Proun

Proun. A term coined by Lissitzky for a series of abstract pictures he made between 1919 and c. 1924; it is said to be an acronym of Russian words meaning ‘Project for the affirmation of the new'. The Prouns were influenced by Suprematism, ‘but by converting Malevich's squares and planes into images of three-dimensional forms, now tipped and tilted to secure effects of multiple perspectives, Lissitzky created strongly architectural paintings’ ( George Heard Hamilton); Lissitzky, indeed, described Prouns as ‘the interchange station between painting and architecture', and in 1923 he designed a Proun Room for the ‘Great Berlin Art Exhibition', ‘where he combined, for the first time, Constructivist detailing and furniture with Suprematist wall reliefs and other Suprematist features. Thereafter, this peculiar synthesis constituted the basis of a whole series of exhibitions throughout the 1920s’ (Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1982). These represent one of the first steps towards the concept of Environment art.