Building the Revolution. Soviet Art and Architecture 

Lyubov Popova created this artwork in the Constructivist style in the early 20th century, a time of radical change in Russia. As an artist, designer, and theorist, Popova sought to create a new visual language that reflected the industrial age and the social transformations of the Russian Revolution. Trained in both Moscow and Paris, Popova synthesized Cubist and Futurist ideas into her own brand of abstraction. “Building the Revolution” is not just a title, it is a literal depiction of the artist’s aspirations. The linear composition evokes a sense of dynamism and forward momentum, mirroring the revolutionary fervor of the time. But who was building this revolution? The painting invites us to consider the labor and vision required to construct a new society, while at the same time remaining a formal exercise in geometric abstraction. In the end, the artwork captures a moment of utopian possibility, where art and life, form and function, converge in the service of social change.