Vladimir Tatlin

Russian, 1885–1956. Painter, architect, and stage designer, Vladimir Tatlin rose to fame as the architect of Tatlin’s Tower, which began in 1919. The Russian painter was considered one of the most important contributors to the Soviet avant-garde art movement of the 1920s and Constructivism. His collage and sculptural assemblage were influenced by the works of Pablo Picasso, which he witnessed during one of his first visits to Paris in 1913. As a result of the restrictions in art appointed by Soviet politician, Joseph Stalin during the 1930s, Tatlin, along with other Soviet artists, was forced to return to conventional aesthetics.