David Arkin

Born Jan. 21 (Feb. 2), 1899, in Moscow; died there on May 23, 1957. Soviet art crític and historian of architecture, fine arts, and decorative and applied art.

Arkin attended Moscow University (1916–22). He became a professor at the Moscow Institute of Architecture in 1934 and at the Moscow Higher School of Arts and Industry in 1953. In Arkin’s writings the ideological content of works is brought out by a masterly analysis of their tectonic and plastic construction. In the 1930’s Arkin was a propagandist for progressive technical and aesthetic principles of modern architecture. He is the author oí The Art of Things for Everyday Use (1932), Architecture of the Modern West (1932), Forms of Architecture (1941), Forms of Sculpture (1961), and other books. He was the compiler and editor of the publication Masters of Art on Art (1934–38).