Chromatic modernism in
the USSR, 1920-1935

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Modernism is often criticized for its allegedly dull monochromes, the ostentatiously unpainted surfaces of its buildings and the desaturated stillness of their black-and-white photographic representation.

Part of this was intentional, for either promotional or artistic reasons. Thus one gets the rich black-and-white photos of brutalist buildings from the 1950s and 1960s, still colorless despite the availability of new technologies. As such, it’s just as much a part of brutalism’s brooding aesthetic as anything else. (Don’t believe me? Take a look through Fuck Yeah Brutalism’s archives). Or else there’s the deliberate intradisciplinary gesture, as in constructivist tekstura, which insists that the material components should be fully exposed, not concealed beneath “artificial” coloring. Either way, the naked white of plaster or the gray-on-gray of concrete, polished metal through untinted glass.

Il’ia Golosov, competition entry for the Leningrad Pravda (1924). Already Golosov’s fascination with towers is manifest

Aleksei Shchusev. Lenin Mausoleum, 87.4 × 66.7cm. First version of the final project, 1929-1930. Floor plan, facade, perspective. Ink and gouache on paper.

Vesnin brothers, Arkos building facade, 1925

Grigorii and Mikhail Barkhin. Dom Izvestiia, 1926-1927. Perspective view. Ink, watercolor, & white ink on paper.

Il’ia Golosov Elektrobank proposal for Moscow, 1927

Color schemes for the new residential block (Zhilmassive) in Leningrad : Alexander Nikolsky Studio (МАН) + M. Ender, B. Ender artists : Perspective :: 1927

Dmitrii Markov w/ Vladimir & Daniil Fridman. Lenin State Public Library, Moscow 1928. Perspective view, 34.25″ × 95.75″. Ink, gouache, white ink, and collage on paper.

Leningrad : Housing quarter : Kondratyevsky & Polustrovsky prospects (Kondratyevvsky residential block) :: D. P. Burishkin, L. M. Tverskoy, L. D. Akopova, O. I. Rudneva, associate N. D. Katzenelenbogen : Competition entry Perspective 1928

Nikolai Sokolov, Health-resort hotel (1928) studio of A Vesnin

Aleksei Shchusev, proposal for an administrative building in Samarkand, 1929-1930.

Porokhovskoy Recreation Center (House of Culture) : Leningrad :: N. A. Miturich, V. P. Makashov, etc. : Design :: Second Variant : Perspective view Watercolors, airbrush on paper: 1929

Another part was, of course, incidental. For a long time color photographs weren’t practical, and so much of early modernism’s more chromatic creations were lost to the general public — or at least, to anyone who couldn’t visit them in person. Color printing was available for illustrations, of course, but only on rare occasions. For the most part, only magazine covers and maybe the first few pages featured a palette beyond black and white. While this meant that those pages that were chosen for color were usually used to good effect, on the whole formatting and layout were constrained.

Besides, the early architectural avant-garde generally embraced the photographic medium, which didn’t allow for multicolored printing. The carefully balanced color schemes of, say, Le Corbusier — following his painterly innovations alongside his fellow Purist Amédée Ozenfant — would only come through in gradated grayscale. This is to say nothing of Gerrit Rietveld or Theo van Doesburg in Holland, inspired as they were by the Neoplasticist paintings of Piet Mondrian. In their drawings and sketches, however, the contrasting hues and tones of the architecture they envisioned is preserved.

With the Soviets it was no different. Though there were certain tensions between the constructivist and suprematist schools of art, the architectural constructivists had by the mid-1920s assimilated many of Malevich’s teachings through the work of artists-turned-architects like Lissitzky and Leonidov. As Owen Hatherley notes, OSA’s bimonthly periodical Modern Architecture devoted a whole issue in 1929 to an exploration of color in architecture. Stunning reproductions of the work of the cubist Fernand Léger were also included.

Here are a number of color drawings, paintings, and sketches produced by the Russian architectural avant-garde. They’ve been cobbled together from various sources, too diverse to name here. Many appear here for the first time, at least online.

Communications staff recreation center :: Leningrad : 1865 German Protestant Reformed church (G. A. Bosse, D. I. Grimm) rebuilding : P. M. Grinberg, G. S. Reitz : Variant : Design perspective :: 1930

Moisei Ginzburg and Gustav Gassenpflug VI Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater Competition project, unexecuted Moscow, USSR 1933 Ink, watercolor, white ink, and applied color on paper 61.5 x 89.5 cm

Viktor and Leonid Vesnin Palace of the Soviets Moscow, USSR (1931) Second round of the competition Walkway

Viktor and Leonid Vesnin Palace of the Soviets Moscow, USSR (1932) Third round of the competition Exterior

Viktor and Leonid Vesnin Palace of the Soviets Moscow, USSR (1932) Third round of the competition Interior view of the grand hall

Viktor and Leonid Vesnin Palace of the Soviets Moscow, USSR (1932-1933) Fourth round of the competition Interior view

Viktor and Leonid Vesnin, Theater named after VE Nemirovich-Danchenko 1933

Moisei Ginzburg and Gustav Gassenpflug VI Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater Competition project, unexecuted Moscow, USSR 1933 Ink, watercolor, white ink, and applied color on paper 61.5 x 89.5 cm

Ivan Leonidov Commissariat of Heavy Industry, Narkomtiazhprom Competition project, unexecuted Moscow, USSR 1934 Ink, watercolor, white ink, and bronze powder on paper 82 x 141 cm

Ivan Leonidov’s Narkomtiazhprom proposal (1934)

Sketches and proposals by Ivan Leonidov

Konstantin Mel’nikov humungous oculoid portal Narkomtiazhprom

Vesnin brothers’ Narkomtiazhprom proposal for Moscow, 1933-1934

Vesnin brothers’ Narkomtiazhprom proposal for Moscow, 1933-1934