Vladimir Stenberg "Colour-Construction"Vladimir Stenberg (1899 – 1982) "Colour-Construction". Oil on

Vladimir Stenberg "Colour-Construction"
Vladimir Stenberg (1899 – 1982) "Colour-Construction". Oil on canvas, signature in the bottom left corner "В.Стенберг".
Vladimir Stenberg (1899 – 1982) – a prominent Soviet graphic artist and constructivist. In 1919 Vladimir Stenberg alongside with his brother Georgii Stenberg and their comrades founds the OBMOKhU (Society of Young Artists). In 1920 he joins the INKhUK (Institute of Artistic Culture) – a theoretical and research based artistic organisation, where in November 1920 he begins working in a newly formed "Constructivist Group" (Aleksei Gan, Karlis Johansons, Konstantin Medunetsky, Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova and brothers Stenberg). Members of this group experiment with composition and colours to achieve the transition “From the Image to Construction”. In this period (1920-1921) brothers Stenberg and Konstantin Medunetsky begin their research by creating the “colour-constructions”:

V.Stenberg “Colour-construction № 4” - The State Russian Museum,
V.Stenberg “Colour-construction № 10” - The State Tretyakov Gallery,
V.Stenberg “Colour-construction № 13”,
G.Stenberg “Colour-construction” - The Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan,
K.Medunetsky “Colour-construction” - The State Russian Museum,
К.Medunetsky “Colour-construction № 7” - The Krasnodar Regional Art Museum named after F.Kovalenko.

The brothers Stenbergs' and Konstantin Medunetsky’s “colour-constructions” were exhibited at the famous Second OBMOKhU Exhibition in May-June 1921. Medunetsky’s “Colour-construction № 7” can be seen on the photographs of the exhibition taken by Rodchenko.

The key aspect of these experimental “colour-constructions” is the dynamic combination of a line with colour quasi-flat surfaces. Two presented paintings are very remarkable because they share the same subject with a different degree of abstraction. The shapes of workers on the first painting generate volume and give some context to the first painting, whereas the second painting without any contextual shapes is almost entirely flat and abstract. The difference between two paintings perfectly illustrates the constructivist idea of the transition “From the Image to Construction”.
Dimensions: 74 x 171 cm.