El Lissitzky was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, teacher,
typographer, and architect. He was one of the most important figures
of the Russian avant garde, helping develop suprematism with his
friend and mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designed numerous exhibition
displays and propaganda works for the former Soviet Union. His work
greatly influenced the Bauhaus, Constructivist, and De Stijl movements
and experimented with production techniques and stylistic devices that
would go on to dominate 20th century graphic design. Lissitzky's
entire career was laced with the belief that the artist could be an
agent for change, later summarized with his edict, "das zielbewußte
Schaffen" (The task oriented creation). In 1941 he produced one of his
last known works — a Soviet propaganda poster rallying the people to
construct more tanks for the fight against Nazi Germany.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Lissitzky
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1320:
The Scots people adopted the Declaration of Arbroath.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Arbroath)
1895:
Oscar Wilde was arrested for "acts of gross indecency".
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde)
1896:
The first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_of_the_I_Olympiad)
1917:
World War I: The U.S. declared war on Germany.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I)
1994:
The joint assassination of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi marked
the start of the Rwandan Genocide.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"See, I write jokes for a living, man. I sit in my hotel at night and
think of something that's funny and then I go get a pen and write 'em
down. Or, if the pen's too far away, I have to convince myself that
what I thought of ain't funny." -- Mitch Hedberg
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mitch_Hedberg)