Circle: International Survey of Constructive Art

This was the title of a book produced in 1937 which contained a collection of essays and photographs by leading architects and abstract artists. It was edited by Leslie Martin (architecture), Naum Gabo (sculpture) and Ben Nicholson (painting). The "Circle's" initial aim was to counter the influence of Surrealism following the International Surrealist Exhibition in London in June 1936. However, their main objective was to promote debate on Abstraction and Constructivism in painting, sculpture and architecture. Gabo's thinking on Constructivist art had been expounded several years earlier in his Realist Manifesto. In this, he argued that the perception of space is a primary natural sense similar to the sensations of light and sound. He further argued that the artist's task was to heighten one's cognisant awareness of the sensation of space so that it became a more elementary and everyday emotion. Circle was probably the most important British contribution to the international abstract art movement of the 1930’s. The magazine was planned as a periodical but the anticipated second edition was derailed by World War II.

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