 |
|
Gustavs Klucis Poster and project designer, pioneer of Soviet propaganda photomontage.
Born on January 4, 1895 in Valmiera district (Latvia), repressed and killed in 1938 in Russia ― in Moscow, at the Butovo firing range.
Studied at the Riga City Art School (1913-1915) and the School of the Imperial Society for the Fostering of Art in Petrograd (1915-1917). Conscripted in 1915. Involved in the February and October Revolutions of 1917. From 1918 Klucis lived in Moscow. Participated in the activities of the Latvian Riflemen's art studio based in the Kremlin. Further studies at Ilya Mashkov's and Konstantin Korovin’s art studios, the State Free Art Workshops, 1918-1921, under Kazimir Malevich. Professor at the Institute for Artistic Culture, 1921-1924. Lecturer at the Free Art Workshops (1924―1930) and the Institute of Printing Arts (from1930). One of the founders of the October artists' group (1928), active member of the Prometheus Latvian Society for Education and Culture. An outstanding representative of Russian Constructivism.
A painter early in his artistic career, in 1918 he turned to photomontage and posters, employed photomontage as an original technique for book illustration and layout design, and engaged in press graphic as well as in monumental urban propaganda art. He designed propaganda objects and exhibition stands and was the author of a theoretical article Photomontage as a New Kind of Agitation Art (1931).
Participated in art exhibitions since 1918. One-man shows have been held in Moscow (1920 with Naum Gabo and Anton Pevzner, 1961), in Riga (1959, 1970, 1984, 1998, 2005), Valmiera (1971), Kassel (1991), New York (2004 with Valentina Kulagina), Strasbourg (2005).
Since 1964 one of the most extensive collections of Gustavs Klucis’ works, donated by Valentina Kulagina, the artist’s spouse, is part of the holdings of the Latvian National Museum of Art.
VFS (Vides Filmu Studija: http://www.vfs.lv/), ) in collaboration with Dd Studio (http://www.dd.lv/ ) is currently working on a documentary "The Wrong Latvian" on the art and controversial life story of Gustavs Klucis. The director of the documentary is Pēteris Krilovs, the producer - Uldis Cekulis, cameraman - Andris Priedītis. |
|
