Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko or Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956), was a Russian artist, sculptor, graphic designer, and photographer. One of the co-founders of ‘Constructivism’ and ‘Russian Design’, he began his career as a painter, with ‘Abstraction’ being his forte. Heavily steeped in “constructivism” and “productivism,” his works were sophisticated, thoughtful, and some even bizarre. At first, he extracted abstract ideas from natural forms, which he would eventually condense into geometric shapes, with the help of a compass and straightedge. The geometric elements in Rodchenko’s paintings were all minute in detail and mathematically precise. The most famous early painting by him was “Dance, a composition without an object”, created in 1915.
This painting was Alexander’s pre-revolution work, purely ‘Abstract’ and ‘Non-objective’, much more dynamic and influenced by Kazimir Malevich’s ‘Suprematism’. One ‘Suprematist’ work was made up of geometric shapes, mostly circles and squares. Rodchenko always portrayed bold thoughts in his paintings. This can be seen concretely in his most famous painting, “Dance, a composition without an object”. The painting showed Aleksander’s penchant for ‘European Modernism’, ‘Italian Futurists’ to be specific. The ‘futurists’ always believed in moving quickly towards the promising future. They had a strong taste for depicting movement in their paintings.
Although “Dance, a composition without an object” is a ‘futuristic’ work, coincidentally Aleksander Rodchenko anatomizes the theme. The painting appears as his emotional outburst. In keeping with the title (Dance, a ‘objectless’ composition), no recognizable dancer can be seen in this painting. Only a divine spark of dance appears. Probably the unsettling elements in this painting reflect the state of unrest in Russian society at the time, which was approaching revolution. Alexander strove to paint emotions and feelings. “Dance, a composition without an object” appears crudely painted, with a white background, where pencil lines were drawn, colored with primary and sub-primary colors, and beautifully spaced. The three components line, color and space played a vital role in Rodchenko’s painting.
After “Dance, a composition without an object”, at the age of 22, Alexander Rodchenko drew his other most famous painting, “Black on Black”, in 1918. This painting was a good example of “constructivism”, combining art, design, science and engineering to achieve an ultimate ‘sentimental supremacy’. “Black on Black” exhibited an effective use of the colors black and brown. He was concerned with the physical qualities of paint, including the effect that different pigments and mixtures had on the appearance of paint on canvas. In 1921 Alexander Rodchenko reduced most of his work and concluded it logically. This time his paintings were exhibited at the exhibition ‘5×5 = 25’, in Moscow, showing the three famous canvases of his:
or pure red color
or pure yellow color
or pure blue color