Kazimir Malevich
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich ; german: Kasimir Malewitsch; pl, Kazimierz Malewicz; russian: Казими́р Севери́нович Мале́вич ; uk, Казимир Северинович Малевич, translit=Kazymyr Severynovych Malevych ., group=nb (Запись о рождении в метрической книге римско-католического костёла св. Александра в Киеве, 1879 год
// ЦГИАК Украины, ф. 1268, оп. 1, д. 26, л. 13об—14.
– 15 May 1935) was an artist and art theorist of the
Russian avant-garde The Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of avant-garde modern art that flourished in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its e ...
, whose pioneering work and writing had a profound influence on the development of
abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 1 ...
in the 20th century.Milner and Malevich 1996, p. X; Néret 2003, p. 7; Shatskikh and Schwartz, p. 84. Born in
Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...
to an ethnic Polish family, his concept of Suprematism sought to develop a form of expression that moved as far as possible from the world of natural forms (objectivity) and subject matter in order to access "the supremacy of pure feeling"Malevich, Kazimir. ''The Non-Objective World'', Chicago: Theobald, 1959. and spirituality. Malevich is also considered to be part of the Ukrainian avant-garde (together with Alexander Archipenko,
Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (13 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in Odessa (then part of Russian Empire), and formally trained in Russian Empire and Germany before moving to Fr ...
, Aleksandra Ekster, and David Burliuk) that was shaped by Ukrainian-born artists who worked first in Ukraine and later over a geographical span between Europe and America. Early on, Malevich worked in a variety of styles, quickly assimilating the movements of
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passa ...
, Symbolism and
Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...
, and after visiting Paris in 1912,
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
. Gradually simplifying his style, he developed an approach with key works consisting of pure
geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...
forms and their relationships to one another, set against minimal grounds. His '' Black Square'' (1915), a black square on white, represented the most radically abstract painting known to have been created so farChipp, Herschel B. ''Theories of Modern Art'', Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968, p. 311-2. and drew "an uncrossable line (…) between old art and new art";Tolstaya, Tatiana
"The Square,"
''New Yorker'', 12 June 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
''Suprematist Composition: White on White'' (1918), a barely differentiated off-white square superimposed on an off-white ground, would take his ideal of pure abstraction to its logical conclusion.de la Croix, Horst and Richard G. Tansey, Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 7th Ed., New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980, p. 826-7. In addition to his paintings, Malevich laid down his theories in writing, such as "From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism" (1915) and ''The Non-Objective World: The Manifesto of Suprematism'' (1926). Malevich's trajectory in many ways mirrored the tumult of the decades surrounding the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...
(O.S.) in 1917.Bezverkhny, Eva
"Malevich in his Milieu,"
''Hyperallergic'', 24 July 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
In its immediate aftermath, vanguard movements such as Suprematism and
Vladimir Tatlin Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin ( – 31 May 1953) was a Russian and Soviet painter, architect and stage-designer. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed The Monument to the Third International, more commonly known as Tatlin's Tower, wh ...
's Constructivism were encouraged by Trotskyite factions in the government. Malevich held several prominent teaching positions and received a solo show at the Sixteenth State Exhibition in Moscow in 1919. His recognition spread to the West with solo exhibitions in Warsaw and Berlin in 1927. From 1928 to 1930, he taught at the Kiev Art Institute, with Alexander Bogomazov, Victor Palmov,
Vladimir Tatlin Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin ( – 31 May 1953) was a Russian and Soviet painter, architect and stage-designer. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed The Monument to the Third International, more commonly known as Tatlin's Tower, wh ...
and published his articles in a Kharkiv magazine, ''Nova Generatsia'' (''New Generation'').Filevska, Tetiana
"Five unknown facts about Malevich"
''Opinion'', 23 February 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
But the start of repression in Ukraine against the intelligentsia forced Malevich return to modern-day
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. From the beginning of the 1930s, modern art was falling out of favor with the new government of
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
. Malevich soon lost his teaching position, artworks and manuscripts were confiscated, and he was banned from making art.Nina Siegal (5 November 2013)
"Rare Glimpse of the Elusive Kazimir Malevich"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
Wood, Tony
"The man they couldn't hang"
''The Guardian'', 10 May 2000. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
In 1930, he was imprisoned for two months due to suspicions raised by his trip to Poland and Germany. Forced to abandon abstraction, he painted in a representational style in the years before his death from cancer in 1935, at the age of 56. Nonetheless, his art and his writing influenced contemporaries such as
El Lissitzky Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...
, Lyubov Popova and
Alexander Rodchenko Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko (russian: link=no, Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Ро́дченко; – 3 December 1956) was a Russian and Soviet artist, sculptor, photographer, and graphic designer. He was one of the founders ...
, as well as generations of later abstract artists, such as Ad Reinhardt and the Minimalists. He was celebrated posthumously in major exhibits at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...
(1936), the Guggenheim Museum (1973) and the
Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
in Amsterdam (1989), which has a large collection of his work. In the 1990s, the ownership claims of museums to many Malevich works began to be disputed by his heirs.


Early life

Kazimir Malevich was born Kazimierz Malewicz to a Polish family,N.D. (26 July 2013)
Walczą o polskość Malewicza (Advocating the Polishness of Malewicz)
''Nowy Dziennik''.
who settled near Kiev in Kiev Governorate of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
during the
partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
. His parents, Ludwika and Seweryn Malewicz, were
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
like most ethnic Poles, though his father attended Orthodox services as well. They both had fled from the former eastern territories of the Commonwealth (present-day Kopyl Region of
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
) to Kiev in the aftermath of the failed Polish January Uprising of 1863 against the tsarist army. His native language was Polish, but he also spoke Russian, as well as Ukrainian due to his childhood surroundings. Malevich would later write a series of articles in Ukrainian about art, and identified as Ukrainian. Kazimir's father managed a sugar factory. Kazimir was the first of fourteen children, only nine of whom survived into adulthood. His family moved often and he spent most of his childhood in the villages of modern-day Ukraine, amidst sugar-beet plantations, far from centers of culture. Until age twelve, he knew nothing of professional artists, although art had surrounded him in childhood. He delighted in peasant embroidery, and in decorated walls and stoves. He was able to paint in the peasant style. He studied drawing in Kiev from 1895 to 1896.


Artistic career

From 1896 to 1904, Kazimir Malevich lived in Kursk. In 1904, after the death of his father, he moved to
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. He studied at the
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (russian: Московское училище живописи, ваяния и зодчества, МУЖВЗ) also known by the acronym MUZHZV, was one of the largest educational insti ...
from 1904 to 1910 and in the studio of Fedor Rerberg in Moscow. In 1911, he participated in the second exhibition of the group, ''
Soyuz Molodyozhi Soyuz Molodyozhi (Union of the Youth, russian: Союз молодёжи) was an artistic group and an art magazine of Russian avant-garde organized in 1910. There were more than 30 members of the group and most of other Russian avant-garde par ...
'' (Union of Youth) in St. Petersburg, together with
Vladimir Tatlin Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin ( – 31 May 1953) was a Russian and Soviet painter, architect and stage-designer. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed The Monument to the Third International, more commonly known as Tatlin's Tower, wh ...
and, in 1912, the group held its third exhibition, which included works by Aleksandra Ekster, Tatlin, and others. In the same year, he participated in an exhibition by the collective, ''
Donkey's Tail Donkey's Tail (, Romanized: Osliniy khvost) was a Russian artistic group created from the most radical members of the Jack of Diamonds group. The group included such painters as: Mikhail Larionov (inventor of the name), Natalia Goncharova, Kazi ...
'' in Moscow. By that time, his works were influenced by Natalia Goncharova and
Mikhail Larionov Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov (Russian: Михаи́л Фёдорович Ларио́нов; June 3, 1881 – May 10, 1964) was a Russian avant-garde painter who worked with radical exhibitors and pioneered the first approach to abstract Rus ...
, Russian avant-garde painters, who were particularly interested in Russian folk art called '' lubok''. Malevich described himself as painting in a "
Cubo-Futurist Cubo-Futurism (also called Russian Futurism or Kubo-Futurizm) was an art movement that arose in early 20th century Russian Empire, defined by its amalgamation of the artistic elements found in Italian Futurism and French Analytical Cubism. Cubo- ...
" style in 1912. Honour, H. and Fleming, J. (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Laurence King Publishing, pp. 794-795. In March 1913, a major exhibition of
Aristarkh Lentulov Aristarkh Vasilyevich Lentulov (russian: Аристарх Васильевич Лентулов; 15 April 1943) was a major Russian avant-garde artist of Cubist orientation who also worked on set designs for the theatre. Biography Aristark ...
's paintings opened in Moscow. The effect of this exhibition was comparable with that of
Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...
in Paris in 1907, as all the main Russian avant-garde artists of the time (including Malevich) immediately absorbed the cubist principles and began using them in their works. Already in the same year, the
Cubo-Futurist Cubo-Futurism (also called Russian Futurism or Kubo-Futurizm) was an art movement that arose in early 20th century Russian Empire, defined by its amalgamation of the artistic elements found in Italian Futurism and French Analytical Cubism. Cubo- ...
opera, '' Victory Over the Sun'', with Malevich's stage-set, became a great success. In 1914, Malevich exhibited his works in the ''
Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (Pa ...
'' in Paris together with Alexander Archipenko,
Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (13 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in Odessa (then part of Russian Empire), and formally trained in Russian Empire and Germany before moving to Fr ...
, Aleksandra Ekster, and
Vadim Meller Vadym Meller or Vadim Meller, (russian: Вадим Георгиевич Меллер; uk, Вадим Георгійович Меллер, 1884–1962) was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian USSR, Soviet Painting, painter, avant-garde Cubist, Constructivism ...
, among others. Malevich also co-illustrated, with Pavel Filonov, ''Selected Poems with Postscript, 1907–1914'' by Velimir Khlebnikov and another work by Khlebnikov in 1914 titled ''Roar! Gauntlets, 1908–1914'', with
Vladimir Burliuk Wladimir Davydovych Burliuk (russian: Владимир Давидович Бурлюк; – 1917) was a Russian avant-garde artist ( Neo-Primitivist and Cubo-Futurist) and book illustrator. He died at the age of 32 in 1917 in World War I. Biog ...
. Later in that same year, he created a series of lithographs in support of Russia's entry into WWI. These prints, accompanied by captions by Vladimir Mayakovsky and published by the Moscow-based publication house Segodniashnii Lubok (Contemporary Lubok), on the one hand show the influence of traditional folk art, but on the other are characterised by solid blocks of pure colours juxtaposed in compositionally evocative ways that anticipate his Suprematist work. In 1911, Brocard & Co. produced an eau de cologne called ''Severny''. Malevich conceived the advertisement and design of the perfume bottle with
craquelure Craquelure (french: craquelé; it, crettatura) is a fine pattern of dense cracking formed on the surface of materials. It can be a result of drying, aging, intentional patterning, or a combination of all three. The term is most often used to ref ...
of an iceberg and a polar bear on the top, which lasted through the mid-1920s.


Suprematism

In 1915, Malevich laid down the foundations of Suprematism when he published his manifesto, ''From Cubism to Suprematism''. In 1915–1916, he worked with other Suprematist artists in a peasant/artisan
co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
in Skoptsi and Verbovka village. In 1916–1917, he participated in exhibitions of the Jack of Diamonds group in Moscow together with
Nathan Altman Nathan Isaiovych Altman (Ukrainian: , transliterated: ''Natan Isaiovych Altman''; – December 12, 1970) was a Russian, Soviet and Ukrainian artist, Cubist painter, stage designer and book illustrator. Early life He was born in Vinnytsia, i ...
, David Burliuk, Aleksandra Ekster and others. Famous examples of his Suprematist works include '' Black Square'' (1915) and '' White On White'' (1918). Malevich exhibited his first ''Black Square'', now at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, at the Last Futurist Exhibition 0,10 in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) in 1915. A black square placed against the sun appeared for the first time in the 1913 scenic designs for the Futurist opera ''Victory over the Sun''. The second ''Black Square'' was painted around 1923. Some believe that the third ''Black Square'' (also at the Tretyakov Gallery) was painted in 1929 for Malevich's solo exhibition, because of the poor condition of the 1915 square. One more ''Black Square'', the smallest and probably the last, may have been intended as a diptych together with the '' Red Square'' (though of smaller size) for the exhibition Artists of the RSFSR: 15 Years, held in Leningrad (1932). The two squares, Black and Red, were the centerpiece of the show. This last square, despite the author's note ''1913'' on the reverse, is believed to have been created in the late twenties or early thirties, for there are no earlier mentions of it. Malevich's student Anna Leporskaya observed that Malevich "neither knew nor understood what the black square contained. He thought it so important an event in his creation that for a whole week he was unable to eat, drink or sleep." In 1918, Malevich decorated a play, ''
Mystery-Bouffe ''Mystery-Bouffe'' (russian: Мистерия-Буфф; Misteriya-Buff) is a socialist dramatic play written by Vladimir Mayakovsky in 1918/1921. Mayakovsky stated in a preface to the 1921 edition that "in the future, all persons performing, pre ...
'', by
Vladimir Mayakovskiy Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...
produced by Vsevolod Meyerhold. He was interested in aerial photography and
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes airplane, fixed-wing and helicopter, rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as aerostat, lighter- ...
, which led him to abstractions inspired by or derived from aerial landscapes.Julia Bekman Chadaga (2000). Conference paper, "Art, Technology, and Modernity in Russia and Eastern Europe". Columbia University, 2000. "the Suprematist is associated with a series of aerial views rendering the familiar landscape into an abstraction…" Some Ukrainian authors argue that Malevich's Suprematism is rooted in the traditional Ukrainian culture.


Post-revolution

After the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...
(1917), Malevich became a member of the Collegium on the Arts of Narkompros, the Commission for the Protection of Monuments and the Museums Commission (all from 1918–1919). He taught at the Vitebsk Practical Art School in
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
(1919–1922) alongside Marc Chagall, the
Leningrad Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thr ...
(1922–1927), the Kiev Art Institute (1928–1930),Filevska, Tetiana
"The Ukrainian Museum will be displaying new materials highlighting artistic modernism in Ukraine: Kazimir Malevich.Kyiv Period"
11 February 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
and the House of the Arts in Leningrad (1930). He wrote the book ''The World as Non-Objectivity'', which was published in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
in 1926 and translated into English in 1959. In it, he outlines his Suprematist theories. In 1923, Malevich was appointed director of Petrograd State Institute of Artistic Culture, which was forced to close in 1926 after a Communist party newspaper called it "a government-supported monastery" rife with "counterrevolutionary sermonizing and artistic debauchery." The Soviet state was by then heavily promoting an idealized, propagandistic style of art called
Socialist Realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
—a style Malevich had spent his entire career repudiating. Nevertheless, he swam with the current, and was quietly tolerated by the Communists.


International recognition and banning

In 1927, Malevich traveled to
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
where he was given a hero's welcome. There, he met with artists and former students
Władysław Strzemiński Władysław Strzemiński (21 November 1893 – 26 December 1952) was a Polish avant-garde painter of international renown. Life and work Strzemiński was born in Minsk to an ethnic Polish family. In 1914, he graduated from the Military School of ...
and Katarzyna Kobro, whose own movement, Unism, was highly influenced by Malevich. He held his first foreign exhibit in the
Hotel Polonia Palace The Polonia Palace Hotel is a historic four-star hotel opened in 1913 and located in the heart of Warsaw on Jerusalem Avenue. It is the capital’s second oldest hotel after the Hotel Bristol, Warsaw. Together with the adjacent Metropol Hotel an ...
. From there, the painter ventured on to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
and
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
for a retrospective which finally brought him international recognition. He arranged to leave most of the paintings behind when he returned to the Soviet Union. Malevich's assumption that a shifting in the attitudes of the Soviet authorities toward the modernist art movement would take place after the death of
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
and
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
's fall from power was proven correct in a couple of years, when the government of
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
turned against forms of abstraction, considering them a type of "
bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. ...
" art, that could not express social realities. As a consequence, many of his works were confiscated and he was banned from creating and exhibiting similar art. In autumn 1930, he was arrested and interrogated by the KGB in Leningrad, accused of Polish espionage, and threatened with execution. He was released from imprisonment In early December. Critics derided Malevich's art as a negation of everything good and pure: love of life and love of nature. The Westernizer artist and art historian Alexandre Benois was one such critic. Malevich responded that art can advance and develop for art's sake alone, saying that "art does not need us, and it never did".


Death

When Malevich died of
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
at the age of fifty-seven, in Leningrad on 15 May 1935, his friends and disciples buried his ashes in a grave marked with a black square. They didn't fulfill his stated wish to have the grave topped with an "architekton"—one of his skyscraper-like maquettes of abstract forms, equipped with a
telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to obse ...
through which visitors were to gaze at
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
. On his deathbed, Malevich had been exhibited with the ''Black Square'' above him, and mourners at his funeral rally were permitted to wave a banner bearing a black square. Malevich had asked to be buried under an oak tree on the outskirts of Nemchinovka, a place to which he felt a special bond.Sophia Kishkovsky (30 August 2013)
Malevich’s Burial Site Is Found, Underneath Housing Development
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
His ashes were sent to Nemchinovka, and buried in a field near his dacha. Nikolai Suetin, a friend of Malevich's and a fellow artist, designed a white cube with a black square to mark the burial site. The memorial was destroyed during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. The city of Leningrad bestowed a pension on Malevich's mother and daughter. In Nazi Germany his works were banned as " Degenerate Art". In 2013, an apartment block was built on the place of the tomb and burial site of Kazimir Malevich. Another nearby monument to Malevich, put up in 1988, is now also situated on the grounds of a
gated community A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. ...
.


Painting technique

According to an observation by radiologist and art historian Milda Victurina, one of the features of Kazimir Malevich's painting technique was the layering of paints one on another to get a special kind of colour spots. For example, Malevich used two layers of colour for the red spot—the lower black and the upper red. The light ray going through these colour layers is perceived by the viewer not as red, but with a touch of darkness. This technique of superimposing the two colours allowed experts to identify fakes of Malevich's work, which generally lacked it.


Polish ethnicity

Malevich's family was one of the millions of Poles who lived within the Russian Empire following the
Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
. Kazimir Malevich was born near
Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...
on lands that had previously been part of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
of parents who were ethnic
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...
. Both Polish, Ukrainian and Russian were native languages of Malevich, who would sign his artwork in the Polish form of his name as ''Kazimierz Malewicz''. In a visa application to travel to France, Malewicz claimed ''Polish'' as his nationality. French art historian Andrei Nakov, who re-established Malevich's birth year as 1879 (and not 1878), has argued for restoration of the Polish spelling of Malevich's name. In 1985, Polish performance artist Zbigniew Warpechowski performed "Citizenship for a Pure Feeling of Kazimierz Malewicz" as an homage to the great artist and critique of Polish authorities that refused to grant Polish citizenship to Kazimir Malevich. In 2013, Malevich's family in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and fans founded the not-for-profit ''The Rectangular Circle of Friends of Kazimierz Malewicz'', whose dedicated goal is to promote awareness of Kazimir's Polish ethnicity. Russian art historian gained access to the artist's criminal case and found that in some documents Malevich specified his nationality as
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
.


Posthumous exhibitions

Alfred H. Barr Jr. Alfred Hamilton Barr Jr. (January 28, 1902 – August 15, 1981) was an American art historian and the first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. From that position, he was one of the most influential forces in the development of ...
included several paintings in the groundbreaking exhibition "Cubism and Abstract Art" at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...
in New York in 1936. In 1939, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting opened in New York, whose founder, Solomon R. Guggenheim—an early and passionate collector of the Russian avant-garde—was inspired by the same aesthetic ideals and spiritual quest that exemplified Malevich's art.Malevich and the American Legacy, March 3 - April 30, 2011
Gagosian Gallery, New York.
The first U.S. retrospective of Malevich's work in 1973 at the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
provoked a flood of interest and further intensified his impact on postwar American and European artists. However, most of Malevich's work and the story of the Russian avant-garde remained under lock and key until
Glasnost ''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...
. In 1989, the
Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
in Amsterdam held the West's first large-scale Malevich retrospective, including the paintings they owned and works from the collection of Russian art critic Nikolai Khardzhiev.


Collections

Malevich's works are held in several major art museums, including the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and in New York, the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...
and the Guggenheim Museum. The
Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
in Amsterdam owns 24 Malevich paintings, more than any other museum outside of Russia. Another major collection of Malevich works is held by the State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki.


Art market

''Black Square'', the fourth version of his magnum opus painted in the 1920s, was discovered in 1993 in
Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...
and purchased by
Inkombank Vladimir Viktorovich Vinogradov ( Russian Владимир Викторович Виноградов) (19 September 1955 in Ufa — 29 June 2008 in Moscow) was the owner and president of Inkombank, one of the largest banks in 90s' Russia. Consid ...
for US$250,000. In April 2002, the painting was
auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...
ed for an equivalent of US$1 million. The purchase was financed by the Russian philanthropist
Vladimir Potanin Vladimir Olegovich Potanin (russian: Владимир Олегович Потанин; born 3 January 1961) is a Russian billionaire businessman. He acquired his wealth notably through the controversial loans-for-shares program in Russia in ...
, who donated funds to the Russian Ministry of Culture, and ultimately, to the
State Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the larges ...
collection. According to the Hermitage website, this was the largest private contribution to state art museums since the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...
. In 2008, the
Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
restituted five works to the heirs of Malevich's family from a group that had been left in Berlin by Malevich, and acquired by the gallery in 1958, in exchange for undisputed title to the remaining pictures. On 3 November 2008, one of these works entitled ''
Suprematist Composition ''Suprematist Composition (blue rectangle over the red beam)'' is a painting by Kazimir Malevich, Russian painter of geometric abstraction. The painting was created in 1916 and stayed with the artist until June 1927. Malevich exhibited his work ...
'' from 1916, set the world record for any Russian work of art and any work sold at auction for that year, selling at
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
in New York City for just over US$60 million (surpassing his previous record of US$17 million set in 2000). In May 2018, the same painting ''
Suprematist Composition ''Suprematist Composition (blue rectangle over the red beam)'' is a painting by Kazimir Malevich, Russian painter of geometric abstraction. The painting was created in 1916 and stayed with the artist until June 1927. Malevich exhibited his work ...
'' 1916 sold at Christie's New York for over US$85 million (including fees), a record auction price for a Russian work of art.


In popular culture

Malevich's life inspires many references featuring events and the paintings as players. The smuggling of Malevich paintings out of Russia is a key to the plot line of writer
Martin Cruz Smith Martin Cruz Smith (born November 3, 1942) is an American mystery novelist. He is best known for his nine-novel series (to date) on Russian investigator Arkady Renko, who was first introduced in 1981 with '' Gorky Park''. Early life and educat ...
's thriller '' Red Square''. Noah Charney's novel, ''The Art Thief'' tells the story of two stolen Malevich ''White on White'' paintings, and discusses the implications of Malevich's radical Suprematist compositions on the art world. British artist
Keith Coventry Keith Coventry is a British artist and curator.Burgess, John, Coventry, Keith, Hale, Matt, Noble, Paul, Owen, Peter. "City Racing: The Life and Times of an Artist-Run Gallery ardcover. Black Dog Publishing Ltd; illustrated edition (11 November ...
has used Malevich's paintings to make comments on modernism, in particular his Estate Paintings. Malevich's work also is featured prominently in the
Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...
film, ''
Melancholia Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly d ...
''. At the Closing Ceremony of the
2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympi ...
in
Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents i ...
, Malevich visual themes were featured (via projections) in a section on 20th century Russian modern art.


Selected works

* 1912 – ''Morning in the Country after Snowstorm'' * 1912 – ''The Woodcutter'' * 1912–13 – ''Reaper on Red Background '' * 1914 – ''The Aviator'' * 1914 – '' An Englishman in Moscow'' * 1914 – ''Soldier of the First Division'' * 1915 – '' Black Square'' * 1915 – ''Red Square'' † * 1915 – ''Black Square and Red Square'' †† * 1915 – ''
Suprematist Composition ''Suprematist Composition (blue rectangle over the red beam)'' is a painting by Kazimir Malevich, Russian painter of geometric abstraction. The painting was created in 1916 and stayed with the artist until June 1927. Malevich exhibited his work ...
'' * 1915 – ''Suprematism (1915)'' * 1915 – ''Suprematist Painting: Aeroplane Flying'' * 1915 – ''Suprematism: Self-Portrait in Two Dimensions'' * 1915–16 – ''Suprematist Painting (Ludwigshafen)'' * 1916 – ''Suprematist Painting (1916)'' * 1916 – '' Supremus No. 56'' * 1916–17 – ''Suprematism (1916–17)'' * 1917 – ''Suprematist Painting (1917)'' * 1918 – '' White on White'' * 1919–1926 – '' Untitled (Suprematist Composition)'' * 1928–1932 – ''Complex Presentiment: Half-Figure in a Yellow Shirt'' * 1932–1934 – ''Running Man'' † Also known as ''Red Square: Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions''.
†† Also known as ''Black Square and Red Square: Painterly Realism of a Boy with a Knapsack - Color Masses in the Fourth Dimension''.


Gallery

File:Flowergirl.jpg, ''Flower Girl'', 1903 File:Bathers.jpg, ''Bathers'', 1908 File:Winter Landscape (Malevich, 1930).jpg, ''Winter'', 1909 File:Taking in the Rye Kazimir Malevich 1911.jpeg, ''Taking in the Rye'', 1911 File:Self-Portrait (1908 or 1910-1911).jpg, ''Self-portrait'', 1912 File:Head of a Peasant Girl.jpg, ''Head of a Peasant Girl'', 1912-1913 File:Bureau and Room, by Kazimir Malevich.jpg, ''Bureau and Room'', 1913 File:Cow and Fiddle, by Kazimir Malevich.jpg, ''Cow and Fiddle'', 1913 File:Englishman in Moscow.jpg, ''Englishman in Moscow'', 1914 File:Kazimir Malevich, 1914, Composition with the Mona Lisa, oil, collage and graphite on canvas, 62.5 × 49.3 cm, Russian Museum.jpg, ''Composition with the Mona Lisa'', 1914 File:Black circle.jpg, '' Black Circle'', motive 1915, painted 1924, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia File:Казимир Малевич, Супрематическая композиция, 1915.jpg, ''Suprematist Composition'', painted in 1915 File:Kazimir malevich, quadrato rosso (realismo del pittore di una campagnola in due dimensioni), 1915.JPG, '' Red Square: Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions'', 1915 File:Suprematist Composition - Kazimir Malevich.jpg, ''
Suprematist Composition ''Suprematist Composition (blue rectangle over the red beam)'' is a painting by Kazimir Malevich, Russian painter of geometric abstraction. The painting was created in 1916 and stayed with the artist until June 1927. Malevich exhibited his work ...
'', 1916 File:Malevich-Suprematism..jpg, ''Suprematist Painting: Eight Red Rectangles'', 1915 File:Malevici06.jpg, ''Suprematism'', Museum of Art,
Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...
1916 File:GUGG Untitled (Suprematist Composition, Malevich a).jpg, ''Untitled (Suprematist Composition)'',
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
, New York City, c. 1919-1926 File:GUGG Untitled (Suprematist Composition, Malevich b).jpg, ''Untitled (Suprematist Composition)'',
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
, New York City, c. 1919-1926 File:Malevich.black-square.jpg, '' Black Square'', c.1923, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia File:Black Cross.jpg, ''Black Cross'', 1920s, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia File:Malevitj.jpg, ''Suprematism'', 1921-1927 File:Malevich - Boy.jpg, ''Boy'', 1928-1932 File:Malevich cavalry.jpg, '' Red Cavalry'', 1928-1932 File:Malevich Summer Landscape.JPG, ''Summer Landscape'', 1929 File:Malevich142.jpg, ''Mower'', 1930 File:Malevich running-man.jpg, ''Running man'', 1932 File:Казимир Малевич — Важке передчуття.jpg, ''Complex Presentiment: Half-Figure in a Yellow Shirt'', 1928-1932


See also

* List of Russian artists *
Sergei Senkin Sergei Yakovlevich Senkin (1894–1963) was a twentieth-century Russian artist, photographer, and illustrator. Senkin studied with Kasimir Malevitch during the 1920s in Vkhutemas. He sometimes visited Malevitch in Vitebsk with his friend Gustav ...
* Oberiu * UNOVIS


Footnotes


Citations


References

* Crone, Rainer, Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, and David Moos. ''Kazimir Malevich: The Climax of Disclosure.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. * Dreikausen, Margret, ''Aerial Perception: The Earth as Seen from Aircraft and Spacecraft and Its Influence on Contemporary Art'' (Associated University Presses: Cranbury, NJ;
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England;
Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...
: 1985). * Drutt, Matthew; Malevich, Kazimir, ''Kazimir Malevich: suprematism'', Guggenheim Museum, 2003, * Honour, H. and Fleming, J. (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Laurence King Publishing. * Malevich, Kasimir, ''The Non-objective World'', Chicago: P. Theobald, 1959. * ''Malevich and his Influence'', Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, 2008. * Milner, John; Malevich, Kazimir, ''Kazimir Malevich and the art of geometry'',
Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univers ...
, 1996. * Nakov, Andrei, ''Kasimir Malevich, Catalogue raisonné'', Paris, Adam Biro, 2002 * Nakov, Andrei, vol. IV of ''Kasimir Malevich, le peintre absolu'', Paris, Thalia Édition, 2007 * Néret, Gilles, ''Kazimir Malevich and Suprematism 1878-1935'', Taschen, 2003. * Petrova, Yevgenia, ''Kazimir Malevich in the State Russian Museum''. Palace Editions, 2002. . (English Edition) * Shatskikh, Aleksandra S, and Marian Schwartz, ''Black Square: Malevich and the Origin of Suprematism'', 2012. * Shishanov, V.A. '' Vitebsk Museum of Modern Art: a History of Creation and a Collection''. 1918–1941. - Minsk: Medisont, 2007. - 144 p.
Mylivepage.ru
' * Tedman, Gary. Soviet Avant Garde Aesthetics, chapter from Aesthetics & Alienation. pp 203–229. 2012. Zero Books. * Tolstaya, Tatyana
''The Square''
''The New Yorker'', 12 June 2015 * Das weiße Rechteck. Schriften zum Film, herausgegeben von Oksana Bulgakowa. PotemkinPress, Berlin 1997, * ''The White Rectangle. Writings on Film.'' (In English and the Russian original manuscript). Edited by Oksana Bulgakowa. PotemkinPress, Berlin / Francisco 2000,


Autobiographies

Malevich wrote two biographical essays, a shorter one in 1923–25, and a much longer account in 1933, representing the artist's explanation of his own evolution up to the appearance of suprematism at the 1915 "0–10" exhibition in Petrograd. Both are published in: * Abridged and revised translations are published in: * The 1923–25 autobiography appears in: * The 1933 autobiography appears in: * *


External links


Malevich works, MoMA

Kazimir Malevich, Guggenheim Collection Online

Floirat, Anetta. 2016, The Scythian element of the Russian primitivism, in music and visual arts
Based on the work Goncharova, Malevich, Roerich, Stravinsky and Prokofiev
Peter Brooke, ''Deux Peintres Philosophes - Albert Gleizes et Kasimir Malévitch and Quelques Réflexions sur la Littérature Actuelle du Cubisme''
both Ampuis (Association des Amis d’Albert Gleizes) 1995
History of Malevich-designed Perfume bottle of the eau de cologne “''Severny''”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malevich, Kazimir 1879 births 1935 deaths Abstract painters Artists from Kyiv Ukrainian people of Polish descent 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian painters Futurist painters People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent Painters from the Russian Empire Russian male painters Modern painters Polish painters Polish male painters Russian avant-garde Soviet painters Suprematism (art movement) Ukrainian avant-garde Ukrainian painters Ukrainian male painters Ukrainian sculptors Ukrainian male sculptors Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in the Soviet Union 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian male artists Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni