1889 -1924 · Moscow, cubo-futurism and Russian constructivism

Dynamic shots, architectural color and radical transition from canvas to everyday life make Lyubov Popova a major figure in the Russian avant-garde.

Lyubov Sergeyevna Popova was born in 1889 near Moscow into a cultured family. She studied with Stanislav Zhukovsky, Konstantin Youon and Ivan Dudin, traveled to Italy then joined Vladimir Tatlin's collective workshop in Moscow. A stay in Paris in 1912 at the Académie de la Palette allowed her to assimilate Cubism, which she soon combined with the futuristic dynamism and color of Russian icons. The Traveler and Portrait of a Philosopher fragment figure, letters and space into a Cubo-futuristic rhythm. From 1916, the Pictorial Architectonics abandoned the motif for colorful plans which seemed to be constructed and collided. Popova participated in the debates on suprematism then constructivism, taught at VKhUTEMAS and worked at the Institute of Artistic Culture. After 1921, she refused the separation between fine arts and production. Mobile decorations for Meyerhold, costumes, textiles, books and posters put geometry at the service of a collective environment. His Constructions of Space Power constitute the last laboratory of easel painting before this utilitarian turn. Died of scarlet fever in 1924 at the age of thirty-five, Popova left a brief but extraordinarily inventive work. His Constructions of Space Power constitute the last laboratory of easel painting before this utilitarian turn. Died of scarlet fever in 1924 at thirty-five, Popova left a brief but extraordinarily inventive work. The "Lioubov Popova" selection notably compares Pictorial Architectonics and Construction of Space Power. His reading favors the atmosphere.

Popova does not seek to represent movement: she builds forces capable of acting on the canvas, the stage and life.