The Russian Avant-garde was born in the early 20th century out of intellectual and cultural turmoil. Through the analysis of the works of Aleksandr Rodchenko and El Lissitzky, this essay attempts to explore the freedom experienced by artists after the Russian Revolution of 1917. This avant-garde movement was among the boldest and most advanced in Europe. For many artists this meant the end of the academic conventions of the past as they began to experiment with notions of space, following the basic elements of colour, shape and line. They fought for a utopian existence for all to benefit and be inspired by the art they created. They worked with, for and alongside the politics of the time. Equality for all they sought would ultimately take away their freedom of their own artistic individuality. The Russian Revolution stimulated artists to expand their social influence to produce statements that could inspire human aspirations. Rodchenko and El Lissitzky approached their avant-garde artistic practice in visually similar ways, but theoretically varied considerably. Victor Margolin (1997) explored the two artists' major approaches to constructing their art and their engagement with the political influences of the time in his first essay in The Struggle for Utopia. Rodchenko believed that the objects produced should "both facilitate change in people, making them more ideally Soviet, and represent Soviet ideals through their materials and construction." Both artists attempted to design architectural structures. Rodchenko was a constructivist who strove to produce new, functional, material objects. His designs were not built around aesthetics; they were meant to be a catalyst for social change. Works like The Fut...... middle of paper ......sts will be remembered for the mastery with which they applied the principles of Constructivism and Suprematism rather than the political ideologies required by the regime to be promoted. It is difficult to ascertain the political commitment of Russian avant-garde artists. Rodchenko and El Lissitzky were both sympathetic to the socialist cause. The Bolsheviks continued to consolidate their authority, increasingly dictating artistic policy, and the freedom to think and act independently was substantially curtailed during the 1920s (Mayakovsky 2000). In 1934 Joseph Stalin decreed the end of the practice of Socialist Realism and the period of experimentation and innovation of the avant-garde ended. Rodchenko and El Lissitzky were both disillusioned, as their utopian vision became a struggle to maintain their individual identity..