Aleksei Gan, 1924. Photo by Alexander Rodchenko.
19
joins the Communist party and becomes one of the key figures of the early Soviet avant-garde
18
87
born in Moscow as Aleksei Imberkh
14
participates in the Russian anarchist underground
Signature of Aleksei Gan.
17
fights in World War I where he suffers a severe concussion, heightening his susceptibility to alcohol abuse
18
works in Moscow as a mass action organizer
20
Four constructivists at the table. From left to right: Esfir Shub, Alexander Rodchenko, Aleksei Gan, Varvara Stepanova, 1925.
21
elected president of the Soviet Inventors Association,
co-founds First Working Group of Constructivists along with Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova
22
publishes his Constructivism manifesto and designs a mobile book-selling kiosk
Aleksei Gan, 1924. Photo by Alexander Rodchenko.
23
organizes a magazine on cinema and photo called Kino-Fot
Back cover of SA magazine, issues 5–6, 1926.
26
joins OSA, one of the Constructivist architectural movements, and begins to work on layouts of its magazine called SA
28
joins October, a multidisciplinary design movement combining the efforts of architects, painters, and film directors
The first OSA conference. In the center: Aleksei Gan, Moisei Ginzburg, Alexander Vesnin, 1928.
30
leaves Moscow for Siberia, suffering from severe alcoholism and depression incurred by the demise of constructivism at the hands of Soviet authorities;
seeks work as an architect, theater designer, painter, and poster designer
A page from issue 5–6 of SA magazine, 1926.
41
arrested near Tomsk by Soviet secret police for counter-revolutionary agitation (a euphemism for talking too much)
42
shot to death in a Tomsk prison
we declare uncompromising war on art. —aleksei gan
Advertisement made by Aleksei Gan and Alexander Rodchenko, published in issue 11 of Engineering and Life magazine, 1925.
before the great war
Since his days as an anarchist youth Gan had a habit of hiding personal details of his life even from close friends, thus relatively little is known of his biography. Even his date of birth is uncertain—some claim 1893, others 1895, while most researchers have agreed on 1897. However, it is known that he was born to a family of Russian gentry of French origin, Mikhail Imberkh, and had five siblings.
According to Kristin Romberg, author of an influential thesis on Gan, in the early 1910’s he received an artistic education and later joined an underground anarchist movement, acting and singing in theaters as a cover.
[in design] there should be nothing random, uncontrolled, nothing based only on blind taste and aesthetic voluntarism. everything should be thought through, both technically and functionally. —aleksei gan
