El Lissitzky

El Lissitzky

Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (November 23, 1890 – December 30, 1941) was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, typographer, polemicist and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant-garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich. His work greatly influenced the Bauhaus and constructivist movements.

About El Lissitzky in brief

Summary El LissitzkyLazar Markovich Lissitzky (November 23, 1890 – December 30, 1941) was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, typographer, polemicist and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant-garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich. His work greatly influenced the Bauhaus and constructivist movements, and he experimented with production techniques and stylistic devices that would go on to dominate 20th-century graphic design. In 2014, the heirs of the artist, in collaboration with Van Abbemuseum and leading worldwide scholars on the subject, established the Lissitsky Foundation in order to preserve the artist’s legacy and to prepare a catalogue raisonné of theArtist’s oeuvre. He died on his deathbed, where in 1941 he produced one of his last works – a Soviet propaganda poster rallying the people to construct more tanks for the fight against Nazi Germany. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. He also leaves behind a son and a daughter-in-law, both of whom are still living in the United States. He has a daughter, Yolanda, who is a well-known Russian author and author of several books about the history of the Jewish diaspora in Europe and North America. She is also the co-founder of a foundation that promotes the education of Russian Jews in the diasporas and promotes the preservation of Jewish culture in Russia and beyond. Lisstsky is buried in the city of Vitebsk, now part of Belarus, where he lived and studied for 10 years with his grandparents.

He later moved to Darmstadt, Germany, to study architectural engineering at the Technische Hochschule. He remained in Germany until the outbreak of World War I, when he was forced to return home through Switzerland and the Balkans, along with other expatriate artists born in the former Russian Empire, such as Wassily Kandinsky and Marc Chagall. In 1912 some of his pieces were included for the first time in an exhibit by the St. Petersburg Artists Union; a notable first step. After the downfall of the Tsarist regime, he took an active and passionate interest in Jewish culture, after which he became active and active in exhibiting works by Jewish artists and sculptors. In 1921 he took up a job as the Russian cultural ambassador to Weimar Germany, working with and influencing important figures of the B Sauhaus and De Stijl movements during his stay. In his remaining years he brought significant innovation and change to typography, exhibition design, photomontage, and book design, producing critically respected works and winning international acclaim for his exhibition design. He continued to exhibit his works until the end of the Second World War. In 1941 he died in Moscow, having been evacuated to Moscow because of the war, which had been repealed by the Provisional Government. He left behind a wife and two children.