Page 33 - Studio International - October 1966

Design for the Yiddish on his Prouns, designing exhibitions in Germany, and
publishing house
'Folksverlag', 1919. introducing into Russian and German typography revo-
lutionary ideas to which the then leading European
typographer Jan Tschichold paid tribute.
Designing Russian books allowed room for his archi-
tectural ideas and both the letters and the ideas behind
the title gave him opportunity to experiment in an archi-
tectural abstract way. The transition from the purely
decorative Yiddish booklets in the direction of the Prouns
is apparent both in the illustrations for a small book of
Ehrenburg's, Shests Povesti (Six Sketches), in which he first
attempted to convert the alphabet into architectural
composition, and in the collage for Ehrenburg's A Journey
to America. This collage contains bits of advertising issued
by a shipping company operating the Hamburg—New
York route; in the centre is the Jewish symbol, the Shield
of David, superimposed on a printed text of Hebrew
Kabbalah shaped to give the impression of a boat, and
above the Shield of David a black hand points to
America. It is one of the most impressive of modern
collages, the embodiment of abstract art superimposed
on traditional representation. It also constitutes Lissitzky's
last composition containing Jewish elements. Thereafter
out the text in the way medieval Jewish scribes wrote he concentrated on developing his Prouns, designing
manuscripts. But for the first time he introduced marked Russian and German books, organizing international
architectural influences in the spacing of the letters, and exhibitions, and ultimately experimenting in the use of
each page is within an architectural border. The charac- photo-montage.
ters appear to belong to a building or to a particular During the 1920s he spent most of his time in Germany
place, and are not the isolated, rootless floating figures and Switzerland, where he was recovering from a serious
that occur in Chagall's paintings of the period. attack of T.B. His major illustrations during this time
Lissitzky followed this with a series of illustrations for were for the journal Vestsch-Gegenstand-Objet, edited
children's poems— those for Mani Leib-Glanz's Ingl, jointly with Ehrenburg and published simultaneously in
Zingl, Chwat (Little Boy, Little Tongue, Tomboy, Kiev- Russian, German, and French, and for Mayakovsky's
Petersburg, 1919) are outstanding. He elaborated the poem Dlia Golosa (For Voice). The journal, a remarkable
playfulness of Hebrew characters; as in medieval Hebrew blend of colouring and of lettering based entirely on
manuscripts, they became fused with the human figures architectural principles, was dedicated to the ideal of
depicted, so that the human figure was part of the alpha- internationalism and fraternity, and by emphasizing the
bet and many letters assumed human proportions. By playfulness of the three languages in three parallel
this time Lissitzky was already involved with abstraction columns Lissitzky was implying the disappearance of
and was working closely with Malevich, though stressing differences between cultures. Mayakovsky's poem pre-
more the functional, constructivist aspects of art. This sented different problems—he had to convey the impres-
development is fully reflected in Yiddish booklets he sion that the words in the poem were meant to be recited
was then designing; though still retaining the traditional aloud, and as such he had to suggest sound through the
representational style he added elements of abstract medium of type. Each line of verse began with different
concepts, noticeably in a story for children by Jacob type, colour and size, so that gradations of voice and
Fichmann, Shabbes in Wald (Saturday in the Forest): the cadences of sound were conveyed. Looking at these
letters and the human figures are now separated, the letters, one knows instinctively when to raise one's voice,
letters symbolize trees, and there is some affinity to how to alter it, even when to make a gesture with the
certain of his later Prouns, even a similarity with his later hand. Typographers such as Jan Tschichold were so
Russian-German booklet The Story of Two Squares. impressed with the layout that they acclaimed it a
By 1920 or 1922, however, he was finding the illustrat- masterpiece of European typography. Unlike earlier
ing of Yiddish books a restriction on his artistic creativity, typographers, who were concerned only with letters as
and although he did not abandon illustration completely such, and generally took as their models medieval manu-
he devoted more time to designing title pages and vig- scripts or early typography, Lissitzky looked to the future.
nettes and to typography as such. The few Yiddish He thought of letters as symbols of movement, capable of
booklets done after 1920 represent a mixture of `Cha- representing the human voice, human beings, space, or
gall's style' and abstraction, though his designs for title even machines—in a sense, the characters themselves
pages and vignettes stand out in Yiddish typography as expressed ideas of movement.
unique for the period in that they introduced avant-garde He successfully repeated this experiment when design-
motifs into a somewhat conservative art. Eventually ing posters for various German firms, particularly those
Lissitzky's restlessness led him away from the designing for the chemical firm `Pelikan', which manufactured
and illustrating of Yiddish books, and he concentrated printing inks. Similar ideas were expressed in his design
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