Vladimir Tatlin

Vladimir Tatlin grew up in Ukraine and, after travelling as a merchant seaman through Europe and Asia, studied traditional folk art and icon painting. He studied art in Moscow, where he met Mikhail Larionov and became familiar with Rayonism. In 1914, he travelled to Berlin and Paris, where he visited Picasso's studio and encountered Cubism. That year, he began experimenting with more abstract forms, using wood, metal and glass to create sculptural reliefs and counter-reliefs. Following the Russian Revolution, Tatlin applied the principles of industrial production to art and designed the Monument to the Third International, also known as Tatlin's Tower, which was never built. He headed the Department of Material Culture in Petrograd and, from the 1920s, taught at various art institutions. He was also among the initiators of the Museum of Artistic Culture in Petrograd. Between 1929 and 1932, he worked on Letatlin, his experimental flying machine. As Socialist Realism gained prominence, Tatlin returned to figurative painting while continuing to work in theatre design and applied arts until his death.