Gustav Klutsis

About the Artist

Gustav Klutsis. Untitled (Self-Portrait). 1926. Gelatin silver print, 3 1/2 x 2 9/16" (8.9 x 6.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange (MoMA 1741.2001). © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Gustav Klutsis was born Gustavs Klucis on January 4, 1895, in the Koni parish of northern Latvia, then under the control of the Russian Empire (later part of the Soviet Union). On the eve of the 1917 October Revolution, Klutsis voluntarily joined the Latvian Riflemen and was present in St. Petersburg at the storming of the Winter Palace. Immediately after the revolution, Klutsis continued to serve the cause by acting as a bodyguard for Vladimir Lenin. Concurrent with his revolutionary activities, Klutsis enrolled in Moscow’s SVOMAS to study painting with the Russian avant-garde artists Antoine Pevsner and Kazimir Malevich in 1918–19. Under these influences, Klutsis expanded his Photomontage practice to abstract painting, incorporating photographic elements into his paintings and cut-paper collages. Klutsis was active as both a student and a teacher of monumental painting, architecture, woodwork, and metalwork at VKhUTEMAS (Higher state artistic and technical workshops), between 1920 and 1930. He participated in many exhibitions throughout this time, including the Erste russische Kunstausstellung at Galerie Van Diemen & Co., Fotomontage, Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes, Film und Foto, and the Exposition internationale des arts et techniques dans la vie modern. He is well known for working with his wife and artistic collaborator Valentina Kulagina. Klutsis died on February 26, 1938, in Moscow.

—Ksenia Nouril
Alternate Name(s) Gustavs Klucis (Birth Name)
Густав Клуцис (Alternate Name)

Meeting Points

Cultural Hubs Moscow
Schools VKhUTEMAS, 1920–30
Exhibitions Film und Foto, 1929
Fotomontage, 1931

Artist Chronology

January 4, 1895	Born At location: Gustav Klutsis	Rujiena
1917	Joins the Latvian Riflemen detachment At location: Gustav Klutsis	Saint Petersburg
November 7–8, 1917	Participates in the storming of the Winter Palace At location: Gustav Klutsis	Saint Petersburg
1918–19	Studies painting with Antoine Pevsner and Kazimir Malevich at Moscow SVOMAS (Free Art Studios) Under Malevich's influence, Klutsis turns begins making abstract paintings in addition to his earlier photomontages. Makes a photomontage "sequel" to his 1918 painting Dynamic City, his first cut-paper collage to introduce photographic elements. At location: Gustav Klutsis	Moscow
1920	Helps develop the new curriculum when SVOMAS is converted into VKhUTEMAS At location: Gustav Klutsis	Moscow
1921	Makes photomontages and other graphic works specifically intended for reproduction At location: Gustav Klutsis	Moscow
1921	Graduates from the department of painting at VKhUTEMAS and is invited to teach monumental painting and architecture at the school At location: Gustav Klutsis	Moscow
1922	Erste Russische Kunstausstellung at Galerie Van Diemen & Co. Organizer: El Lissitzky Participant: Aleksandr Rodchenko, Gustav Klutsis	Berlin
1924–30	Teaches a course on "color theory for applications other than painting" in the department of woodwork and metalwork at VKhUTEMAS At location: Gustav Klutsis	Moscow
April 25–October 25, 1925	Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes Organizer: Aleksandr Rodchenko, Gustav Klutsis	Paris
May 18–July 7, 1929	Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (FiFo) at Städtische Ausstellungshallen Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zurich August 28–September 22, 1929 Im Lichthof des Ehemaligen Kunstgewerbemuseums, Prinz-Albrechs-Strasse 7, Berlin October 19–November 17, 1929 Stadtmuseum, Danzig (dates unknown) Österreichisches Museum, Vienna February 20–March 31, 1930 Agram, Zagreb April 5–14, 1930 Münchner Bund/Verein Ausstellungspark München E.V. (as part of Internationale Ausstellung. Das Lichtbild), Munich June 5–September 7, 1930 Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo April 1931 Asahi Shimbun, Osaka July 1–7, 1931 Participant: Berenice Abbott, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Anton Bruehl, Francis Bruguière, Max Burchartz, Florence Henri, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Helmar Lerski, El Lissitzky, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Hans Richter, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Charles Sheeler, Edward Steichen, Maurice Tabard, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Edward Weston, Lucia Moholy, Werner Rohde, George Hoyningen-Huene, Gustav Klutsis, Karl Blossfeldt, Heinz Loew, Erich Comeriner, Semyon Fridlyand, Roman Karmen, Eli Lotar, Oskar Nerlinger, Robert Petschow, Sasha Stone, Dziga Vertov, Yva (Else Simon), Willy Zielke, Irene Bayer-Hecht, Hans Finsler, Cami Stone Organizer: El Lissitzky, László Moholy-Nagy, Hans Richter, Edward Steichen, Edward Weston, Dziga Vertov Visitor: Alexander Hackenschmied	Stuttgart
April 25–May 31, 1931	Fotomontage at Staatliche Kunstbibliothek Participant: Herbert Bayer, César Domela-Nieuwenhuis, Raoul Hausmann, El Lissitzky, László Moholy-Nagy, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Gustav Klutsis, Oskar Nerlinger Organizer: César Domela-Nieuwenhuis	Berlin
May 25–November 25, 1937	Exposition internationale des arts et techniques dans la vie moderne at the Trocadéro Participant: Francis Bruguière, Germaine Krull, El Lissitzky, Maurice Tabard, Hajo Rose, Leni Riefenstahl, Willy Zielke, Hans Finsler, Max Penson Organizer: El Lissitzky Visitor: Gustav Klutsis	Paris
1938	Arrested with other Latvians during the purges and executed at Butovo Prison At location: Gustav Klutsis	Moscow