Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge by El Lissitzky
Proun R.V.N. 2 by El Lissitzky
Wendingen by El Lissitzky
Untitled by El Lissitzky
Proun 12E by El Lissitzky
Composition, slumber by El Lissitzky
Proun 19D by El Lissitzky

El Lissitzky

1890–1941 · Russian

Lissitzky was rejected from the St Petersburg Art Academy in 1909[7] because of a quota limiting Jewish students. He went to Darmstadt, Germany, to study architecture instead. The detour shaped everything: his Prouns (Project for the Affirmation of the New), begun around 1919, sit between painting and architecture, abstract compositions that suggest three-dimensional space without depicting it.

Key facts

Lived
1890–1941, Russian[7]
Movement
[7]
Works held in
22 museums[1]

Biography

He was born Lazar Markovich Lissitzky in 1890[7]. After returning to Russia, he worked alongside Malevich at the UNOVIS art school in Vitebsk, where Suprematism and the revolution were supposed to be the same thing. He became one of the most influential graphic designers of the twentieth century, his poster designs, book layouts, and exhibition installations connecting Russian[7] avant-garde art to the Bauhaus and De Stijl in western Europe.

He contracted pulmonary tuberculosis and continued working as a book artist and photomonteur because he could do it lying down. His sister Jenta committed suicide in Vitebsk in 1925[7] while he was hospitalised in Switzerland. He married Sophie Kuppers, a German woman whose family disapproved of the match; she had to leave her sons behind to move to Moscow. He died in Moscow in 1941[7], the year Germany invaded Russia.

Timeline

  1. 1890Born Lazar Markovich Lissitzky in Pochinok, a small Jewish community near Smolensk in the Russian Empire.
  2. 1909At 19, rejected by the St Petersburg Academy (which imposed quotas on Jewish students), he left Russia to study architecture at the Technische Hochschule in Darmstadt, Germany.
  3. 1919At 29, invited by Marc Chagall to teach at the Vitebsk art school, where he fell under the influence of Kazimir Malevich and abandoned figurative art for Suprematism. That year he created the propaganda poster Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge.
  4. 1920At 30, began his Proun series in Vitebsk: abstract geometric compositions he described as interchange stations between painting and architecture.
  5. 1925At 35, returned from a period in Swiss sanatoriums (diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis) and shifted focus to exhibition design, which he considered his most important artistic activity.
  6. 1928At 38, designed the Abstract Cabinet for the Provinzialmuseum in Hannover, a pioneering permanent installation that let viewers interact with art through movable wall elements.
  7. 1932At 42, became a principal designer for the propaganda journal USSR in Construction, collaborating with Rodchenko and Stepanova on seventeen issues over the following years.
  8. 1941Died at 51 in Moscow as his tuberculosis worsened. One of his last works was a wartime propaganda poster urging Soviet tank production.

Notable Works

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Where to See El Lissitzky

13 museums worldwide.

Plan your visit →

  • Museum of Modern Art

    Midtown Manhattan, United States

    2 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • Sprengel Museum

    Sammlungszentrum Hannover, Germany

    3 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

    Palace of Villahermosa, Spain

    3 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • Busch–Reisinger Museum

    Cambridge, United States

    1 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • Harvard Art Museums

    Cambridge, United States

    1 works
    Museum detailsMap

  • Kunstmuseum Den Haag

    Building of the Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Netherlands

    1 works
    Museum detailsMap

Related Artists

Kazimir Malevich

Kazimir Malevich

1878–1935 · Russian

Lyubov Popova

Lyubov Popova

1889–1924 · Russian

Alexander Rodchenko

Alexander Rodchenko

1891–1956 · Russian

Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky

1866–1944 · Russian

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian

1872–1944 · Dutch

Paul Klee

Paul Klee

1879–1940 · Swiss

Plan your visit to see El Lissitzky →

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How did el lissitzky die?
    El Lissitzky died in 1941[7] at the age of 51.
  • What is el lissitzky known for?
    El Lissitzky is known as one of the most influential graphic designers of the twentieth century. His poster designs, book layouts, and exhibition installations connected Russian[7] avant-garde art to the Bauhaus and De Stijl in western Europe.
  • Who is el lissitzky?
    El Lissitzky was born Lazar Markovich Lissitzky in 1890[7] in Polchinok, in the Russian[7] province of Smolensk, and he grew up in Vitebsk. He trained as an architect, and he was a self-taught painter.
  • Who was el lissitzky?
    El Lissitzky was born Lazar Markovich Lissitzky in 1890[7]. He was a Russian[7] artist who studied architecture in Germany after being rejected from the St Petersburg Art Academy.
  • What movement was el lissitzky part of?
    El Lissitzky worked alongside Malevich at the UNOVIS art school in Vitebsk. There, Suprematism and the revolution were supposed to be the same thing.
  • When was el lissitzky born?
    El Lissitzky was born in 1890[7] in Russia. El Lissitzky died in 1941[7], aged 51.

Sources

Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for El Lissitzky.

  1. [1] museum Institut Valencià d'Art Modern Used for: museum holdings.
  2. [2] museum Van Abbemuseum Used for: museum holdings.
  3. [3] museum Sprengel Museum Used for: museum holdings.
  4. [4] museum Cleveland Museum of Art Used for: museum holdings.
  5. [5] museum National Gallery of Art Used for: museum holdings.
  6. [6] museum Museum Wiesbaden Used for: museum holdings.
  7. [7] wikipedia Wikipedia: El Lissitzky Used for: biography, birth dates, death dates, identifiers, movement attribution, nationality.
  8. [8] book guggenheim-handboo00pegg Used for: biography.
  9. [9] book guggenheim-masterp00solo Used for: biography.
  10. [10] book Masterpieces of western art : a history of art in 900 individual studies from the Gothic to the present day Used for: biography.

Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-05-17. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.

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