Untitled Compositions (c. 1921)
This conversation is connected to Untitled Compositions (c. 1921).
Six overlapping geometric planes in black, gray-blue, pink, dark maroon, ochre-gold, and yellow are arranged in an interlocking vertical composition against a white ground. The black form is the largest, an irregular arch shape that dominates the upper left. The gray-blue plane is nearly as large, sitting inside and in front of the black. The forms have visible craquelure and a chalky, matte surface. The edges are hand-drawn and slightly imprecise, giving the geometry a physical, material quality. By 1921 Popova was moving from the Painterly Architectonics toward what she called Spatial-Force Constructions — compositions where the planes feel less like they're resting on the surface and more like they're pressing against and into each other. Oil on canvas, circa 1921.