Gustav Gustavovich KLUTSIS
1895–1944, Russia
Also known as: Klucis
Klutsis studied at the Riga Art School under the local painters Purvit, Rozentals and Tilberg, before moving to St. Petersburg to attend the School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. After the revolution he served as a soldier in the infamous Latvian Rifles regiment, who were chosen by Lenin to act as his personal bodyguard. In 1920 he exhibited with Naum Gabo and Pevsner at the Tverskoy Boulevard exhibition, and was sympathetic to Constructivism and Suprematism. He taught a course on colour at Vkutemas / Vkhutein (Higher Artistic Technical Studios and Institutes) from 1924-30, and in a declaration of 1924 announced the establishment of a Communist collective: The Studio of Revolution within the the Vkhutein, to \\\"undermine the cult of artistic genius and direct creative activity towards revolutionary aims\\\". He died in a labour camp.
Source: Stockholms Auktionsverk, Stockholm Sweden