Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (Russian: Лазарь Маркови& #1095; Лисицки& #1081;, Yiddish: על ליסיצקי, November 23, 1890 ? December 30, 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (Russian: Эль Лисицки& #1081;), was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, typographer, and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designed numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works for the former Soviet Union. 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.
Lissitzky's entire career was laced with the belief that the artist could be an agent for change, later summarized with his edict, "das zielbewu?te Schaffen" (The goal-oriented creation). A Jew, he began his career illustrating Yiddish children's books in an effort to promote Jewish culture in Russia, a country that was undergoing massive change at the time and had just repealed its anti-semitic laws. Starting at the age of 15, he began teaching; a duty he would stay with for the vast majority of his life. Over the years, he taught in a variety of positions, schools, and artistic mediums, spreading and exchanging ideas. He took this ethic with him when he worked with Malevich in heading the suprematist art group UNOVIS, when he developed a variant suprematist series of his own, Proun, and further still in 1921, when he took up a job as the Russian cultural ambassador in Weimar Germany, working with and influencing important figures of the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements during his stay. In his remaining years he brought significant innovation and change to the fields of typography, exhibition design, photomontage, and book design, producing critically respected works and winning international acclaim for his exhibition design. This continued until his deathbed, where in 1941 he produced one of his last known works ? a Soviet propaganda poster rallying the people to construct more tanks for the fight against Nazi Germany.
El Lissitzky in a 1924 self-portrait
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_Lissitzky_self_portrait_1914.jpg
The last page from Had gadya (One goat) by Lissitzky, 1919.
(This work was in the public domain in Russia according to Law No. 5351-I of Russia of July 9, 1993 (with revisions) on Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights. But the current status of this work is unknown because of the entering in force of Book IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on January 1, 2008.)
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_Lissitzky_from_Jewish_book_1919_.png
Cover of Yingl Tzingl Khvat (The Mischievous Boy) by El Lissitzky, c.1918. Hebrew letters and symbols would also feature prominently in his later work, including book designs, lithographs, and Soviet exhibition spaces as both visual symbols and aesthetic forms to aid composition.
(This work is in the public domain in Russia according to paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law No. 231-FZ of the wiki Russia of December 18, 2006; the Implementation Act for Book IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. )
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_Lissitzky_c1918bookcover.jpg
"Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge", a 1919 lithograph by Lissitzky Russia was going through a civil war at the time, which was mainly fought between the "Reds", who were the communists and revolutionaries, and the "Whites" who were the monarchists, conservatives, liberals and socialists who opposed the Bolshevik Revolution. The imagery of the red wedge shattering the white form, simple as it was, communicated a powerful message that left no doubt in the viewers mind of its intention. The piece is often seen as alluding to the similar shapes used on military maps and, along with its political symbolism, was one of Lissitzky's first major steps away from Malevich's non-objective suprematism into a style his own.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_Lissitzky_1919lithograph.jpg
A Proun by Lissitzky, c.1925. Commenting on Proun in 1921, Lissitzky stated, "We brought the canvas into circles... and while we turn, we raise ourselves into the space."
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_LissitzkyA_Prounen__c_1925.jpg
The Constructor, a self-portrait photomontage, c.1925. The hand present in the image first appeared as the hand of God in 1919 book design done by Lissitzky. The hand re-emerged 6 years later in a redux of his 1924 self-portrait. It also made appearances in his advertisements for Pelikan, and in later Soviet designs.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_LissitzkyConstructor_self_portra.jpg
Lissitzky's entire career was laced with the belief that the artist could be an agent for change, later summarized with his edict, "das zielbewu?te Schaffen" (The goal-oriented creation). A Jew, he began his career illustrating Yiddish children's books in an effort to promote Jewish culture in Russia, a country that was undergoing massive change at the time and had just repealed its anti-semitic laws. Starting at the age of 15, he began teaching; a duty he would stay with for the vast majority of his life. Over the years, he taught in a variety of positions, schools, and artistic mediums, spreading and exchanging ideas. He took this ethic with him when he worked with Malevich in heading the suprematist art group UNOVIS, when he developed a variant suprematist series of his own, Proun, and further still in 1921, when he took up a job as the Russian cultural ambassador in Weimar Germany, working with and influencing important figures of the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements during his stay. In his remaining years he brought significant innovation and change to the fields of typography, exhibition design, photomontage, and book design, producing critically respected works and winning international acclaim for his exhibition design. This continued until his deathbed, where in 1941 he produced one of his last known works ? a Soviet propaganda poster rallying the people to construct more tanks for the fight against Nazi Germany.
El Lissitzky in a 1924 self-portrait
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_Lissitzky_self_portrait_1914.jpg
The last page from Had gadya (One goat) by Lissitzky, 1919.
(This work was in the public domain in Russia according to Law No. 5351-I of Russia of July 9, 1993 (with revisions) on Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights. But the current status of this work is unknown because of the entering in force of Book IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on January 1, 2008.)
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_Lissitzky_from_Jewish_book_1919_.png
Cover of Yingl Tzingl Khvat (The Mischievous Boy) by El Lissitzky, c.1918. Hebrew letters and symbols would also feature prominently in his later work, including book designs, lithographs, and Soviet exhibition spaces as both visual symbols and aesthetic forms to aid composition.
(This work is in the public domain in Russia according to paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law No. 231-FZ of the wiki Russia of December 18, 2006; the Implementation Act for Book IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. )
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_Lissitzky_c1918bookcover.jpg
"Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge", a 1919 lithograph by Lissitzky Russia was going through a civil war at the time, which was mainly fought between the "Reds", who were the communists and revolutionaries, and the "Whites" who were the monarchists, conservatives, liberals and socialists who opposed the Bolshevik Revolution. The imagery of the red wedge shattering the white form, simple as it was, communicated a powerful message that left no doubt in the viewers mind of its intention. The piece is often seen as alluding to the similar shapes used on military maps and, along with its political symbolism, was one of Lissitzky's first major steps away from Malevich's non-objective suprematism into a style his own.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_Lissitzky_1919lithograph.jpg
A Proun by Lissitzky, c.1925. Commenting on Proun in 1921, Lissitzky stated, "We brought the canvas into circles... and while we turn, we raise ourselves into the space."
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_LissitzkyA_Prounen__c_1925.jpg
The Constructor, a self-portrait photomontage, c.1925. The hand present in the image first appeared as the hand of God in 1919 book design done by Lissitzky. The hand re-emerged 6 years later in a redux of his 1924 self-portrait. It also made appearances in his advertisements for Pelikan, and in later Soviet designs.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/El_LissitzkyConstructor_self_portra.jpg