Responding to the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Revolution, the Constructivist movement represented a new approach to art that emphasized its essential elements. Constructivist artists embraced modernity and created work that they believed would play a role in the new social order. Vladimir Tatlin, a leader of the movement, designed the Monument to the Third International, a spiraling tower of iron, steel, and glass—the ultimate modern materials—that was to extend 400 meters into the sky. Tatlin envisioned the tower as a monument to the Communist cause that was also functional, hosting a bevy of meeting rooms. Tatlin’s vision was never realized, but his models of the monument stand as key examples of the Constructivist philosophy. In 1921, Constructivist painter Alexander Rodchenko announced that he had reached the logical conclusion of painting with his monochromatic triptych Pure Red Color, Pure Yellow Color, Pure Blue Color. Adopting the form of religious altarpieces from years past, Rodchenko reduced painting to its essential elements: color on a flat surface. The work of Tatlin and Rodchenko was disconnected from the hand of the artist; they embraced the idea that art would one day be mass-produced in factories.

Constructivist artists applied their talents towards promoting the new Soviet Union through graphic design. They created visually dynamic posters and paintings featured prominently in public spaces. Other artists associated with this movement are El Lissitzky, the sculptor Naum Gabo, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Lyubov Popova, and Varvara Stepanova. Although the Soviet Union eventually rejected Constructivism, embracing instead Socialist Realism as its preferred art form, the movement was heavily influential to modernist movements and visual culture in the twentieth century.