[...] the same qualities of ephemerality and dependency that make gan's work resistant to art-historical analysis were also what made it representative of constructivism’s ambitions for a materialist approach to art. —kristin romberg, soviet art historian

 

Back cover of Engineering and Living magazine designed by Alexander Rodchenko and Aleksei Gan, 1925

aleksei gan and esfir shub

In the 1920’s Gan began collaborating with Soviet documentary filmmaker Esfir Shub. The two lived together until 1933, co-creating a number of movies, including The Island of Young Pioneers. Their relations sparked many legends—one of which claims that one time, after Gan spent a week away from home recovering from a binge, he returned accompanied by symphony orchestra to gain pardon from Shub.

he knew how to do everything. he cooked incredibly tasty pastries. if he waited for guests, he prepared the food and put it on the table himself. he chopped wood and heated the fireplace and the water heater himself. he liked the floor to be shining and thus he polished it himself. —anna konopleva, gan’s stepdaughter

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19