Russian Constructivism

Christina Lodder's history of Russian Constructivism, published by Yale in 1983 and still the standard English-language account of the movement.

Working from Soviet archives and from interviews with surviving participants, Lodder traces the movement from the non-utilitarian constructions of Tatlin, Rodchenko, the Stenbergs and Medunetsky in 1919 to 1921, through the theoretical turn that fused formal research with utilitarian purpose, into the Vkhutemas workshops where the programme was taught, and out to the designed object, the Constructivist interior, photomontage and the organic construction of Tatlin's Letatlin glider. A postscript follows the movement's reception in Germany and the West. The book is illustrated throughout with reproductions of works, documents and workshop photographs, and carries a substantial bibliography.

Lodder (b. 1948) is a historian of the Russian avant-garde who has taught at St Andrews and Kent and edited Malevich's writings; her later books include Constructive Strands in Russian Art 1914-1937. The volume anchors the library's Constructivism shelf alongside MoMA's Russian Avant-Garde Book and Stenberg Brothers catalogues and the Tate's Rodchenko & Popova.