Alexander Rodchenko’s White Circle is an abstract composition with variations of the simplest geometric figures. The artist constructs a new representational spatiality, the optical effect of which is intensified by the textural working of the surface of the canvas and the logical colour combinations. Line, colour and space are the main components of Rodchenko,s painterly technique. In 1918, he wrote that he was “persistently studying projection into depth, height and breadth, opening up the endless possibility of constructing beyond the bounds of time.” He called his works “compositions of coloured movements and projected parts.”

Rodchenko Alexander

Rodchenko, Alexander Mikhailovich
1891, St Petersburg - 1956, Moscow
Painter, graphic artist, sculptor, author of spatial constructions, photographer, designer, theatrical designer. Studied at the Kazan School of Art (1910-1914) and the Stroganov Central School of Art and Industry in Moscow (1914-1917). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1913). Joined Department of An, People's Commissariat of Education (1918), directed the Museums Office and worked for its first purchasing commission (1918-1921). Founding member of the Institute of Artistic Culture in Moscow (1920-1924). Taught at Moscow Proletcult (1918) and the Faculties of Woodwork and Metalwork, Higher Art and Technical Studios(1920-1930). Took courses in photography at the Moscow Institute of Polygraphy (1930s). Collaborated with various magazines (1920s).