Abstract

In the midst of the turbulent social and political conditions of the early twentieth century, progressive artists in Russia explored aesthetic and formal directions that challenged traditional art and supported the new social order begun in 1917. Avant-garde artists worked in Russia within a singular political context, and they also shared important contacts and affinities with contemporaneous artists in the West. Artists plumbed technology as source and subject matter for art, explored new techniques and formal vocabularies, and investigated utilitarian and agit-prop applications of modern design. Contributors to this volume examine these developments in art, architecture, and design in relation to literature, philosophy, and politics. They explore in depth some of the complex associations between the avant-garde in Russia and in the West for an international perspective on the study of modern art during this period.