Lyubov Popova’s oeuvre from 1913 to 1916 is a classical example of Russian Cubo-Futurism. The child of the marriage of French Cubism and Italian Futurism on Russian soil, Cubo-Futurism nevertheless possessed its own unique national specifics. Man + Air + Space is monumental, compositionally definite and complete. The artist is more concerned with expressing the unityof the volumetric-spatial structure than addressing the problems of movement and dynamics. All of this permits Man + Air + Space to be correlated to Cubism rather than to Futurism. The painting was first shown at the Store exhibition under the alternative title of Figure + House + Space.

Popova Lyubov

Popova, Lyubov Sergeyevna
1889, Ivanovskoe (Moscow Province) -1924, Moscow
Painter, graphic artist, theatrical designer, applied artist. Studied at the private studio of Stanislaw Zukowski in Moscow (1907), Konstantin Juon and Ivan Dudin School of Drawing and Painting (1908-09) and under Henri Le Fauconnier and Jean Metzinger at the Academic de la Palette in Paris (1912-13). Visited the Tower studio in Moscow (1913). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Jack of Diamonds (1914, 1916), Tramcar V. First Futurist Exhibition (1915-16), 0,10. Last Futurist Exhibition (1915-16), Store (1916) and 5 x 5 = 25 (1921). Member of Supremus (1916). Worked at the Institute of Artistic Culture in Moscow (1920-24) and helped to found the Museum of Painterly Culture (1921-22). Member of LEFT FROM OF THE ARTS (1922-24).