Order the catalogue			Along with Udaltsova, Popova is among the finest exponents of Cubism within the Russian avant-garde, and her nudes and still lifes of the early 1910s demonstrate a severity and sobriety often lacking in the art of her more boisterous male colleagues David Burliuk and Mikhail Larionov. Popova assimilated the Cubist aesthetic through her lessons under Henri Le Fauconnier and Jean Metzinger in Paris, whose formal influence is clear in paintings such as Composition with Figures,1913. Both students at the Parisian atelier Ac&aacuate;demie de la Palette, Popova and Udaltsova often shared subjects and approaches'as a comparison of their respective paintings The Pianist and At the Piano, both 1915, indicate.
			Still, like her fellow Amazons, Popova was also open to other styles, such as Italian Futurism (herItalian Still Life, 1914, is dedicated to the Italian Futurists), the Suprematism of Kazimir Malevich, the reliefs of Vladimir Tatlin, and even the Italian Renaissance and the 'Orientalism' of Samarkand, a city in eastern Russia. These many elements conspired to produce Popova's special resolutions of form and color crystallized in the dynamic reliefs and architectonic paintings of the late 1910s. Like Exter and Stepanova, Popova recognized the impasse that abstract painting had reached and, after contributing to the 5 x 5 = 25 exhibition in 1921, devoted her energies primarily to stage, textile, and book design. In fact, along with Stepanova, Popova transformed the very perception of theater decoration in her resolutions for director Vsevolod Meierkhold's bold productions. With her sudden and tragic death, the avant-garde firmament was deprived of one of its brightest stars.
			Above left: Posthumous exhibition of Popova's work, Moscow, 1924.	Above right: Composition with Figures, 1913. Oil on canvas, 160 x 124.3 cm. State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow.