Screen LibraryEngineer, agitator, constructor : the artist reinvented, 1918-1939 : the Merrill C. Berman Collection /
"How the modernist avant-gardes from Dada to constructivism reconceived their roles, working as propagandists, advertisers, publishers, graphic designers, curators and more, to create new visual languages for a radically changed world. "We regarded ourselves as engineers, we maintained tha...
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| Group Author: | ; |
| Published: |
The Museum of Modern Art,
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| Publisher Address: | New York : |
| Publication Dates: | 2020. |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"How the modernist avant-gardes from Dada to constructivism reconceived their roles, working as propagandists, advertisers, publishers, graphic designers, curators and more, to create new visual languages for a radically changed world. "We regarded ourselves as engineers, we maintained that we were building things...we put our works together like fitters." So declared the artist Hannah Höch, describing a radically new approach to artmaking in the 1920s and '30s. Such wholesale reinvention of the role of the artist and the functions of art took place in lockstep with that era's shifts in industry, technology, and labor, and amid the profound impact of momentous events: World War I, the Russian Revolution, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the rise of fascism. Highlighting figures such as Aleksandr Rodchenko, Lyubov Popova, John Heartfield, Marianne Brandt, and Fré Cohen, Engineer, Agitator, Constructor : The Artist Reinvented demonstrates the ways in which artists reimagined their roles to create a dynamic art for a new world. These "engineers," "agitators," "constructors," "photomonteurs," "workers" - all designations adopted by the artists themselves - turned away from traditional forms of painting and sculpture and invented new visual languages. Central among them was photomontage, in which photographs and images from newspapers and magazines were cut, remixed, and pasted together. Working as propagandists, advertisers, publishers, editors, theater designers, and curators, these artists engaged with expanded audiences in novel ways, establishing distinctive infrastructures for presenting and distributing their work. Published in conjunction with a major exhibition, Engineer, Agitator, Constructor celebrates the recent transformative addition to MoMA's holdings from the Merrill C. Berman Collection, one of the great private collections of early-twentieth-century political art and design. Essays by eminent scholars, conservators, artists, and po "'We regarded ourselves as engineers, we maintained that we were building things ... we put our works together like fitters.' So recalled the German artist Hannah Höch, describing a radically new apporach to art making in the interwar period. This wholesale reinvention of the role of the artist coincided with the era's momentous shifts in industry, technology, and labor; watershed events such as World War I and the Russian Revolution; and the rise of fascism. In such turbulent times, what does it mean to be an artist? Foregrounding the work of innovators such as Marianne Brandt, John Heartfield, Liubov Popova, and Aleksandr Rodchenko, Engineer, Agitator, Constructor: The Artist Reinvented, 1918-1939 presents answers to that urgent question and examines the ambition to create new and dynamic art for a new world. As propagandists, advertisers, publishers, editors, theater designers, and curators, these figures invented revolutionary visual languages and sought ways to engage with a mass audience, establishing vibrant arenas for presenting and distributing their work. Engineer, Agitator, Constructor celebrates the recent, transformative addition to the Museum of Modern Art's holdings from the Merril C. Berman Collection, one of the great collections of early twentieth-century art and design. In a wide-ranging selection of essays, thirty-four eminent scholars, conservators, artists, and poets consider the era's innovative art forms, such as photomontage and the New Typography; the essential role of women in the avant-garde; and the vital networks linking these artists across geographic and ideological borders. This lavishly illustrated volume illuminates the social engagement, fearless experimentation, and utopian aspirations that defined the art of the early twentieth century and continue to resonate today." |
| Item Description: | "Published in conjunction with the exhibition 'Engineer, agitator, constructor : The artist reinvented, 1918-1939' at the Museum of Modern Art New York, May 10 - September 12, 2020"--Colophon. |
| Carrier Form: | 288 pages : illustrations (some color), map ; 31 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: |
9781633451087 1633451089 |
| Index Number: | N6487 |
| CLC: |
J534-09 J238.1-09 |
| Call Number: | J238.1-09/E576 |
| Contents: |
Preface. The Merrill C. Berman Collection : A shadow museum brought to light / Introduction. Engineer, Agitator, Constructor : The Artist Reinvented / Representing the Constructor / Attributed to Wladyslaw Strzemiński : Unovis posters, 1920-21 / Gustav Klutsis : "Electrification of the Entire Country", c. 1920 / Liubov Popova : "Production Clothing for Actor No. 7", 1922 / Alexandra Exter : Designs for a mural in the Mechanical Engineering Pavilion at the All-Russian Exhibition of Agriculture and Home Industries, 1923 / Aleksandr Rodchenko and Vladimir Mayakovsky : Maquette for poster, Chaeupravlenie Cocoa, c. 1924 / Elena Semenova : Three Workers' Club drawings, 1926 and 1930 / Aleksei Gan : Poster for "First Exhibition of Contemporary Architecture", 1927 / Lydia Naumova : History of the International Trade Union Movement poster series, c. 1928 / Valentina Kulagina : Maquette for "We Are Building", 1929 / Varvara Stepanova : "Bolster Our Defense With Whatever You Can!", c. 1930 / Gustav Klutsis : "The Reality of Our Program Is Real People - That Is You And Me", c. 1931 / Maria Bri-Bein : "Woman Worker, Fight For a Clean Canteen, For Healthy Food", 1931 / Aleksandr Deineka : "We Will Turn Moscow Into a Model Socialist City of the Proletarian State", 1931 / Solomon Telingater : Promotional design for Red Army Theater, c. 1934 / Henryk Berlewi : "Mechano-Facture", 1924 / Teresa Żarnower and Mieczysław Szczuka - "Blok", no. 6-7, 1924 / Farkas Molnár : Cover design for Ma Magazine, 1924 / Jindřich Štyrský - |