Sculptor, Painter. Along with his brother, Naum Gabo, he was a co-founder of Constructivism, a pioneering movement in abstract art. Their creative goal was to symbolize the social and technological advances in modern society. Pevsner was born in Orel, Russia, and studied art in Kiev and St. Petersburg. Starting out as a painter, he was influenced by Cubism after visits to Paris in 1911 and 1913. In the wake of the 1917 Russian Revolution he joined his brother in helping Vladimir Tatlin develop the theories of Constructivism at the Moscow Academy of Fine Arts. Pevsner and Gabo broke with Tatlin in 1920 because they felt his work was becoming too propagandist, and issued a joint "Realistic Manifesto" in which they demanded creative autonomy for Soviet artists. This immediately brought them into conflict with the regime and the brothers left the USSR in 1922, with Pevsner settling in Paris. There he switched from painting to sculpture, initially using plastic and glass and progressing to metal. Although he continued to emphasize the industrial aspects of his artworks, calling them "constructions", he invested them with great elegance and even wit. They include "Portrait of Marcel Duchamp" (1926), designs for the Diaghilev ballet "Le Chatte" (1927), "Torso" (1928), "Construction for an Airport" (1937), "Developable Surface" (1938), "Dynamic Projection in the 30th Degree" (1951), and "Developable Column of Victory" (1955). During the 1930s Pevsner enjoyed solo exhibitions around the world. He and Gabo were given a full retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1948, and he represented France at the 1958 Venice Biennale. The Guggenheim Museum, MOMA, and the Tate Gallery in London have major collections of his work.
Sculptor, Painter. Along with his brother, Naum Gabo, he was a co-founder of Constructivism, a pioneering movement in abstract art. Their creative goal was to symbolize the social and technological advances in modern society. Pevsner was born in Orel, Russia, and studied art in Kiev and St. Petersburg. Starting out as a painter, he was influenced by Cubism after visits to Paris in 1911 and 1913. In the wake of the 1917 Russian Revolution he joined his brother in helping Vladimir Tatlin develop the theories of Constructivism at the Moscow Academy of Fine Arts. Pevsner and Gabo broke with Tatlin in 1920 because they felt his work was becoming too propagandist, and issued a joint "Realistic Manifesto" in which they demanded creative autonomy for Soviet artists. This immediately brought them into conflict with the regime and the brothers left the USSR in 1922, with Pevsner settling in Paris. There he switched from painting to sculpture, initially using plastic and glass and progressing to metal. Although he continued to emphasize the industrial aspects of his artworks, calling them "constructions", he invested them with great elegance and even wit. They include "Portrait of Marcel Duchamp" (1926), designs for the Diaghilev ballet "Le Chatte" (1927), "Torso" (1928), "Construction for an Airport" (1937), "Developable Surface" (1938), "Dynamic Projection in the 30th Degree" (1951), and "Developable Column of Victory" (1955). During the 1930s Pevsner enjoyed solo exhibitions around the world. He and Gabo were given a full retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1948, and he represented France at the 1958 Venice Biennale. The Guggenheim Museum, MOMA, and the Tate Gallery in London have major collections of his work.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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