Construction pour un aéroport

Between 1911 and 1914, the Russian-born painter Antoine Pevsner lived in Paris, where he encountered Cubism and Futurism. However, in the so-called Realistic Manifesto, written by his brother Naum Gabo in 1920 and co-signed by Pevsner, he turned his back on Cubism and Futurism and embraced the principles of a new constructivist art. The principle of construction was taken from architecture, based on the premise that a sculpture is put together, constructed. Before that, only the principles of moulding and modelling were known in sculpture. In 1923, Pevsner devoted himself entirely to the fabrication of abstract geometric works in which the elements were joined together using the techniques of assemblage. His work is characterised by concave and convex forms and the use of the funnel shape. The circle and V shape are recurring elements. This can clearly be seen in his Construction pour un aéroport, a sculpture that he would have liked to produce on a more monumental scale.