Figurative Constructivism
Figurative Constructivism is an art movement that arose principally in Germany in the late 1920s; the painter Franz Seiwert introduced the term in 1929 in the phrase 'gegenständlichen constructive', and it was taken up by Gerd Arntz and later by art historians. It grew from the circle of the Cologne Progressives: Seiwert, Arntz and Heinrich Hoerle reduced the human figure to clear, schematic signs arranged in tectonic compositions, at the very moment Arntz was developing pictograms for Otto Neurath's Isotype system of visual statistics. As Seiwert wrote, 'from the expressionist-cubist art-form abstract constructivism was developed, which in turn led into Figurative Constructivism.' Socialist in conviction and legible as social diagram, the movement was cut short after 1933.
Defining characteristics
- Human figures reduced to simplified, schematic and geometric signs
- Constructivist structure: flat planes, tectonic ordering, strong contour
- Figures shown as types and collectives rather than individuals
- Pictures built to be read as social diagrams (adjacent to Isotype pictograms)
- Angular, woodcut-like clarity of shape and positive-negative design
Key figures
- Franz Seiwert (1894-1933) — Coined the term in 1929 and theorized the movement's social-realist constructivism
- Gerd Arntz (1900-1988) — Woodcut artist and designer of the Isotype pictograms the style parallels
- Heinrich Hoerle (1895-1936) — Cologne Progressive painter of schematic workers and cripples
Example works
- Isotype pictogram series — Gerd Arntz (1928-1934)
Sources
- Figurative Constructivism - Wikipedia encyclopedia