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''Black Circle'' (or ''motive 1915'') is a 1924 oil-on-canvas painting by 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 ...
artist
Kazimir Malevich Kazimir Severinovich Malevich (
, founder of the
Suprematism Suprematism () is an early 20th-century art movement focused on the fundamentals of geometry (circles, squares, rectangles), painted in a limited range of colors. The term ''suprematism'' refers to an abstract art based upon "the supremacy of p ...
movement. From the mid-1910s, Malevich abandoned any trace of figurature or representation from his paintings in favour of pure
abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...
.


Description

The work depicts a monumental perfect black circle floating on a flat white background. It is, along with his '' Black Square'' of 1915, one of his most well known early works in this field, depicting pure geometrical figures in primary colours.Farthing, 617 The motif of a black circle was displayed in December 1915 at the '0.10' Exhibition in St. Petersburg along with 34 other of his abstract works. The exhibition coincided with the publication of his manifesto "From Cubism to Suprematism" and launched the radical Suprematism movement. Malevich described the painting, along with the similar ''Black Square'' and ''Black Cross'' (both 1915), in spiritual terms; "new icons" for the aesthetics of modern art, and believed that their clarity and simplicity reflected traditional Russian piety. In these notions, his art and ideas later chimed with those of the
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
s. However, while the paintings found favour with intellectuals, they did not appeal to the general viewer and as a result Malevich lost official approval. He was later persecuted by
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
, who had an implicit mistrust of all modern art.


Interpretation

In his manifesto, Malevich said the works was intended as "desperate struggle to free art from the ballast of the objective world" by focusing only on pure form.Blanshard, Frances Bradshaw. "Retreat from Likeness in the Theory of Painting". New York: Columbia University Press, 1949. 4 He sought to paint works that could be understood by all, but at the same time would have an emotional impact comparable to religious works. In 1990, art critic
Michael Brenson Michael Brenson (born 1943) is an American art critic and curator. From 1982 to 1991, Brenson worked as a critic for ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Michael Brenson was born in 1943. He was raised in New York and traveled often ...
noted of the works, "The one constant in Malevich's Suprematism is the white ground. It is utterly selfless and anonymous yet distinct. It is a dense emptiness, or full void. It is atmospheric yet it has little air, and it does not suggest sky. It does not envelop or squeeze the rectangles, rings and lines. It is ready and available but not transparent. It is not open or closed but both at the same time. Some white shapes nestle inside it. Most shapes stick to it. Nothing is trapped. Everything seems held yet free. Shape and whiteness are different but they never struggle." In 1924, the work along with the Square and Cross, hung at the 14th
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
. Malevich's work of this period went on to have a significant influence on 20th-century art, most especially on photography of the 1920s and 30s and on the
op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op ...
movement of the 1960s. When Malevich died in 1934, he was buried in a coffin decorated by Nikolai Suetin with a black square at the head and a black circle at the foot.Néret, 94 Kazimir Malevich, 1915, Black Suprematic Square, oil on linen canvas, 79.5 x 79.5 cm, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.jpg, '' Black Square'', ca. 1923, Oil on linen, State Russian Museum File:Black Cross.jpg, '' Black Cross'', c 1920-23, Oil on Canvas, State Russian Museum File:Black and White. Suprematist Composition (Malevich, 1915).png, ''Black and White (Suprematist Composition)'', 1915, Oil on Canvas,
Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...


Notes


Sources

* Gray, Camilla. ''The Great Experiment: Russian Art, 1863-1922''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1962 * Farthing, Stephen. ''1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die''. Cassel Illustrated, 2011. * Branislav, Jakovljevic. "Unframe Malevich!: Ineffability and Sublimity in Suprematism". ''
Art Journal (CAA) ''Art Journal'', established in New York City in 1941, is a publication of the College Art Association of America (referred to as "CAA"). As a peer-reviewed, professionally moderated scholarly journal, its concentrations include: art practice, ar ...
'', volume 63, no. 3, 2004. * Néret, Gilles. ''Kazimir Malevich 1878-1935 and Suprematism''. Taschen, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Circle 1924 paintings Suprematism (art movement) Paintings by Kazimir Malevich Collection of the Russian Museum