[Pro Dva Kvadrata. Suprematicheskii Skaz : v 6-ti Postroikakh]

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[Pro Dva Kvadrata. Suprematicheskii Skaz : v 6-ti Postroikakh]

Artist El Lissitzky (Russian, 1890-1941)

Publisher Verlag Skythen, Berlin, 1922 [Skify, Berlin]

Printer E. Haberland, Leipzig

Author El Lissitzky (Russian, 1890-1941)

Author El Lissitzky (Eliezer Marcowich Lissitzky) (Russian, 1890--1941)

Date1922

Dimensionsbook: 11 x 8 7/8 in. (280 x 225mm)
page: 11 x 8 7/8 in. (280 x 225mm)

MediumReproductions: photolithographs of drawings in black and in colors Text: letterpress (typographic design) Paper: off-white wove paper

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1980.3

Not on View

Label TextEl Lissitzky's revolutionary book, dedicated "To all, to all children," is a political fable told through the interactions of elemental geometric shapes and letterforms. The red square destroys the black chaos on earth and builds a new red order in its place. The black square flees into infinity, but there is no ending, "further" is the final word. A metaphor for the Russian Revolution and its utopian promise of social transformation, Lissitzky exhorts the viewer, child or adult, "Don't read, take paper, columns, blocks, fold, color, build."Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Russian Books & Prints, Dec.19,1981-Feb.15,1982.

Toledo Museum of Art, Russia after the Czars, Jan. 23-April 30, 1997.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Great War: Art on the Frontline, Jul. 25-Oct. 19, 2014.