Lyubov Popova (Любо́вь Серге́евна Попо́ва)

Lyubov Sergeyevna Popova (Russian: Любо́вь Серге́евна Попо́ва; April 24, 1889 – May 25, 1924) was a Russian avant-garde artist (Cubist, Suprematist and Constructivist), painter and designer. She was born in Russia in 1889 to well-cultured parents. Inspired by Renaissance art, she fell in love with drawing and painting, and began taking art lessons when she was just 11 years old. Popova’s intellect in the fine arts and held a deep love for learning becomes evident. At the age of 18, Popova studied under Stanislaw Zurowski at his private studio. In 1907, she attended at the School of Painting in Moscow, under Konstantin Yuon and Ivan Dudlin. She developed a lust for traveling, visiting all throughout Russia and to France and Italy to satisfy her craving for study on art forms, from 1909 to 1912. From 1912 to 1913, while visiting Paris, Popova met many cubist sculptors and studied at Henri Le Fauconnier and Jean Metzinger’s Academie de la Palette. In 1912, Popova worked at “The Tower”, a studio in Moscow, where she met and was influenced by the construction work of Vladmir Tatlin. From this, she shifted to work in collages and explorations of painted reliefs in 1914. Kazimir Malevich, impressed by her cubism work, asked her to join his “Suprematist Circle”- a group of avant-garde artists. Popova adopted this group’s “rectilinear… and white grounds” style (http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-artists/lyubov-popova.htm). However, she put her own twist by adding colored, dynamically intersecting planes. She referred to this painting style, focused on line and color, as construction. She married art historian Boris Van Eding, and had a son with him (http://www.incorm.eu/Biogs/Popova.pdf). At this point in her life, Popova began her teaching career at the Proletarian Cultural Organization and at the State Free Art Studios. In 1920, the Institute of Artistic Cultured asked her to write a report on teaching art. Her final art exhibition was the 5×5=25 constructivist art in Moscow in 1921. Due to the Soviet Union’s requirement of art to be functional, Popova ceased her work in fine arts and concentrated on applied art and design. She spent three years in designing theatre sets, typography and textiles. She died in 1924 from scarlet fever.

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