Constructivism is an art and design movement that originated in Russia around Suprematismus which was developed by Kasimir Malevitch. Malevitch proclaimed the end of painting with his black square painting of 1915. The movement abstracts or reduces reality into simple geometric shapes, these in turn are used to construct art.

The Vkhutemas school in Moscow was a brief but important chapter in design history. The graphics program was run initially by Alexander Rodchenko, supported by his wife Vavara Stepanova and Lyubov Popova and architect Nicolai Ladovsky. Rodchenko’s teaching underscores the constructivist style of thinking as students were given graphic exercises with basic shapes.

Some of the more famous artists and designers of the movement are El Lissitzky, Varvara Stepanova, Alexander Rodchenko, Kurt Schwitters and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Constructivism is one of a host of new art forms that are called the Avant Garde.

Constructivism (and its close relative De Stijl) spread rapidly throughout Europe in the 1920s until the 1930s. Its influence is visible in works of the Bauhaus teachers and students.