Tatlin: New Art for a New World

Simon Baier, Gian Casper Bott, Dimitrij Dimakov, Nathalie Leleu, Maria Lipatova

"Painter, architect, engineer, set designer, father to the Russian Constructivist movement, inventor of the 'counter-relief' and author of one of modernism's greatest icons, the 'Monument to the Third International,' Vladimir Tatlin blazed an incredible trail of innovation through the glory years of the Soviet avant-garde. Nevertheless, 'Not the old, not the new, but the necessary' was his motto; having spent his early years as an icon painter, Tatlin eschewed the modernist disavowal of heritage in favor of a research-based attitude to materials and genres. His 'counter-relief' sculptures, made of wood, cardboard, metal and wire, were foundational works for Rodchenko and the Constructivists, and their influence can be seen today in the works of creators as various as Zaha Hadid and Richard Tuttle. But it is his 'Monument to the Third International,' often called simply 'Tatlin's...