Kazimir Malevich

Kazimir Malevich, c.1900

Kazimir Malevich with his paintings in Leningrad 1924

Malevich - Mann in suprematischer Landschaft

Malewicz signature

Девушка с гребнем в волосах

1913 Malevich Portrait von Mikhail Matjuschin anagoria

Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935) was a pioneering Russian painter and art theorist, credited as the founder of the Suprematism movement, one of the earliest and most radical developments in abstract art. His work and theories had a profound influence on the development of non-objective art in the 20th century.

Early Life and Education

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich was born in Kiev to Polish parents. During his early years, he moved with his family to various villages in Ukraine, exposing him to traditional folk art and the cultural diversity of the region. This early exposure would later influence his artistic direction. Malevich began his formal art education at the Kiev School of Art before moving to Moscow, where he attended the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture.

Career and Development of Suprematism

In the early stages of his career, Malevich experimented with various modernist styles, including Impressionism, Symbolism, and Fauvism, before developing a keen interest in Cubism and Futurism, which significantly influenced his work. However, it was his invention of Suprematism around 1915 that marked a significant turning point in his career and the broader art movement. Suprematism was characterized by its focus on basic geometric forms, such as circles, squares, lines, and rectangles, and a limited color palette aimed at expressing purity and fundamental truths beyond the visual perception of objects.

Malevich's most famous work, Black Square (1915), epitomizes the Suprematist movement with its radical reduction to a single, black square on a white background. This work is often considered one of the key landmarks in the development of abstract art. Following Black Square, Malevich produced other notable works, including White on White (1918), further exploring the concepts of Suprematism.

Later Years and Legacy

Despite his success, Malevich's artistic endeavors were eventually suppressed by the Soviet regime, which promoted Socialist Realism as the official state art style. In the late 1920s, Malevich was forced to abandon abstract art and return to painting in a more realistic manner. He was arrested and interrogated in 1930, and although released, the event marked a significant decline in his creative output and health. Malevich died of cancer in 1935 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg).

Malevich's legacy is profound, influencing not only the development of abstract art but also impacting various movements across painting, sculpture, and architectural theory. His work and theories on Suprematism continue to inspire artists and theorists worldwide, making him one of the most important figures in modern art history.

See Also

• Abstract Art
• Avant-Garde
• Modern Art
• Russian Avant-Garde