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It was an important purchase in 1967 when 'Spatial construction in the third and fourth dimensions' was acquired. Not only because this was the last sculpture to leave the studio of the world-famous Russian artist Antoine Pevsner, but also because it is a typical example of Constructivist art. Moreover, the purchase was an opportunity to show the international world that the city of The Hague embraced international modern art.

Pevsner died in 1962 in France, where he had lived since 1922. He and his brother Naum Gabo (1890-1977), the creator of the world's largest constructivist sculpture at De Bijenkorf department store in Rotterdam, made an important contribution to the development of modern abstract sculpture.

The brothers belonged to the group around Vladimir Tatlin (1895-1956). With his abstract constructions from around 1915, Tatlin laid the foundation for Constructivism, which was further developed by Pevsner and Gabo. They proclaimed space and time (the third and fourth dimensions) the essence of art. In this way, they wanted to create a new reality independent of nature. Intangible phenomena such as space and time also had to be represented. That is why movement and dynamics became an integral part of the images they constructed.

In 1920, Pevsner and Gabo published their ideas in the 'Realistic Manifesto'. In it, they opposed the Cubists, who in their view did not really renew art, because they depicted visible reality - albeit in squares and planes.
Although it seems an impossible task, Pevsner nevertheless realised his ideas about movement and dynamics. Certainly in the sculpture on the Johan de Wittlaan opposite the Congress Building, the final piece of an impressive oeuvre. In the sculpture he has strongly alternated spaces and volumes and applied ridges in the bronze. This creates light and shadow effects that suggest movement. The unfolded and twisted forms are reminiscent of butterfly wings, feathery and agile in a breath of wind.