Artwork
Κατασκευή
Κατασκευή is a drawing by Gustav Klucis. It dates from 1926 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki – MOMus.
About this work
He liked clean lines and new materials, building art like a factory builds tools.
This drawing is all sharp lines and flat shapes. The black and white tangle looks like gears or a city’s steel frame. It’s not a real machine—just an artist’s idea of movement.
Klucis started with cubist cubes, then switched to bold Suprematist shapes. He liked clean lines and new materials, building art like a factory builds tools. His work feels fast, like he sketched it in one try.
It’s a quiet piece that feels busy. Check out Klucis, Gustav (1895-1938) next.
Overview
The work titled “Construction” is a black‑and‑white drawing by Gustav Klucis, held in the Museum of Modern Art’s Costakis Collection. Executed in the 1920s, the piece consists of intersecting linear elements that suggest mechanical or architectural frameworks, rendered in a stark, graphic style.
Subject & Meaning
The composition explores the notion of dynamic structure, using abstracted gear‑like and skeletal forms to evoke movement and the spatial logic of industrial construction. It reflects Klucis’s interest in art that serves a social function, aligning visual design with the ideological aims of the early Soviet state.
Technique & Style
Created with pen or ink on paper, the drawing employs precise, hard‑edged lines and flat geometric shapes characteristic of constructivist visual language. The monochrome palette emphasizes the interplay of positive and negative space, while the arrangement of forms suggests three‑dimensional volume within a two‑dimensional plane.
History & Provenance
Klucis began his career working within Cubist idioms before encountering Kazimir Malevich, after which he adopted Suprematist influences and ultimately forged a personal constructivist approach. Throughout the 1920s he produced numerous drawings and engravings, among them this piece, which entered the Costakis Collection before being acquired by MoMA.
Context
The drawing belongs to a broader series of designs intended for large‑scale, often mobile, installations meant to appear in public spaces. Such works were conceived as visual propaganda, integrating art with architecture and technology to communicate the ideals of the new Soviet regime.
Artist & collection
Museum
Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki – MOMus
Continue through works from the same source collection.
