Constructivist International (german: Konstruktivistische Internationale, KI) was an international organisation made up of

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

artists established in 1922 in order to co-ordinate the work of constructivist artists as an international collective style.

The International Constructivist Faction

The concept of the Constructivist International was first proposed at the International Congress of Progressive Artists, held in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, 29-31 May 1922. A few days prior to the Congress, the key actors involved in launching the KI, met together in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg an ...

Theo van Doesburg Theo van Doesburg (, 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch artist, who practiced painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He was married to artist, pianist and choreographer Nel ...

El Lissitzky Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...

, Hans Richter, Werner Graeff,

Karl Peter Röhl Karl Peter Röhl (12 September 12, 1890, Kiel – 25 November, 1975, Kiel) was a German painter and graphic artist. Life and work Röhl undertook an apprenticeship as a painter upon leaving school in 1906. He then attended at schools of applie ...

and Cornelis van Eesteren. Although they did not develop a unified position, they did develop a shared view on organising avant-garde artists internationally in the interests of social transformation rather than simply aesthetic issues or the pragmatic issues of organising exhibitions, music festivals etc. During the first day, the

Young Rhineland Young Rhineland (Das Junge Rheinland) was an association of avant-garde artists formed in Düsseldorf on 24 February 1919. History The poet Herbert Eulenberg was one of the main instigators of the group, along with painter Arthur Kaufmann an ...

group presented their proposed proclamation, creating some dissent when they suggested that those who did not want to sign it should leave the congress.

References

{{Constructivism Art movements