Composition: one print

Alexander Rodchenko’s series of linocuts of nonobjective, geometric designs signal his shift from the metaphysical implications of Suprematism to the more purely structural concerns of Constructivism. In 1918 he began to experiment with using line as the sole basis for his art. Eliminating what he described as the “last strongholds of painting’ — color, tone, and surface texture — he proceeded to explore the pictorial possibilities of composing with line alone. This led quite naturally to the three-dimensional architectural constructions of the same year. The graphic arts proved equally attractive to him by providing yet another sympathetic medium for his reductivist endeavors.
Composition of 1919 reflects Rodchenko's desire to create an art devoid of personal style — an art with universal vocabulary that would be immediately comprehensible. The search for a fundamental, anti-elitist art form symbolizing scientific progress was grounded in the utopian vision of post-revolutionary Russia. This white-on-black design, elegant in its simplicity, may have been made with the assistance of ruler and compass, as were many of his earlier works. The artist had not, however, purged his image of all elements of "style." The fractured, overlapping planes owe much to French Cubism, while the crisscrossing or radiating dynamic lines are partly indebted to Italian Futurism. While clearly linear in conception, the linocut is not devoid of tonal and textural variety. Shading lines around the circle’s perimeter suggest that it is spherical, rather than two-dimensional. Despite Rodchenko's claim to nonobjectivity, forms and space may suggest to the viewer a landscape with horizon line and blazing sun. By 1920, he had rejected such ‘‘useless’’ representation in favor of a "Productivist" art that would serve the needs of the worker: designs for clothing, factories, and homes.
Nancy Spector, The Modern Art of the Print: Selections from the Collection of Lois and Michael Torf, p. 76