scul ...
. Both Antoine and Naum are considered pioneers of twentieth-century sculpture.
Biography
Pevsner was born as Natan Borisovich Pevzner
in
Oryol
Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, into a Jewish family. Among the originators of and having coined the term,
Constructivism
Constructivism may refer to:
Art and architecture
* Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes
* Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...
, and pioneers of
Kinetic Art, Pevsner and his brother Naum Gabo discovered a new use for metals and welding and made a new marriage of art and mathematics. Pevsner said: ''"Art must be inspiration controlled by mathematics. I have a need for peace, symphony, orchestration."'' He was one of the first to use the
blowtorch
A blowtorch, also referred to as a blowlamp, is an ambient air fuel-burning gas lamp used for applying flame and heat to various applications, usually metalworking.
Early blowtorches used liquid fuel, carried in a refillable reservoir attache ...
in sculpture, welding copper rods onto sculptural forms and along with his brother, Naum, he issued the
Realist Manifesto The Realistic Manifesto is a key text of Constructivism (art), Constructivism. Written by Naum Gabo and cosigned by his brother, Antoine Pevsner, the ''Manifesto'' laid out their theories of artistic expression in the form of five "fundamental princ ...
in 1920.
He left the Soviet Union in 1923 and moved to Paris, where he would live for the rest of his life.
Among the honors he received were a retrospective at the
Museum of Modern Art in Paris (1956-7) and the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
(1961).
Pevsner is buried in Paris.
References
External links
*
1886 births
1962 deaths
People from Klimavichy
People from Klimovichskiy Uyezd
Belarusian Jews
Soviet sculptors
Modern sculptors
Jewish sculptors
Russian avant-garde
Constructivism (art)
Soviet emigrants to the United States
Burials at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery
20th-century French sculptors
French male sculptors
{{russia-sculptor-stub
Recipients of the Legion of Honour