Lyubov Popova

Lyubov Sergeyevna Popova (April 24, 1889 – May 25, 1924) was a Russian avant-garde artist (Cubist, Suprematist and Constructivist), painter and designer. Popova traveled widely to investigate and learn from diverse styles of painting, but it was the ancient Russian icons, the paintings of Giotto, and the works of the 15th- and 16th-century Italian painters which interested her the most.In 1909 she traveled to Kiev, then in 1910 to Pskov and Novgorod. The following year she visited other ancient Russian cities, including St. Petersburg, to study icons. In 1912 she worked in a Moscow studio known as "The Tower" with Ivan Aksenov and Vladimir Tatlin, and also visited Sergei Shchukin's collection of modern French paintings. In 1912–1913 she studied art with Nadezhda Udaltsova in Paris, where she met Alexander Archipenko and Ossip Zadkine in 1913. After returning to Russia that same year, she worked with Tatlin, Udaltsova and the Vesnin brothers. In 1914 she traveled in France and Italy at the development of Cubism and Futurism. Popova was one of the first female pioneers in Cubo-Futurism and From 1914–1915 her Moscow home became the meeting-place for other avante-garde artists and writers. In this time she began developing a fusion of styles which she would call "painterly architectonics". In 1916 Popova would join with Kazimir Malevich and the Supremus group but like many other artists in the movement her revolutionary leanings and desire to create a new physical world differed from the more spiritual journey of Malevich. Popovas "painterly architectonics" style held many parallels with the other avante-garde styles of the time as she continued her work. She would later go on the constructivism movement. Popova broadened her mediums to include more textiles, prints theater designs and typography for use in factory produced materials. Unfortunately Popova died at the peak of her artistic powers two days after the death of her son, from whom she had contracted scarlet fever in 1924 in Moscow. A large exhibition of her work opened in Moscow from December 21, 1924 to January 1925, at Stroganov Institute, Moscow. The exhibition included Popova's works such as seventy-seven paintings, as well as books, posters, textile designs, and line engravings. "Artist-Constructor" was the term applied to Popova by her contemporaries in the catalogue of the artist's posthumous exhibition.