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From Proun

El Lissitzky

Artwork Details

From Proun
1923
El Lissitzky
lithograph on paper
23 13/16 in x 17 3/8 in (60.5 cm x 44.1 cm);28 1/16 in x 22 1/16 in (71.28 cm x 56.04 cm);23 13/16 in x 17 3/8 in (60.49 cm x 44.13 cm)
The Paul Leroy Grigaut Memorial Collection
1969/2.58

Description

Subject Matter:

"Proun" is a word that El Lissitzky invented in 1919. He kept the exact definition of it to himself. Lissitzky produced a series of paintings and lithographs throughout the 1920s with "proun" in the title. They resemble this in their clear, perspectival, geometric shapes. Some scholars argue that the word is meant to encompass elements of paintings, architecture, and graphic work and combine all of them into one style while others believe it is an acronym for "project for the affirmation of the new" in Russian. 

Physical Description:

This abstract composition is composed within an X-shaped structure. There is a dark circle near the top and a redish-brown, vertically oriented rectangle below it. Behind the circle and near rectangle is an inverted triangle and another triangle below it with a concave bottom.

Usage Rights:

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