An approach to El Lissitzky's 1922 article "Pround," for the Brazilian reader

Abstract

The article presents a critical reading and a translation of El Lissitzky’s text “Proun” (1922), situating it within the context of the Soviet and European avant-gardes of the early twentieth century. Drawing on his activity between 1919 and 1926, it examines the conceptual formulation of Proun as a hybrid structure that brings together painting, architecture, and artistic experimentation. Based on the theses developed by the artist in the early 1920s, especially the version published in the Dutch journal De Stijl, the text highlights how Lissitzky proposed an artistic practice that goes beyond representation and is guided by an economy of means, materiality, and action in space. The analysis contrasts this project with the ideological tensions of the period, marked by the transition from Suprematism to Productivism and by the increasing political control over artistic production. It argues that Proun constitutes a theoretical and practical instrument for reorganizing aesthetic experience, capable of integrating art, technique, and visual communication before the doctrinal hardening of the post-1927 years. Finally, the article underscores the contemporary relevance of Proun as an interpretive key to modern spatiality, as well as the importance of expanding studies on Lissitzky in Brazil, where the bibliography remains limited and seldom discussed in academic contexts.