TATLIN, Vladimir

Commonly regarded as a founder and principal figure in Soviet Constructivism, Tatlin returned to Russia from a 1913 visit to Pablo Picasso ’s Paris studio to make innovative abstract reliefs composed of sub-art materials such as tin, glass, and wood. Always rivaling Kazimir Malevich , Tatlin called his art Productivist (and later Constructivist), in contrast to Malevich’s Suprematism. Nonetheless, their purposes were complementary. As Andrei B. Nakov put it, Tatlin’s sculpture...