Naum Gabo (August 5, 1890 – August 23, 1977) was an American “constructivist” sculptor of Belarusian origin. In 1910, he went to Munich to study medicine and science-related subjects. While studying physics and engineering, Gabo read the writings of Henri Bergson and participated in the art historian Heinrich Wölfflin’s lectures that combined art and science. These conferences had a significant impact on Gabo. Naum’s romantic and literary bent was reflected in his early paintings. He began working using the ‘stereometric method’ of construction, while in Norway, and through this, he contributed substantially to the growth of ‘constructivism’. Born Naum Neemia Pevsner, the artist changed his name to Gabo to distinguish himself from his brother, the artist Antoine Pevsner. One of Gabo’s most famous works is his first masterpiece called “Constructed Head No. 2” from 1916.

The “Constructed Head No. 2” dates from the period when Gabo began to express his theories in the form of art. He began by building the representations of heads and torsos, beginning with cardboard, then wood, and finally metal. Gabo’s approach was completely radical without casting or carving. The structure was open and cellular with intersecting planes rather than a closed solid work of art. The original creation of “Constructed Head No. 2” was made from galvanized iron plates painted with ocher yellow paint.

The creation, after being exhibited in Moscow, and later in Berlin and Holland, was sent back to the Soviet Union by mistake. Gabo reclaimed the sculpture in pieces in the 1950s. He later rebuilt it. Naum reassembled it after removing the paint and then made six replicas of different media and different sizes. Gabo created a plastic version of “Constructed Head No. 2” in the mid-1920s in Germany and a phosphor bronze copy was produced thirty years later. Both sculptures were of the same scale as the original. The original “Built Head No. 2” was displayed, along with one of the replicas made of metal, in 1968.

In 1920, Gabo had also created a sculpture using a motor to rotate a steel blade, so he pioneered a new type of sculpture called ‘Kinetic Sculpture’. In August 1920, Gabo wrote the “Realist Manifesto” together with Antoine Pevsner and proclaimed the principles of pure “constructivism” and criticized “Futurism” and “Cubism” for not being complete “abstract arts”. Gabo indicated that spiritual experience was the basis of all artistic creations. Working in Russia in the revolutionary period, Gabo had to execute his creativity using poor quality raw materials, and many of his creations were lost or spoiled during that time. Yet the original “Constructed Head No. 2” remains one of his most admired and revolutionary masterpieces.