Dystopic Poem by Semyon Kirsanov – Moscow, 1930 – Cover Design by Alexander Rodchenko

Dystopic Poem by Semyon Kirsanov – Moscow, 1930 – Cover Design by Alexander Rodchenko

Последний современник [The Last Contemporary], by Semyon Kirsanov. Moscow: Федерация (Federatsiya), 1930. Russian. Cover design by Alexander Rodchenko.
Dystopic poem by Semyon Kirsanov (Семён Кирсанов, 1906-1972), a student of Vladimir Mayakovsky and secretary of the Yugo-LEF journal (Юго-ЛЕФ – the successor of the LEF and Novy-LEF journals edited by Mayakovsky). The poem, describing an imaginary world reflecting the Soviet reality, was severely criticized and was not published again. During the 1940s it even stopped appearing in the poet's bibliographical lists.
Cover design by Alexander Rodchenko.
95, [1] pp, 18 cm. Good condition. A few stains throughout the booklet; stains on the cover. A tear of approx. 3 cm at the margin of one of the leaves. Creases, tears and small open tears to the margins of the cover and the spine.
See item 247.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alexander Mikhailovich Rodchenko (1891-1956) – a Russian artist, graphic designer, sculptor and photographer, a member of the Constructivist movement.

Rodchenko studied art in Kazan (Tatarstan) and Moscow. In his early days, he was inspired by Cubism and Futurism; yet later was influenced by the Suprematism and the geometric abstraction of Kandinsky and Malevich. Rodchenko was a student of Vladimir Tatlin, and also his assistant. In 1916 he participated in an exhibition curated by Tatlin. In 1919, under Tatlin's influence, he started creating three-dimensional works made of a variety of materials (wood, metal and more), characterized by integrated geometrical forms forming airy and dynamic compositions.

During the 1920s, he worked regularly with the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, illustrating his books (see items 250 and 252) and contributed photographs and illustrations to the issues of "LEF" (see item 251) as well as to books and publications by other writers, members of the Russian avant-garde movements (see, for example, items 249 and 254); he also regularly published his photographs in the press.

Rodchenko is considered one of the most versatile artists of Russian avant-garde: he was one of the leaders of the Productivist group, which advocated the incorporation of art into everyday life, and subsequently, turned also to applied arts and furniture design; later, he became engaged in the art of photography and photomontage (he is considered one of the pioneers of the field), designed posters, illustrated books, worked as a graphic artist and designed theater and cinema sets.