Composition

1918

Marries Boris von Eding

She marries the art historian Boris von Eding, author of a study, “Rostov Veliky, Uglich”, in the series “Monuments of Artistic Antiquity”; their son is born the same year.

1918

The Tenth State Exhibition

At the Tenth State Exhibition, “Non-Objective Creativity and Suprematism”, she shows her series of architectonic paintings.

1919

Her husband dies; she herself falls gravely ill

Boris von Eding dies of typhoid fever; Popova is also seriously ill but recovers.

by late 1921

Joins the Working Group of Constructivists

Having stayed out of the Working Group of Constructivists when it was set up in Moscow in March 1921, she joins it by the end of that year.

September 1921

The “5×5=25” exhibition

She takes part in the “5×5=25” exhibition with Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Alexander Vesnin and Alexandra Exter, each showing five abstract works. They declare that easel painting must be abandoned and all creative work given to the people and to the making of a new society.

1921–1924

Throws herself into Constructivist projects

From 1921 to 1924 she is entirely involved in Constructivist projects, sometimes with Varvara Stepanova, the architect Alexander Vesnin and Alexander Rodchenko: she designs stage sets, book typography, production art and textiles, and contributes dress designs to LEF. Her “Spatial Force Constructions” become the basis of her teaching theory at Vkhutemas.