Space-Force Construction

Lyubov Popova was one of the key figures in early 20th-century Russian avant-garde artists. She travelled widely and saw international art. In Paris, where she attended art school, she was strongly impressed by cubism. She also met Vladimir Tatlin around this time, and worked with him in his Moscow studio. Popova contributed to the development towards abstraction in painting. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, she embraced the ideals of the new social realism and designed propaganda posters. Art should be figurative and serve the workers’ cause. This is one of Popova’s late paintings. In 1921, she began designing textiles, books, stage sets and costumes, all in the service of the Soviet Union. Lyubov Popova died of scarlet fever, aged only 35.