Alexander Rodchenko
(Russia 1891–1956)
- Title
- Composition
- Year
- 1918
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on wooden panel
- Dimensions
-
93.0 x 51.5cm sight (irreg.); 99.1 x 57.0 x 4.7cm frame (irreg.)
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.r., black oil "A RODCHENKO [in Russian], 1918 ...".
- Credit
- Purchased 1997
- Accession number
- 416.1997
- Copyright
- © Alexander Rodchenko/RAO. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney
- Location
- Modern gallery
- Further information
The composition is painted in transparent oils over a wooden panel possibly taken from a piece of furniture. The curvature of the panel and the grain of the wood have both been incorporated into the design.
This use of a found panel and its textures makes it a very beautiful object and an outstanding example of Russian Constructivism. The composition of dynamic diagonals and shallow arcs penetrating cosmic spheres has surprisingly Cubist connections. It is reminiscent of Picasso and Braque's guitars in Analytic Cubist painting. The use of wood grain enhances this association.
- Provenance (3)
-
Dorothee Altenburg (Germany), 1994-Dec 1997, Germany, Purchased by the AGNSW from Mrs Dorothee Altenburg 1997
Alexander Archipenko (Russia, b.20th century), late 1970s, St Petersburg/Russia, relative of the sculptor Alexander Archipenko (1887-1964)
Friedman Collection (Russia), St Petersburg/Russia
- Bibliography (3)
-
Andrew Spira (Author), The avant-garde icon: Russian avant-garde art and the icon painting tradition, 2008, 93 (colour illus.). no.45
Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 57 (colour illus.).
'Director's Statement' by Edmund Capon, pg. 7-8., Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual Report 1998 1998, 1998, 8 (colour illus.).
