Naum Gabo (18901977) was an important sculptor and art theorist. After receiving a scientific education in his native Russia, he attended Heinrich Wlfflin's art history lectures in Munich and resolved to become an artist. In 1920, in Moscow, Gabo and his brother, Antoine Pevsner, issued the famous Realistic Manifesto, outlining the principles of Constructivism, and Gabo held his first exhibition. Gabo was active in many avant-garde artistic movements in Europe between the world wars and emigrated to the United States after World War II. His sculptures are in major museum collections around the world.
A more lucid artist than Naum Gabo would be hard to find. His discussions of what the consciousness of man has created, what differentiates Science from Art, what Nature has meant to him, and what influences have shaped his own style are stated with deceptive clarity. The reader cannot help relating Gabo's literary style to the crystalline constructions for which he is famous. * Art in America *