Artwork
Σύνθεση Νο 125
Σύνθεση Νο 125 is an unspecified painting by the Constructivist artist Aleksandr Rodchenko. It dates from 1920 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki – MOMus.
About this work
Overview
Created amid the upheavals of early twentieth‑century Russia, the work titled “Σύνθεση Νο 125” consists of stark black‑and‑white geometric configurations. Its abstract language reflects the period’s turn toward pure visual form, discarding narrative in favor of compositional balance.
Subject & Meaning
The image does not depict recognizable objects; instead it arranges lines, rectangles and circles to explore spatial relationships. By privileging shape over figurative content, the piece embodies the avant‑garde belief that visual structure itself can convey artistic intent.
Technique & Style
Executed with a limited monochrome palette, the composition relies on crisp edges and precise geometry. The approach aligns with formalist principles that dominated Russian experimental circles, emphasizing the autonomy of visual elements and the reduction of art to its basic components.
Context
The work belongs to the Russian avant‑garde movement, which flourished roughly between 1910 and 1930, a span that includes the 1917 October Revolution and the subsequent restructuring of Russian society. Technological advances, urban planning reforms, and widespread social discontent created conditions that encouraged artists to seek new, non‑representational modes of expression.
Legacy
The artist’s engagement with abstraction parallels the practices of contemporaries such as Aleksandr Rodchenko, whose own experiments with geometry and photography helped define the era’s visual language. “Σύνθεση Νο 125” thus serves as a testament to the period’s radical rethinking of artistic materials and concepts.
Artist & collection
Artist
Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko (Russian: Александр Михайлович Родченко; 5 December 1891 – 3 December 1956) was a Russian and Soviet artist, sculptor, photographer, and graphic designer.
Museum
Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki – MOMus
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