Study for a Portrait 1915

Lyubov Popova made this oil on canvas, called 'Study for a Portrait'. Although undated, this work belongs to the period around the Russian Revolution of 1917. Popova was a leading figure in the Russian avant-garde and actively engaged in defining a new public role for art in post-revolutionary society. This portrait is less concerned with the individual and more focused on the universal. Note how Popova broke down the human form into geometric shapes. This evokes the influence of Cubism, with its fragmented forms, and Futurism, with its interest in dynamism and modernity. The letters and numbers in the painting are also a feature of both Cubism and Futurism. We can interpret these influences in a distinctively Russian context. After the Revolution artists debated about art’s social function and how it could serve the masses. Historical documents, manifestos, and critical reviews from the time are useful for understanding how revolutionary artists engaged with these debates. By exploring those debates, we can better understand how an artist’s individual decisions were also a contribution to a wider social project.