A pioneer of constructive art, Naum Gabo was born Neyemiya Borisovich Pevzner into a Jewish family in Bryansk, Russia on 5 August 1890. His older brother was fellow artist Antoine Pevsner and Gabo changed his name, in order to avoid confusion between them. He began making sculptures in Norway but returned to Russia at the time of the Revolution. In 1920 Gabo wrote the Realistic Manifesto, an expression of the aims and philosophy behind his art. Two years later he left Russia for Berlin, where he worked on sculptures and architectural projects close to the Bauhaus and the De Stijl groups until 1932. He moved to Paris and exhibited with the Abstraction-Création group, however, he soon left for England. There, he edited 'Circle: International Survey of Constructive Art' (1937) with Leslie Martin and Ben Nicholson and discovered the new transparent material of perspex, which he explored in his sculpture. He visited and exhibited in the USA in 1938, however, he only moved there after the Second World War in 1946. Gabo exhibited widely in both the USA and Europe and lectured at Yale, Harvard, and Chicago. In 1971 he was awarded an Honorary KBE by Queen Elizabeth ll. He continued to receive honours, prizes, commissions and international recognition until the end of his life. He died in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA on 23 August 1977.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
- Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham
- Berlinische Galerie, Germany
- Kettle's Yard, Cambridge
- Leeds Museums and Galleries
- MoMA, New York
- National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
- Tate
- The Pier Arts Centre, Stromness
RELATED ORGANISATIONS
- Abstraction-Création group (member and exhibitor)
- Bauhaus (associated)
- Circle. International Survey of Constructive Art (editor)
- De Stijl (associated)
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
- Naum Gabo, Tate St Ives, England (2020)
- Naum Gabo. Spatial Impressions, Cristea Roberts Gallery, London (2020)
- Gabo's Monoprints. A Family Collection, Alan Cristea Gallery, London (2016)
- Naum Gabo, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York (2014)
- Naum Gabo: Gabo's Stones, Annely Juda Fine Art, London (2014)
- Naum Gabo. Woodcut Monoprints, Alan Cristea Gallery, London (2006)
- Gabo and Colour, Annely Juda Fine Art, London (2003)
- Naum Gabo, Tate St Ives (2002)
- Naum Gabo Georges Vantongerloo and Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart: Works on Paper, Annely Juda Fine Art, London (2001)
- Naum Gabo – Pioneer of Abstract Sculpture, Pace Wildenstein, New York (1999)
- Naum Gabo, Annely Juda Fine Art, London (1999)
- Naum Gabo: The Constructive Idea: Sculpture, Drawings, Paintings, Monoprints, South Bank Gallery, London (touring exhibition Oxford, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow) (1987)
- Naum Gabo: Drawings, Annely Juda Fine Art, London (1987)
- Naum Gabo – Sixty Years of Constructivism, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, USA (1985)
- Naum Gabo: The Constructive Process, Tate Gallery, London (1976)
- Naum Gabo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, USA (1968)
- Naum Gabo: Constructions Paintings and Drawings, Tate Gallery, London (1966)
- Naum Gabo, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1965)
- Naum Gabo – Antoine Pevsner, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (1948)
