Naum Gabo

Gabo's career spanned significant artistic movements, including Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, the Bauhaus, de Stijl, and the Abstraction-Création group.

Biography of Naum Gabo

Naum Gabo, born Naum Neemia Pevsner on August 5, 1890, in Bryansk, Russia, was an influential sculptor and theorist. His education began with studies in medicine and natural science at Munich University, where he also attended art history lectures. Later, in 1912, he moved to an engineering school in Munich, discovering abstract art and meeting Wassily Kandinsky.

His engineering background was crucial in the evolution of his sculptural works, which frequently incorporated machined components. Gabo's innovative approach garnered significant critical acclaim, culminating in prestigious awards.

After the war broke out, Gabo relocated to Copenhagen and then Oslo with his older brother Alexei. In 1915, he began creating his first constructions, adopting the name Naum Gabo for his work.

Later in Germany, Gabo interacted with de Stijl artists and taught at the Bauhaus in 1928. During this time, he designed a fountain for Dresden, which was later destroyed. In 1924, Gabo and Antoine Pevsner held a joint exhibition at Galerie Percier in Paris. To escape the Nazi rise, they stayed in Paris from 1932 to 1935, joining the Abstraction-Creation group alongside Piet Mondrian.

The artist visited London in 1935. With the outbreak of World War II, he followed his friends Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson to St Ives, Cornwall, where he continued his work on a smaller scale. In 1946, Gabo emigrated to Connecticut in the United States with his wife and daughter.

He passed away on August 23, 1977, in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Naum Gabo's Art Style

Naum Gabo's art style is characterized by geometric abstraction and dynamic forms. He utilized new materials such as nylon, wire, lucite, glass, and metal in his small reliefs, constructions, and monumental public sculptures. Gabo's work often explored negative space and time, evident in his "Linear Construction" series and the pioneering kinetic work "Kinetic Sculpture (Standing Waves)."

He participated in the Agit-prop open-air exhibitions and taught at VKhUTEMAS, the Higher Art and Technical Workshop, alongside Tatlin, Kandinsky, and Rodchenko. During this time, his work evolved to feature more geometric reliefs and constructions, and he began experimenting with kinetic sculpture. Unfortunately, much of this work was lost or destroyed. Although Gabo's designs became increasingly monumental, there were few opportunities to bring them to fruition.

Gabo co-authored the "Constructivist Realistic Manifesto" with his brother Antoine Pevsner. They critiqued Cubism and Futurism for not achieving true abstraction and argued that spiritual experience was the foundation of artistic creation.

Gabo’s vision was both imaginative and passionate, and his exhibitions consistently sparked great enthusiasm due to the emotional intensity of his sculptures. He employed time and space as fundamental elements in his work, transforming solid matter into forms that are both surreal and otherworldly. His sculptures bridged the gap between the tangible and intangible, merging the simplicity of reality with the boundless potential of intuitive imagination. Gabo was also a pioneer in his use of materials, incorporating early plastics, fishing lines, bronze, Perspex sheets, and boulders into his creations. On occasion, he even integrated motors to animate his sculptures.