16.03.2011 to 26.06.2011
El Lissitzky, an important figure of the Russian avant-garde, who was born in 1890 in Pochinok/Russia and died in Moscow in 1941, maintained lively contact with the German art scene throughout his life. He spent five years studying architecture in Darmstadt, returning to Russia at the outbreak of the First World War, where he initially became engrossed in Jewish cultural history.
In 1919, Marc Chagall appointed him to teach at the school of fine art in Vitebsk. A year later, and inspired by Kazimir Malevich, Lissitzky worked on his first 'Prouns', the meaning of which loosely translates as 'projects affirming the new'. Spurred on by the view of being entrusted with the task of building a new way of life after the Russian Revolution, for him abstraction appeared to be the best way to articulate the radical social break with the past.
This move towards abstraction is the focus of the exhibition, as seen in such portfolios as 'Proun. 1st Kestner Portfolio' and 'Victory over the Sun', both of which were created upon invitation and with support from the Kestner Society in Hanover.
The small, one-room show 'El Lissitzky: Victory over the Sun. Lithographs from the Years 1919-1923' is integrated into the exhibition 'Modern Times. The Collection. 1900-1945'.