Liubov Popova

Liebov Papova (1889-1924) was an important female member of the Russian avant-garde along with Valentina Kulagina, Alexandra Exter, and Vavara Stepanova. Her father was a successful textile merchant and a patron of the arts. From an early age, she studied painting in Russia and later studied in Paris where she met Alexander Archipenko and Ossip Zadkine. Upon her return to Moscow, she worked with Vladimir Tatlin and the Vesin brothers. Her paintings, which she called ” painterly architectonics” synthesized aspects of cubism and futurism. In 1916, she became a member of the Supremus group along with Kazimir Malevich, Exter, Ivan Kliun, Nadezheva Udaltsova and Olga Rozanova. Even while identifying as a Suprematist, however, she was more interested in art that served the new communist society. In 1921, she abandoned painting and turn completely to industrial design. She designed typography, textiles, clothing, ceramics, posters and ephemera, including covers for the avant-garde magazine Lef.