Accession Number
1969/2.58

Title
From Proun

Artist(s)
El Lissitzky

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1923

Medium & Support
lithograph on paper

Dimensions
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)

Credit Line
The Paul Leroy Grigaut Memorial Collection

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.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Abstract (fine arts style)
Russian (culture or style)
abstraction
geometric shape
modern and contemporary art