The Advent of Abstraction

As part of the Masterpiece in Focus series of the National Gallery of Canada, this exhibition centres on the emergence of the movement in Moscow from 1915 to 1917. Pulling together more than 20 works of the Russian avant-garde, highlights include a rare relief sculpture by Vladimir Tatlin and a major suprematist painting by Kazimir Malevich. Seen alongside El Lissitzky’sProun 8 Stellungen (Proun 8 Positions)(1923), from the national collection, the paintings, drawings, objects, manuscripts and photographs on display provide a rare opportunity to explore the development of abstraction in Russia: a decisive moment in the history of 20th-century art.

El Lissitzky,Proun 8 Stellungen (Proun 8 Positions), c. 1923, © NGC