Nikolai Suetin (; 25 October 189722 January 1954) was a Russian Suprematist artist. He worked as a graphic artist, a designer, and a ceramics painter. Suetin studied at the Vitebsk Higher Institute of Art, (1918–1922) under

Kazimir Malevich Kazimir Severinovich Malevich (

, founder of Suprematism, an early abstract art movement which developed a style based on 'non objective' geometric shapes in alignment. From 1920 the artist participated in exhibitions including those of the

UNOVIS UNOVIS (, also known as MOLPOSNOVIS and POSNOVIS) was a short-lived but influential group of artists, founded and led by Russian painter Kazimir Malevich at the Vitebsk Art School in 1919. Initially formed by students and known as MOLPOSNOVIS, ...

group (Vitebsk, 1920 and 1921;

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

1929, 1921 and 1922),

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

exhibitions, an International Exhibition of Decorative Art (held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 1925), the Exhibition of Soviet Porcelain (1926 and 1927), and the First Exhibition of

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

artists in the Russian Museum among others. He lived in Petrograd from 1923, and worked at the State Lomonosov Ceramics Factory. He also worked at the State Petrograd Lomonossov Porcelain Plant (from 1922 until 1924), and at the Porcelain Plant in Government of

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

(from 1924 until 1925). Suetin was a member of GINKhUK (the State Institute of Artistic Culture, from 1923 until 1926), where he worked at the experimental laboratory; then later at the Institute of Art History (from 1927 to 1930). From 1932 he was the Chief Artist at the artistic laboratory of the Leningrad Lomonossov Porcelain Plant, where he had been working for around a decade applying avant-garde patterns and artworks to porcelain. He also worked as a book illustrator and exhibitions designer, where he maintained an avant-garde style despite the demands of Socialist Realism. Suetin was the chief artist and designer of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

pavilions for the 1937 Paris Exhibition, where he worked on the interiors for

Boris Iofan Boris Mikhailovich Iofan (, ; April 28, 1891 – March 11, 1976) was a Soviet architect of Jewish origin, known for his Stalinist architecture buildings like the 1931 House on the Embankment and the 1931–1933 winning draft of the Palace of t ...

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

pavilion and again at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...

. Nikolai Suetin is generally considered one of the leading Suprematist artists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suetin, Nikolai Russian avant-garde 1897 births 1954 deaths Russian male artists Burials at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery