Modernism’s Utopian agenda, as well as the ambiguous, sometimes subversive qualities associated with

Modernism’s Utopian agenda, as well as the ambiguous, sometimes subversive qualities associated with Modernist art, design, and architecture cut against the grain of authoritarian political regimes. During the 1930s, artists in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were severely persecuted for producing experimental, forward-looking work.


Gustavs Klucis
Under the Banner of Lenin for Socialist Construction, 1930
Color lithograph
V&A: E.404-1988
© V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum
London © 2007 Estate of Gustavs Klucis / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York