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About Two Squares: A Suprematist Tale of Two Squares in Six Constructions

A work made of book with letterpress and offset lithography, in black and red, on cream wove paper, stapled along spine.
© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

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  • A work made of book with letterpress and offset lithography, in black and red, on cream wove paper, stapled along spine.

Date:

1922

Artist:

El Lissitzky (Lazar Markovich Lissitzky)
Russian, 1890-1941

About this artwork

About Two Squares is a children’s book about a black square and a red square that fly to earth from afar. For Lissitzky they symbolized the superiority of the new Soviet order (the red square) over the old (the black square). The artist’s abstract style was profoundly influenced by Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematism, but after 1921 he aligned himself with Russian Constructivist principles and sought to move Suprematism’s abstract language into the service of the new social and political order.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

El Lissitzky

Title

About Two Squares: A Suprematist Tale of Two Squares in Six Constructions

Place

Russia (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1922

Medium

Book with letterpress and offset lithography, in black and red, on cream wove paper, stapled along spine

Dimensions

21.7 × 26.8 × 0.5 cm (8 9/16 × 10 9/16 × 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

The Mary and Leigh Block Endowment Fund

Reference Number

2011.858

Copyright

© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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