.
"The Stenberg brothers, whose father was a Swede and whose mother was a
Russian, were both born in Moscow, Russia but remained Swedish citizens until
1933. They first studied engineering, then attended the Stroganov School of
Applied Art in Moscow, 1912–17, and subsequently the Moscow Svomas (free
studios), where they and other students designed decorations and posters for
the first May Day celebration (1918). 1919, the Stenbergs and comrades
founded the OBMOKhU (society of young artists) and participated in its first
group exhibition in Moscow in May 1919 and in the exhibitions of 1920, 1921
and 1923. The brothers and Konstantin Medunetskii staged their own
"Constructivists" exhibition in January 1922 at the Poets Café Moscow,
accompanied by a Constructivist manifesto. Also that year, Vladimir showed his
work in the landmark Erste Russische Kunstausstellung (First Russian Art
exhibition) held in Berlin. 1920s–30s, they were well established as members of
the avant-garde in Moscow and of Moscow's INKhUK (INstitut
KHUdozhestvennoy Kultury, or institute of artistic culture). Other INKhUK
members included Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Lyubov Popova,
Medunetskii, other artists, architects, theoreticians, and art historians. INKhUK
was active only 1921–24.
1922–31, the Stenbergs designed sets and costumes for Alexander Tairov's
Moscow Kamerny (Chamber) theatre and contributed to LEF (art journal of the
left front) and to the 1925 "Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et
Industriels Modernes" in Paris. 1929–32, they taught at the Architecture-
Construction Institute, Moscow.
The Stenbergs practiced in a range of media, initially active as Constructivist
sculptors, subsequently as theater designers, architects, and draftspeople.
Their design work covered the gamut from clothing, including women's shoes, to rail
carriages. Some examples of their sculpture were spidery and spindly
structures, such as the reconstruction (1973–74) of KPS 11: Construction of a
spatial apparatus no. 11 (1919–20) in steel, glass, paint and plaster on wood in
the National Gallery of Australia Canberra. However, the arenas in which they
excelled were theater, costume and graphic designs, particularly the graphic
design of film posters, encouraged by the surging interest in movies in Russia
and the government's sanctioning of graphic design and the cinema.
The brothers were at their prime during the revolutionary period of politics and
artistic experimentation in Russia, centered in Moscow. There was a shift from
the illustrator-as-creator to the constructor-as-creator or nonlinear-narrator-as-
creator. In the visual language of the constructor or Constructivist, the
Stenbergs and other graphic designers and artists assembled images, such as
portions of photographs and preprinted paper, that had been created by
others. Thus, the Stenbergs and others realized wholly new images (or
compositions) which were no longer about realism. Hence, graphic design as a
modern expression eschewing traditional fine art was born in the form of the
printed reproductions of collage or assemblage. One of the causes of the avant-
garde artists in the new Russia, who considered fine art to be useless, was
served when the Stenbergs and others as constructors-as-creators produced
posters that had a use, particularly to serve the state. (In fact, painter
Nadezhda Udaltsova resigned from the UNKhUK in protest against the
replacement of easel painting by use-intended industrial art.)
The serendipitous success of the Stenbergs' radical approach had been
facilitated by a number of factors: their talent as graphic designers and their
knowledge of film theory, Constructivism, Malevich's Suprematism, and the
avant-garde theater. Even though commercial graphic design and advertising is
propaganda, the dissemination of propaganda (пропаганды) was considered a
desirable and honorable practice in Russia at the time. In fact, the Bolsheviks,
who sought to reform the peasant class, considered film to be a potent
propaganda tool for communicating with a widely illiterate population. Even
though most films were imported, the Stenbergs designed posters for Sergei
Eisenstein's movies and Dziga Vertov's documentaries.
The innovative visual aspects of Stenberg posters included a distortion of
perspective, elements from Dada photomontage, an exaggerated scale, a
sense of movement, and a dynamic use of color and typography—eventually all
were to be imitated by others. The Stenberg artwork was frequently based on
stills from the films. Radical even today, the posters by the brothers working
together were realized within the nine-year period from 1924 to 1933, the year
Georgii died at age 33. His motorcycle hit a truck, a few months after the
brothers had become Russian citizens. Vladimir continued to work on film
posters and organized the decorations of Moscow's Red Square for the May Day
celebration of 1947."
--- wikipedia ---
The images below are details from reproductions in the book
'Stenberg Brothers - Constructing a Revolution in Soviet Design'
(The Museum of Modern Art, New York)
 |
| . Georgii Stenberg . |
 |
| . Vladimir Stenberg . |
No comments:
Post a Comment