Tatlin, Vladimir

Tatlin, Vladimir (tät`lyĭn), 1885–1953, Russian painter and sculptor, known as the Father of Russian constructivism. After graduating (1910) from the Moscow Academy of Fine Arts, he traveled to Paris where he was so influenced by Picasso's reliefs that he became a sculptor. After the Russian Revolution, Tatlin produced art that remained abstract but was more politically oriented. His most famous piece remains his monument to the Third International (1920, Moscow), a 22-ft-high (6.7-m) iron frame on which rested a revolving cylinder, cube, and cone, all made of glass. He also is noted for his costumes for stage productions, such as Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (1915–17).

---

Tatlin, Vladimir (Yevgrafovich)

(born Dec. 16, 1885, Kharkov, Russian Empire—died May 31, 1953, Moscow, U.S.S.R.) Ukrainian sculptor and painter. After a visit to Paris (1914), he became the leader of a group of Moscow artists who sought to apply engineering techniques to sculpture construction, a movement that developed into Constructivism. He pioneered the use of iron, glass, wood, and wire in nonrepresentational constructions. His Monument to the Third International, commissioned by the Soviet government, was one of the first buildings conceived entirely in abstract terms and was intended to be, at more than 1,300 ft (400 m), the world's tallest structure. A model was exhibited at the 1920 Soviet Congress, but the government disapproved of nonfigurative art and it was never built. After 1933 Tatlin worked largely as a stage designer.

---

Tatlin, Vladimir Evgrafovich 

Born Dec. 16 (28), 1885, in Moscow; died there May 31, 1953. Soviet painter, graphic artist, and stage designer.

Tatlin studied under V. A. Serov and K. A. Korovin at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in 1902–03 and 1909–10 and attended the Penza Art School from 1904 to 1909. From 1918 to 1921 he taught at the Moscow Vkhutemas (State Higher Arts and Technical Studios) and from 1927 to 1930 at the Moscow Vkhutein (State Higher Arts and Technical Institute). He taught at the Petrograd Academy of Arts from 1921 to 1925 and at the Kiev Art Institute from 1925 to 1927.

Denying realistic representation in art, Tatlin originally worked in the styles of cubism and futurism, as seen in The Model (1913, Tret’iakov Gallery, Moscow). In Soviet times, however, he tended more toward constructivism. He designed structures of glass, metal, and wood in the 1920’s and abandoned his experimentation with formal art, which had led him only to the blind alley of abstract art. He designed consumer goods for mass production and participated in the production arts movement. Tatlin helped introduce modern design in the USSR, creating plans for the ornithopter Letatlin (“Flying Tatlin,” 1930–31, Museum of the History of Aviation, Moscow), as well as furniture, ceramic ware, and clothing. He also designed a monument to the Third International (tower of iron, glass, wood; not preserved). He designed more than 80 theatrical productions, including Ostrovskii’s Comedian of the 17th Century (1935, Second Moscow Academic Art Theater) and A. A. Kron’s Distant Reconnaissance (1943, Moscow Academic Art Theater).