Proun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An abstract Constructivist art form created by Russian artist El Lissitzky, blending painting, sculpture and architectural design into one composition
2. A term for the abstract, geometric works that El Lissitzky developed as a bridge between two-dimensional painting and three-dimensional space
3. The name El Lissitzky gave to his experimental abstract compositions, which mix flat planes and volumes to suggest architecture in a painting

Etymology: El Lissitzky, the Russian artist of the early Soviet avant-garde, coined this term for his own abstract compositions. It abbreviates the Russian phrase "proekt utverzhdeniya novogo", meaning "project for the affirmation of the new", a programme that set his geometric work against the picture-making of older art. The term was a deliberate invention rather than a word that grew up in speech. Lissitzky applied it to flat and three-dimensional abstract pieces built from planes and solid forms, and the plural "Prouns" became the usual label for that body of work. Because it began as the initials of a statement of purpose, the coinage still points back to that original aim of making something new.