Blok of Cubists, Suprematists, and Constructivists Blok ( was a Polish

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

artist collective An artist collective or art group or artist group is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything t ...

active in the years 1924–1926 and founded by

Władysław Strzemiński Władysław Strzemiński (Polish pronunciation: ; ; 21 November 1893 – 26 December 1952) was a Polish painter, art theoretician, pedagogue, and soldier. He is regarded as a pioneer of Constructivist avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s and the ...

Katarzyna Kobro Katarzyna Kobro (26 January 1898 – 21 February 1951) was a Polish avant-garde sculptor and a prominent representative of the Constructivist movement in Poland. A pioneer of innovative multi-dimensional abstract sculpture, she rejected A ...

Henryk Berlewi Henryk Berlewi (Yiddish: הענריק בערלעװי; October 20, 1894 – August 2, 1967) was a Polish-French painter, graphic designer and art theorist, who is primarily remembered as an abstract artist who paved the way for optical art, but ...

Henryk Stażewski Henryk Stażewski (pronounced: ; 9 January 1894 – 10 June 1988) was a Polish painter, visual artist and writer. Stażewski has been described as the "father of the Polish avant-garde" and is considered a pivotal figure in the history of Cons ...

and Mieczysław Szczuka, amongst others. Blok was a precursor to

Praesens Praesens (from Latin: "present tense") was a Polish avant-garde artist and architect collective active in the years 1926–1930, which was formed following the dissolution of Blok. History The founders of the Praesens group included graduates ...

(1926–1930) and

a.r. group The a.r. group ("revolutionary artists" or "real avant-garde") was an avant-garde art group set up by Władysław Strzemiński, Katarzyna Kobro, and Henryk Stażewski in 1929, who had previously been members of Blok and Praesens. Rather than ...

(1929–1936), and all three collectives played a critical role in the development of Polish Constructivism.

History

The Blok group was established following the ''New Art Exhibition'' in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, which was organized in 1923, and inspired by

Russian Constructivism Constructivism is an early twentieth-century art movement founded in 1915 by Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko. Abstract and austere, constructivist art aimed to reflect modern industrial society and urban space. The movement rejected d ...

, specifically the activities of artists associated with the Vkhutemas and INKhUK institutes in post-revolutionary Moscow. Similarly to their Russian counterparts, Polish Constructivist artists deployed art as a tool in aiding the formation of new, modern society through functional architecture, poster design, graphic design, typography, and furniture architecture. ''Blok'''s members included e.g. Mieczysław Szczuka, Jan Golus, Katarzyna Kobro-Strzemińska, Władysław Strzemiński,

Teresa Żarnowerówna Teresa Żarnowerówna (or Żarnower; – April 30, 1949) was a Polish avant-garde artist, painter, sculptor, scenographer, and architect. Personal life Teresa Żarnowerówna was born in Targówek, Warsaw in either 1895 or 1897 (sources can ...

, Henryk Berlewi, Henryk Stażewski, Maria Nicz-Borowiakowa, Aleksander Rafałowski, Maria Puciatycka, Witold Kajruksztis, Karol Kryński, Teresa Roszkowska and Mieczysław Szulc. The artists published the magazine ''Blok'', which included theoretical texts on art and society, reproductions of works by the participating artists, as well as works by foreign artists such as

Kazimir Malevich Kazimir Severinovich Malevich (

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye de ...

Theo van Doesburg Theo van Doesburg (; born Christian Emil Marie Küpper; 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch painter, writer, poet and architect. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He married three times. Personal life Theo van Do ...

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, Constructivism (a ...

and

Herwarth Walden Herwarth Walden (actual name Georg Lewin; 16 September 1879 – 31 October 1941) was a German expressionist artist and art expert in many disciplines. He is broadly acknowledged as one of the most important discoverers and promoters of German av ...

. The group dissolved in 1926 as a result of ideological disputes regarding the role and nature of art in modern society. Władysław Strzemiński, Katarzyna Kobro and Henryk Stażewski left Blok to work with a group of architects under the name ''

''.

References

{{reflist Polish artist groups and collectives Avant-garde art Constructivism (art)