henryk Berlewi, Mechano-Facture. Poland, 1924
Must Know
HENRYK BERLEWI (October 20, 1894 in Warsaw – August 2, 1967 in Paris) was a Polish artist, graphic designer, typographer, art critic and art theorist. He was one of the leading representatives of geometric abstraction in Warsaw and Berlin in the 1920s. Influenced by Russian Constructivism and Suprematism, he was part of the most radical current of the Polish avant-garde of the 1920s, and belonged to the group of Eastern European avant-garde whose contribution to 20th century art was of eminent importance. Berlewi´s early works in Warsaw, especially graphic art, were influenced by subjects from Jewish culture. In Poland he was an important figure in Yiddish book design and typography of the early 1920s.
In 1923 Berlewi developed his theory of abstract art, a manifesto which he called MECHANO-FACTURE. He reduced his colors to white, black, and red, while the compositions consisted of circles, dots, squares, straight and diagonal lines and were created by means of a mechanization through raster technology. In the 1950s in Paris, he was rediscovered as an abstract artist, who as a pioneer paved the way for OP-Art.
