El Lissitzky: Featured Works

Lazar Markovich Lissitzky, better known as El Lissitzky, was a designer, architect, and critical figure of the Russian avant-garde movement. He, along with Kazimir Malevich, developed the Suprematist style (which famously highlighted geometric form) and designed numerous exhibition displays and propaganda for the Soviet Union.

Lissitzky believed that the artist could be an effective agent for change. He utilized color and basic shapes on a canvas to make strong, political statements. Throughout his career, Lissitzky innovated using medium—integrating three-dimensional elements of architecture with two-dimensional imagery. His highly abstract and theoretical thinking challenged convention, and his works went on to influence Modernism and graphic design in the 20th century.