Lissitzky, Lazar Markovich( 1890 – 1941 )
Proun, study, c. 1920 – 1923 , VanAbbemuseum, Inv.nr. 244 , 40. 3 39 cm, Charcoal on paperEl Lissitzky, educated as an architect and engineer, is best known for his explorations of spatial con-
struction and constructivist graphics. Born in the province of Smolensk, Russia, in 1890 , he left for
Germany in 1909 to study at the Technische Hochschüle in Darmstadt. With the advent of World War
I, he returned to study engineering and architecture at the Riga Polytechnic Institute in Moscow. He
was recruited by Marc Chagall to teach architecture and graphic arts at the Vitebsk Popular Art
Institute, and began his association with Theo Van Doesburg, Kazimir Malevich, Hans Arp, Mart
Stam, among others, and the contructivist and suprematist movements (Lissitzky, 1976 ; Perloff and
Reed, 2003 ).
With little opportunity for work in architecture, Lissitzky found an artistic outlet in graphic design:
books, Soviet propaganda posters, and photomontage. In 1919 he began a series of two- and three-
dimensional projects he called Prouns. Lissitzky was experimenting with the ‘problems of the percep-
tion of plastic elements in space’ and the ‘optimum harmony of very simple geometric forms in their
dynamic and static relationships’ (Lissitzky, 1976 , p. 49 ). These geometric, spatial abstractions were
titled for an acronym ‘Project for the affirmation of the new’ in art (Mansbach, 1987 , p. 109 ; Perloff
and Reed, 2003 , p. 7 ).
Lissitsky had been searching for a venue beyond painting, one which extended to the creation of
space (Mansbach, 1987 ). The Prounsquestioned the tradition of perspective that used a single point
by employing multiple visual points (Lissitzky, 1976 ). The resulting effect produced geometric com-
positions that seemed to float in space, with lines and planes extending in all directions. The Prouns
took many forms, from prints and paintings to room-scale installations.
Both spatial and compositional, Lissitzky viewed the Prounconstructions as sketches, since they
referred to a beginning. They were explorations reaching toward perfection; continuously in
process, they could never reach a state of completion (Mansbach, 1987 ). The opposite page (Figure
6. 4 ) exhibits a graphite study for a Proun. The freehand techniques and scratchy pencil lines indicate
its preliminary qualities. The sketch studies overlapping planes of various values on the left, balanced
by open space on the right. Many lines appear to visually extend beyond the page connecting the
Prounwith the space beyond it. The composition emphasizes the correlation between the object
and the ground surrounding it. More volumetricallycomplete, this sketch may have been the three-
dimensional equivalent of the large-scale exploration. The image may represent a spatial construc-
tion that was abstracted for transfer to a lithograph.
Although Lissitzky maintained positive attitudes toward the machine aesthetic, it is not surprising
that this Prounhas been explored freehand. The manual, of the hand, was continually a concern for
him, especially in relationship to vision. For him, the hand took a primary role in any creative activ-
ity (Perloff and Reed, 2003 ). Thus, the constructed installation Prounsconsisted of the materials of the
machine age, tempered by his concern for craftsmanship and tactility. This suggests that the starting
point for all of his designs emerged from hand sketches.
Lissitzky used his Prounsto speculate on the construction of elements in space. Theoretical by
nature, they inherently referred to an ideology rather than their objective qualities. Paradoxically, the
action of hanging these images in galleries added to the perception of them as finished objects. If all
of the Prounscompleted by Lissitzky were intended to be preliminary, then this sketch may actually
be a preliminary for a preliminary.H5719-Ch06.qxd 7/18/05 10:21 AM Page 151