OLEKSANDR TYSHLER

Oleksandr Tyshler

Attended KKhU (1912-1917) and the Kyiv studio of Aleksandra Ekster, establishing contact with Boris Aronson, Isaak Rabinovich, Nisson Shifrin, Sofia Vishnivetskaia, etc. (1917-1918). During the Civil War served with the Red Army. Contributed to the Okna ROSTA in Melitopol’ (display windows of the Russian Telegraph Agency used for propaganda). Moved to Moscow (1921). Enrolled in Vkhutemas, studying under Vladimir Favorsky; collaborated with TsIT (Central Institute of Labor). Explored abstract painting. Founding member of the Projectionist group (1922). Met Vladimir Maiakovsky, Eduard Bagritsky, Velimir Khlebnikov, Vera Inber, Petr Miturich, Sergei Esenin, and other progressive writers and artists. Worked in a somewhat Expressionist or Surrealist manner in various media (early and mid-1920s). Principal member of OST, supporting the group’s general return to a figurative esthetic (1925). Focused on stage design (late 1920s onwards). Between the 1930s and early 1960s, established himself as one of the most original Soviet stage designers, especially for Shakespeare’s plays such as Richard 111 (Leningrad, 1935) and King Lear (Moscow, 1935). Continued to work predominantly for the theater, also worked on wooden sculpture (1950s onwards).