Figurative Constructivism is an art movement that arose principally in Germany. The term was introduced by
Franz Seiwert
Franz Wilhelm Seiwert (March 9, 1894 – July 3, 1933) was a German painter and sculptor in a constructivist style. He was also politically active as a communist making significant contributions, both graphic and theoretical to ''Die Aktion' ...
in 1929 using the phrase "gegenständlichen constructive", and this was subsequently taken up by
Gerd Arntz
Gerd Arntz (11 December 1900, in Remscheid – 4 December 1988, in The Hague) was a German Modernist artist renowned for his black and white woodcuts. A core member of the Cologne Progressives, he was also a council communist. The Cologne Progress ...
and then by art historians more generally.
[Benus B. (2013) 'Figurative Constructivism and sociological graphics' in ''Isotype: Design and Contexts 1925-71'' London: Hyphen Press, pp.216-248] It is closely related to the development of the
Isotype. As Seiwert wrote "From the expressionist-cubist art-form abstract constructivism was developed, which in turn led into Figurative Constructivism".
''a bis z''
In October 1929 Seiwert,
Heinrich Hoerle
Heinrich Hoerle (1 September 1895 – 7 July 1936) was a German constructivist artist of the New Objectivity movement.
Hoerle was born in Cologne. He studied at the Cologne School of Arts and Crafts but was mostly self-taught as an artist. Afte ...
and
Walter Stern produced the first issue of ''A bis Z'', subtitled "organ of the progressive artists group". It featured five artists from four towns: Seiwert and Hoerle (
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
),
Augustin Tschinkel
Augustin Tschinkel (1905, Prague – 1983, Cologne) was a Czech artist active with the Figurative Constructivist art movement.
Tschinkel went to Cologne, Germany to attend the ''Pressa'' exhibition there. He was working with Ladislav Sutnar who w ...
(
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
),
Peter Alma
Peter Alma (18 January 1886 Medan – 23 May 1969 Amsterdam) was a Dutch artist. Alma was born in Medan, Indonesia and attended the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague in 1904. On the recommendation of Franz Seiwert he was employed by the Gesellscha ...
(
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
) and Arntz (
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
).
[ Tschinkel and Alma were both colleagues of Arntz at the ]Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum
Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum (Museum for Social and Economic Affairs) is a museum located in Margareten, Vienna.
History
Following World War I, Vienna experienced extreme devastation and deprivation which radicalized architects and designe ...
run by Otto Neurath
Otto Karl Wilhelm Neurath (; 10 December 1882 – 22 December 1945) was an Austrian-born philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist. He was also the inventor of the ISOTYPE method of pictorial statistics and an innovator in mu ...
in Vienna.[
]
Isostat
The Figurative constructivist approach was adopted by Ivan Ivanitsky
Ivan Petrovich Ivanitsky (1896-1970) was a Soviet graphic designer and infographics pioneer.
Ivanitsky was drafted into the Russian Imperial Army in 1915. He was wounded during the war receiving a wound in his right hand. For the rest of his life ...
of Lenizogiz in Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
.
See also
*Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract a ...
* Figurative construction
References
{{art-movement-stub
German art movements