Naum Gabo

Russian, 1890–1977. Naum Gabo was a Russian sculptor who pioneered in Constructivism. Gabo was recognized for his unique approach to sculpting, by transforming solid masses of materials like glass, metal and plastics into interlocking planes, linear and geometric shapes. The sculptures were additively built piece by piece, buoyed with lightness and dynamism. In a 1923 sculpture, titled “Column”, he created a clear vertical column ringed by an open circle and sliced by multicolored planes. Redefined views of space and time were elemental in Gabo’s work, and so were the architectural and abstract characteristics. He shifted base from Moscow to Berlin owing to political challenges. Gabo later fled Germany because of the rise of the Nazi regime and moved to Paris and then, England before settling in the United States in 1946.