Natalia Goncharova (Russian, 1881–1962), Mikhail Larionov (Russian, 1881–1964), Nikolai Rogovin, and Vladimir Tatlin (Ukrainian, 1885–1953)
written by Velimir Khlebnikov (Russian, 1885–1922) and Aleksei Kruchenykh (Russian, 1886–1968)
published by G. L. Kuz'min i S. D. Dolinsky (Russian, 20th century)
Worldbackwards (Mirskontsa)
INV-1990
Natalia Goncharova (Russian, 1881–1962), Mikhail Larionov (Russian, 1881–1964), Nikolai Rogovin, and Vladimir Tatlin (Ukrainian, 1885–1953)
written by Velimir Khlebnikov (Russian, 1885–1922) and Aleksei Kruchenykh (Russian, 1886–1968)
published by G. L. Kuz'min i S. D. Dolinsky (Russian, 20th century)1912
bookprints and drawing
Date
1912
Medium
Handmade book with lithographs and lithographed text in black on cream wove paper, with collaged cover, pamphlet sewn
Dimensions
18.7 × 14.9 × 0.5 cm (7 3/8 × 5 7/8 × 1/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Director's Fund, Laura T. Magnuson fund, Ada Turnbull Hertle fund
Books by progressive Russian artists and poets, made between the revolutions of 1905 and 1917, aimed to overthrow conventions of art and society simultaneously. Their makers believed that art and language needed to become immediate and real—part of everyday life—and as a result these Futurist books were willfully made with cheap materials, and appeared purposely unrefined, as if they were products of wild and primitive behavior.