Composition with Figures, created between 1913 to 1915, was one of Liubov Popova’s first renowned artworks and is a combination of cubism and futurism styles. This piece shows Popova’s experimentation with line, shape, and movement. Her strategic placement of her lines and shadows helps create depth. Composition with Figures is a very dynamic piece with vibrant, saturated colors using mostly an analogous color palette. For contrast, Popova adds a grayscale background and hints of greens and blues to complement the reds and oranges. Looking more closely you begin to notice the formation of images like the woman’s face in the upper left hand side, her flared fan in the center, and the guitar in the bottom right corner (TheArtStory). Liubov had a habit of suggesting images within her work. Most figures were never blatantly represented, leaving the message of the piece up to the audience’ own interpretation. It’s clear that abstraction is the hierarchy in most, if not all, of her pieces. With the abstraction, Popova still makes sure to have some type of order and cohesiveness. She typically achieves this with movement. Many of her works, especially in Composition with Figures, the shapes within the image create a rhythm for the eye to follow and bounce along the page.

 

 

 

Bibliography

“Lyubov Popova Artist Overview and Analysis”. [Internet]. 2020. TheArtStory.org

Content compiled and written by Alexandra Banister-Fletcher

Edited and published by The Art Story Contributors

Available from: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/popova-lyubov/life-and-legacy/

First published on 14 Aug 2018. Updated and modified regularly

[Accessed 13 Apr 2020]