In my Russian Constructivism work I used Stenherg Brothers’ work as an influence for my own design. I liked how in the Stenherg Brothers’ work they would use a lot of repetition and would create a lot of symmetry in their designs. Also in all their work, they would have a focal point in each design whether it be the center of the corners. Also in their designs they never had the text straight or centered. The text was always aligned left or right and either titled or warped around a shape. They used a lot of photographs, especially photographs from unusual angles which gave different perspectives. The images that are used are always sepia or gray scale.
They first studied engineering, then attended the Stroganov School of Applied Art in Moscow, 1912–17, and subsequently the Moscow Svomas (free studios), where they and other students designed decorations and posters for the firstMay Day celebration (1918). 1919, the Stenbergs and comrades founded the OBMOKhU (society of young artists) and participated in its first group exhibition in Moscow in May 1919 and in the exhibitions of 1920, 1921 and 1923. The brothers and Konstantin Medunetskii staged their own “Constructivists” exhibition in January 1922 at the Poets Café Moscow, accompanied by a Constructivist manifesto. Also that year, Vladimir showed his work in the landmark Erste Russische Kunstausstellung (First Russian Art exhibition) held in Berlin. 1920s–30s, they were well established as members of the avant-garde in Moscow and of Moscow’s INKhUK (INstitut KHUdozhestvennoy Kultury, or institute of artistic culture). Other INKhUK members included Alexander Rodchenko,Varvara Stepanova, Lyubov Popova, Medunetskii, other artists, architects, theoreticians, and art historians. INKhUK was active only 1921–24.
1922–31, the Stenbergs designed sets and costumes for Alexander Tairov’s Moscow Kamerny (Chamber) theatre and contributed toLEF (art journal of the left front) and to the 1925 “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes” in Paris. 1929–32, they taught at the Architecture-Construction Institute, Moscow.
Above: Georgii & Vladimir Stenberg, The Man with the Movie Camera(1929).
Born in 1899 and 1900 respectively, Vladimir and Georgii both studied engineering and fine arts at Stroganoff School of Applied Art. They began working as sculptors, architects and designed railway carriages and theatre sets, among other things, before going on to design hundreds of cinema posters for films, from documentaries to Buster Keaton comedies. Some suggest that a key to their graphic success was their deep-rooted knowledge of the theories and methods of theatre and film-making.
Above: Georgii & Vladimir Stenberg, A Shrewd Move (1927). Courtesy Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York.
The brothers, who always worked in collaboration, were prominent members of Moscow’s avant-garde – held in high regard for their stylistic representation of films’ subject matter and with their photo-realistic rendering. While many of the pieces have the look of Dadaist photomontage, nearly all of their posters were illustrated. Technological limitations of the time meant that collaged images could not be reproduced to a high standard, so the brothers developed a prototype overhead projector, allowing them to project and distort images, portraits and film stills on to their posters which they then illustrated by hand.
Above: Georgii & Vladimir Stenberg, In the Spring (1929).
Although these Constructivist gems were produced en masse, few copies remain, and a number of the works featured in the Tony Shafrazi gallery’s recent Revolutionary Film Posters had never before been exhibited.
The geometric forms, distorted perspective, creative cropping and montaging of different elements and kinetic typography displayed in these posters remain a vital source of inspiration.
Art Movement Poster work 