caption death_date death_place birth_place birth_date image article_title name occupation
el lissitzky in a 1914 self-portrait . 30 december 1941 moscow , ussr pochinok , russian empire 23 november 1890 el lissitzky self portrait 1914.jpg el lissitzky
 el lissitzky artist
el lissitzky

lazar markovich lissitzky -lrb- , -rrb- -lrb- -- december 30 , 1941 -rrb- , better known as el lissitzky -lrb- , -rrb- , was a russian artist , designer , photographer , typographer , polemicist and architect .
he was an important figure of the russian avant garde , helping develop suprematism with his mentor , kazimir malevich , and designing numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works for the soviet union .
his work greatly influenced the bauhaus and constructivist movements , and he experimented with production techniques and stylistic devices that would go on to dominate 20th-century graphic design .
lissitzky 's entire career was laced with the belief that the artist could be an agent for change , later summarized with his edict , `` das zielbewußte schaffen '' -lrb- goal-oriented creation -rrb- .
lissitzky , of lithuanian jewish оrigin , began his career illustrating yiddish children 's books in an effort to promote jewish culture in russia , a country that was undergoing massive change at the time and that had just repealed its antisemitic laws .
when only 15 he started teaching ; a duty he would stay with for most of his life .
over the years , he taught in a variety of positions , schools , and artistic media , spreading and exchanging ideas .
he took this ethic with him when he worked with malevich in heading the suprematist art group unovis , when he developed a variant suprematist series of his own , proun , and further still in 1921 , when he took up a job as the russian cultural ambassador to weimar germany , working with and influencing important figures of the bauhaus and de stijl movements during his stay .
in his remaining years he brought significant innovation and change to typography , exhibition design , photomontage , and book design , producing critically respected works and winning international acclaim for his exhibition design .
this continued until his deathbed , where in 1941 he produced one of his last works -- a soviet propaganda poster rallying the people to construct more tanks for the fight against nazi germany .
in 2014 , the heirs of the artist , in collaboration with van abbemuseum and the leading worldwide scholars , the lissitzky foundation was established , to preserve the artist 's legacy and preparing a catalogue raisonné of the artist oeuvre .
