Ivan Klyun (1873-1943)

Aliases: Ivan Vasil'evič Kljun; Ivan Vasil'evič Kljunkov; Ivan Vasilievich Klyun; Ivan Vasilievich Klyunkov

Professions: Painter; Sculptor

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Ivan Klyun Biography

(b Bol’shiye Gorky, province of Vladimir, 1873; d Moscow, 1943). Russian painter and sculptor. He studied in Kiev and Warsaw in the 1890s and then in Moscow, and initially painted in a Symbolist style (e.g. Portrait of the Artist’s Wife (Consumption) , 1910; Athens, George Costakis priv. col., see Rudenstine, p. 141). In 1907 he met Malevich and later joined the Union of Youth group, contributing to their final exhibition in St Petersburg during the winter of 1913–14. At this time Klyun began producing sculptures and reliefs using stylistic devices from Cubism and Futurism. The most dynamic and abstract of these is Rapidly Passing Landscape (1915; Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal.), constructed from painted wood, wire, metal and porcelain. Klyun was in close contact with Malevich from 1913 and signed Malevich’s Suprematist manifesto of December 1915. Klyun later produced Suprematist works, including a series of small paintings (untitled) depicting single geometric forms in various colours on white grounds (c. 1917; Athens, George Costakis priv. col., see Rudenstine, p. 147). In 1918 Klyun was involved in decorating Moscow for the first anniversary of the Revolution. He taught at the Moscow Free Art Studios (Svomas) and at the Vkhutemas (Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops) from 1918 to 1921. At the same time he was director of the Central Exhibitions Bureau for the Fine Art department (IZO) of Narkompros (The People’s Commissariat for Enlightenment). Having broken with Malevich and Suprematism in 1919, Klyun produced such paintings as The Red Light: A Spherical Composition (c. 1923; Athens, George Costakis priv. col., see Rudenstine, p. 150), in which the nebulous form of a glowing red disc is set against a dark background. During the 1920s Klyun experimented with a variety of artistic trends, finally adopting a simplified figurative style of painting that resembled Purism.

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