Gabo, Naum, 1890-1977

Naum Gabo, born Naum Borisovich Pevsner, was a Russian sculptor. Gabo was educated in Russia and Munich before emigrating to Scandinavia in 1915. He then lived in Russia (1917-1922), Germany (19322-1932), France (1932-1935), and England (1936-1946) before emigrating to the United States in 1946 and settling in Connecticut. Gabo is known for his ties to the Constructivist movement. Gabo died in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1977.

From the guide to the Naum Gabo papers, 1920-1980, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

Correspondence to Lewis Mumford from Naum Gabo and his wife, Miriam Gabo.

From the description of Letters, 1935-1986, to Lewis Mumford. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155868540

Naum Gabo was born Naum Pevsner in Russia, in 1890. He was the younger brother of the sculptor Antoine Pevsner. Gabo went to Munich University in 1910 to study medicine and natural sciences, but also attended art history lectures by Heinrich Wolfflin. In 1912 he transferred to an engineering school in Munich. In 1913 he joined Antoine, then a painter, in Paris and whilst there he met Kandinsky. After the outbreak of war, Gabo moved from Paris to Copenhagen and then to Oslo. From 1915 he began to make constructions under the name Naum Gabo. Between 1917 and 1922, Gabo was in Moscow with his brother. Whilst there, they jointly wrote and issued a 'Realistic Manifesto' on the tenets of pure Constructivism. In 1922 Gabo moved to Berlin, where he lived in contact with artists of the de Stijl group and the Bauhaus. In 1926 he co-designed with Antoine, costumes for Diaghilev's ballet 'La Chatte'. In 1932 Gabo moved back to Paris and became a member of Abstraction Creation. In 1936 he left Paris, moved to London and married Miriam Franklin (nee Israels) in 1937. Gabo edited 'Circle: International Survey of Constructivist Art' along with J.L. Martin and Ben Nicholson. Gabo became good friends with Nicholson, and in 1939 he moved to Carbis Bay, Cornwall, where Nicholson was also based. In 1944 Gabo joined the Design Research Unit and in 1946 he moved to the USA, settling in Conneticut in 1953. He became a US citizen in 1952. Between 1953 and 1954, he was a professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Harvard University. From 1950 onwards, Gabo took a number of sculpture commmissions, including one for the Bijenkorf store in Rotterdam. In 1971 Gabo was awarded an Honorary KBE. He died in Conneticut in 1977.

From the guide to the The Printmaking Archive of Naum Gabo, 1940s-1970s, (Tate Gallery Archive GB 70)