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Proun III

Print
1923 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

El Lissitzky (1890-1941) had been trained as an engineer and architect and began painting his Prouns in 1919. The word is an acronym of a Russian phrase meaning 'Project for the Affirmation of the New', and the artist explained the concept in a lecture at Inkhuk (The Institute of Artistic Culture) in Moscow as 'a changing-station between painting and architecture'. After a successful exhibition of Prouns in Hanover in 1922, organised by the Kestner-Gessellschaft, a society founded in 1916 to promote new art, Lissitzky was commissioned to produce a portfolio of six lithographs that the society published in 1923; this print is from that portfolio.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleProun III (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Lithograph on paper
Brief description
Lazar (El) Lissitzky, 'Proun III', 1923
Physical description
Geometric forms in shades of black, white and grey.
Dimensions
  • Height: 59.4cm
  • Width: 43.2cm
Styles
Production typeLimited edition
Marks and inscriptions
El Lissitzky (Signature; hand written; pencil)
Gallery label
Lissitzky invented the term 'Proun' to describe his contribution to the 'new art', practised in Russia, under Malevich's influence. He did not explain its meaning but it is often described as an acronym of 'Pro-Unovis', which can be translated as 'design for confirmation of the new'.(circa 2000-2019)
Summary
El Lissitzky (1890-1941) had been trained as an engineer and architect and began painting his Prouns in 1919. The word is an acronym of a Russian phrase meaning 'Project for the Affirmation of the New', and the artist explained the concept in a lecture at Inkhuk (The Institute of Artistic Culture) in Moscow as 'a changing-station between painting and architecture'. After a successful exhibition of Prouns in Hanover in 1922, organised by the Kestner-Gessellschaft, a society founded in 1916 to promote new art, Lissitzky was commissioned to produce a portfolio of six lithographs that the society published in 1923; this print is from that portfolio.
Bibliographic reference
Timmers, Margaret (Ed). Impressions of the Twentieth Century: Fine Art Prints from the V&A's Collection. London, V&A Publications, 2001.
Collection
Accession number
E.757-1976

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Record createdDecember 4, 2002
Record URL
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