It is known that Malevich created four or seven “Black Squares”.
Clearly aware of the process of creating a picture, it becomes clear that since the main creative problems The problems that the author encounters are decided on sensations; the artist cannot, for the purpose of self-control, rewrite an already created square. He is forced to try new options. While in the process of creative search, test those very sensations that cannot be measured by anything other than experiment and talent. One of the last conclusions that can be drawn is that in order to more deeply appreciate the dignity of this work, all the squares must be exhibited together, in one exhibition display.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1913 1915 1919-1920 1923 1927 1929 1932 1935

“We know of several picturesque squares, but we cannot say definitively how many, since perhaps squares still unknown to us may emerge. They differ from the very first one, as a rule, in greater accuracy of execution, material, and, importantly, proportions. So far there is no study of these proportions, by which, in essence, sometimes it is only possible to establish which of the Squares known to us is captured in a particular photograph.”
It follows from this that the “Black Square” that the artist himself chose for demonstration is the most successful in relation to the implementation of creative ideas.
The square accompanied Malevich in his last path. Researchers of Malevich’s work note that the artist painted the following paintings:
- “Red Square” (in two copies);
- “White Square” (Suprematist composition);
- “White on white” - one;
- “Black Square” (several copies), - without catching that copies
There cannot be a “Black Square”.
Another one (unidentified) in Ukraine and one (unconfirmed, three-dimensional) from the St. Petersburg gallery owner, Sergei Kovalsky.

[b] 1913 - availability is indicated on the reverse side of the Hermitage (location unknown;
[b] 1915 - (quadrangle), in 1920 exhibited at the personal exhibition "0.10" in catalog No. 39, 1918-1919. - Kandinsky Ave. NARKOMPROS, since 1929. State. Tretyakov Gallery, G T G;
[b] 1919-1920 - Black Square, State. Russian Museum, 1922 - ex. in Berlin, sold from exhibition (location unknown;
[b] 1923 - Black Square, 1926 - “Large exposition of the exhibition. in GINKHUK (authenticity is in question)?
[b] 1927 - Black square, copy of 1915, "Berlin Art Exhibition", in the architectural exhibition;
[b] 1929 - Black Square, pers. Exhibition at the State Tretyakov Gallery, 80x80, 2004 exhibited in Warsaw;
[b] 1932 - Black Square, exhibition “Artists of the RSFSR for XV Years”, Located in the Hermitage, 53.5x53.5, 1995-1996 - Exhibited in the State Museum of Fine Arts. Previously belonged to INCOMBANK.
[b] 1935 - Black square, (at a funeral), which one is unknown?;
[b]ХХХХ - UNCONFIRMED - in Ukraine and [b] one from S. Kovalsky.
You can count!

The latest tomographic scanning methods helped experts discover a hidden image under a layer of paint that explains the mystical magnetism of the Black Square. According to Sotheby's registers, the value of this painting is estimated today at 20 million dollars.

In 1972, the English critic Henry Waites wrote:
“It would seem that it could be simpler: a black square on a white background. Anyone can probably draw this. But here’s a mystery: a black square on a white background - a painting by the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich, created at the beginning of the century, still attracts both researchers and art lovers as something sacred, as a kind of myth, as a symbol of the Russian avant-garde. What explains this mystery?
And he continues:
“They say that Malevich, having written “Black Square,” told everyone for a long time that he could neither eat nor sleep. And he himself doesn’t understand what he did. And indeed, this picture is apparently the result of some complex work. When we look at the black square, under the cracks we see lower layers of paint - pink, lilac, ocher - apparently, there was some kind of color composition, recognized at some point as failed and recorded with a black square.

Tomographic scanning in infrared radiation showed the following results:

The discovery excited art historians and cultural experts, forcing them to once again turn to archival materials in search of explanations.

Kazemir Severinovich Malevich was born in Kyiv 23 February 18 '79. He grew up as a capable child, and school essay wrote: “My dad works as a manager at a sugar factory. But his life is not sweet. All day long he listens to the workers swearing when they get drunk from the sugar mash. Therefore, when dad returns home, he often swears at mom. So when I grow up, I will become an artist. This good job. There is no need to swear at the workers, there is no need to carry heavy loads, and the air smells of paints and not of sugar dust, which is very harmful to health. Nice picture it costs a lot of money, but you can draw it in just one day.”.
After reading this essay, Kozya’s mother, Ludviga Alexandrovna (nee Galinovskaya), gave him a set of paints for his 15th birthday. And at the age of 17, Malevich entered the Kyiv drawing school of N.I. Murashko.

In August 1905, he came to Moscow from Kursk and applied for admission to the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. However, he was not accepted into the school. Malevich did not want to return to Kursk; he settled in an art commune in Lefortovo. Here, in the large house of the artist Kurdyumov, about thirty “communards” lived. I had to pay seven rubles a month for a room—by Moscow standards, very cheap. But Malevich often had to borrow this money. In the summer of 1906, he again applied to the Moscow School, but he was not accepted a second time.
From 1906 to 1910, Kazimir attended classes in the studio of F.I. Rerberg in Moscow. Letters from the artist A.A. shed light on this period of his life. Extera to musician M.V. Matyushin. One of them describes the following.
To improve his finances, Kazimir Malevich began work on a series of paintings about a women's bathhouse. The paintings were not sold expensively and required additional expenses for models, but it was at least some money.
One day, after working with his models all night, Malevich fell asleep on the sofa in his studio. In the morning his wife came in to take money from him to pay the grocer's bills. Seeing another painting by the great master, she boiled with indignation and jealousy, grabbed a large brush and painted the canvas with black paint.
Waking up, Malevich tried to save the painting, but to no avail - the black paint had already dried.
Art historians believe that it was at this moment that Malevich’s idea of ​​“Black Square” was born.

The fact is that many artists long before Malevich tried to create something similar. These paintings were not widely known, but Malevich, who studied the history of painting, undoubtedly knew about them. Here are just a few examples.

Robert Fludd, "The Great Darkness" 1617

Bertal, "View of La Hogue (night effect), Jean-Louis Petit", 1843

Paul Bilhod, "Night Fight of Negroes in the Basement", 1882

Alphonse Allais, Philosophers Catching a Black Cat in a Dark Room, 1893

Alphonse Allais, a French journalist, writer and eccentric humorist, author of the popular aphorism “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow,” was the most successful in such creativity.
From 1882 to 1893, he painted a whole series of similar paintings, not at all hiding his humorous attitude towards these “ creative research extramaterial realities."
For example, a completely white framed canvas was called “Anemic Girls Walking to First Communion in a Snowstorm.” The red canvas was called “Apoplectic Cardinals Picking Tomatoes on the Shores of the Red Sea,” etc.

Malevich undoubtedly understood that the secret to the success of such paintings lies not in the image itself, but in its theoretical basis. Therefore, he did not exhibit “Black Suprematist Square” until he wrote his famous manifesto “From Cubism to Suprematism” in 1915. New pictorial realism".

However, this was not enough. The exhibition was rather sluggish, since there were quite a lot of various “Suprematists”, “Cubists”, “Futurists”, “Dadaists”, “Conceptualists” and “Minimalists” in Moscow by that time, and the public was already quite tired of them.
Real success came to Malevich only after Lunacharsky appointed him in 1929 "People's Commissar of the IZO NARKOMPROS." Within this position Malevich took his “black square” and other works to the exhibition “Abstract and surrealist painting and plastic arts” in Zurich. Then his personal exhibitions took place in Warsaw, Berlin and Munich, where his new book"The world as non-objectivity." The fame of Malevich's Black Square spread throughout Europe.

The fact that Malevich used his position not so much for international propaganda did not escape his Moscow colleagues. Soviet art, how much for propaganda of their own creativity. And upon returning from abroad in the fall of 1930 Malevich was arrested by the NKVD on a denunciation as a “German spy.”
However, thanks to Lunacharsky’s intercession, he spent only 4 months in prison, although he parted with the post of “People’s Commissar of Fine Arts” forever.

So the first oneThe “Black Suprematist Square”, which was discussed here, dates back to 1915, and is now in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Malevich painted the second “Black Square” in 1923 especially for the Russian Museum.
The third - in 1929. It is also located in the Tretyakov Gallery.
And the fourth - in 1930, especially for the Hermitage.

These museums also house other works by Malevich.

Kazemir Malevich, " Red Suprematist Square, 1915

Kazemir Malevich, "Black Suprematist Circle", 1923

Kazemir Malevich, "Suprematist Cross", 1923

Kazemir Malevich, "Black and White", 1915

However, it should be noted that Malevich’s name is forever inscribed in the history of art and deservedly so. His “creativity” is the most striking illustration of the laws of psychology, according to which the average person is not able to think critically and independently distinguish “art” from “non-art,” and in general truth from untruth. In their assessments, the mediocre majority is guided mainly by the opinion of generally recognized authorities, which makes it easy to convince public opinion in the fidelity of any, even the most absurd statement. In the theory of “mass psychology” this phenomenon is called the “Black Square Effect”. Based on this phenomenon, Goebbels formulated one of his main postulates - “A lie repeated in newspapers a thousand times becomes the truth.” Sad scientific fact, widely used for political PR both in our country and today.

Kazemir Malevich, self-portrait, 1933,
State Russian Museum

Curiosity is one of the most common human vices, and my friend Alexander and I also did not escape this “punishment.” When an exhibition of works by Kazimir Malevich opened at the Moscow House of Artists, we decided to go there. Firstly, to find out for yourself what Suprematism is, and, secondly, to finally see alive those smartest and most educated people who understood the essence of the Great Black Square and its prophet Casimir.

Despite the fact that Shurik and I, alas, belonged to a small but not very beloved group of homo sapiens in the country, called the indigenous Muscovites, and famous for bad taste and low culture, we, nevertheless, knew certain traditions of behavior in places large cluster cultured people. In order to imitate “our own people,” we wore not only decent suits, but also ties, and, characteristically, not Pioneer ties. But this did not make the mimicry very successful. Most of the leaders and cultural experts were wearing jeans, jackets and sweaters. Some even wore glasses, which, however, did not add a highly educational flair to their images. Both men and women were dressed approximately the same. Also at the exhibition there was even one creature without any obvious sexual characteristics, both primary and secondary. The creature was wearing wide Zaporozhye khaki trousers, a baggy sweater of indeterminate colors of knitting style, a black scarf chaotically wound around a long thin neck, with a “hedgehog in the fog” hairstyle, and the small bulging eyes of a mouse that had been suffering from constipation for at least a month. My friend Sasha, being a kind person at heart, took pity on the unfortunate creature and smiled kindly at him, but in response he received this...
As Shurik wrote many years later in his memoirs: “I was insulted in this way only one more time in my entire life. This was when I gave an old woman complaining of hunger a kulebyak from my own table.”
Meanwhile, the Exhibition continued, and we began to get acquainted with the exhibition. In addition to many squares, rectangles and other geometric shapes, there were also more recognizable plots. We approved the painting "The Reaper on a Red Background" because central character was very similar to our friend Ordanovich,

The canvas “An Englishman in Moscow” evoked purely humorous emotions, but then we came to the conclusion that this, apparently, is Suprematism.

The self-portrait in general was very similar to an example of bourgeois realism, and I, having forgotten myself, even grumbled out loud, saying, why didn’t Malevich make himself out of squares, which earned a number of reproachful glances from the surrounding cultural figures.

And then, finally, it happened, or rather, it came. We come to the Painting "BLACK SQUARE".

The history of Malevich's "Black Squares"

	From the life of the “Black Square” IN early years Kazimir Malevich managed to work as a draftsman in the management of the Kursk-Moscow railway. Of course, to deduce from this his penchant for geometrization in painting would be - pardon the pun - too straightforward. But let’s state it anyway. "Black Square" is the most famous work Malevich. Even those who don’t remember any of his other paintings know him. “Black Square” is the most famous work of the Russian artistic avant-garde. Even those who don’t even remember the author’s name know it. Meanwhile, this is far from Malevich’s only geometric abstraction. The “square” (which the author himself called a “quadrangle” - and in fact he was right about this, because, strictly speaking, a “square” is not geometrically accurate) was only part of large series- 39 paintings - so-called “Suprematist” works. And within this series itself, “Square” was part of a triptych, which also included “Black Circle” and “Black Cross”. The author prepared the entire series for an exhibition called “0.10,” which opened at the end of 1915 in St. Petersburg (its full title was “The Last Cube-Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0.10,” which suggested some summing up of the futurist stage in art). He worked on the series for several months in 1915. By this time, Kazimir Malevich was 36 years old. He managed to study in his youth at the Kyiv drawing school of Nikolai Murashko (quite an academician in style, but capable of appreciating such different students as, for example, Serov or Vrubel). To work, as mentioned above, as a draftsman in Kursk, while at the same time organizing an art group there with like-minded friends. Several times - unsuccessfully - he tries to enter the MUZHVZ (Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture). From 1906 to 1910 he attended classes in the Moscow private studio of Fyodor Rerberg. Exhibited in such different companies as the rather traditionalist Moscow Association of Artists and the dashing “Jack of Diamonds” with “Donkey’s Tail”. Pays tribute to impressionism, neo-primitivism, cubism and other “isms” of that era. He also comes up with his own - “Suprematism”. Actually, this term itself appeared simultaneously with the exhibition “0.10”: Malevich timed the release of the brochure “From Cubism to Suprematism” to coincide with it. New pictorial realism." Here it was no longer just about simplification and geometrization of forms, which had previously been observed both in Malevich himself and in his contemporaries. Even those fragmented fragments of natural forms that were characteristic of futurism and cubism did not remain from nature. Pure geometric form, pure color without nuances, a white background as a space that accommodates both dynamics and statics - these were the first Suprematist works. The term itself was most likely influenced native language Malevich - Polish. The word “supremation” (supremacja) means “supremacy”, “dominance”. And we are talking here, first of all, about the primacy of color in painting, and not form as an imitation of natural forms. Suprematist compositions do not represent anything - they are the result of the artist’s creative will. But it’s better to give a few quotes from Malevich’s brochure itself: “All the former and modern painting before Suprematism, sculpture, word, music were enslaved by the form of nature and are waiting for their liberation in order to speak their own language and not depend on reason, meaning, logic, philosophy, psychology, different laws causality. The art of painting, sculpture, words - until now was a camel loaded with various rubbish odalisques, Egyptian and Persian kings Solomons, princes, princesses with their beloved dogs and the fornication of Venuses. Until now there have been no attempts at painting as such, without any attributes of real life.” “Our Wanderers painted pots on the fences of Little Russia and tried to convey the philosophy of rags. Closer to us, young people took up pornography and turned painting into sensual, lustful rubbish. There was no realism of painting in its own right, there was no creativity.” “Creativity is only where in paintings there is a form that does not take anything already created in nature, but which follows from the pictorial masses, without repeating or changing the original forms of natural objects.” “I was transformed into the zero of forms and went beyond zero to creativity, that is, to Suprematism, to a new artistic realism - non-objective creativity.” Well, in the end the style becomes very similar to his contemporaries-poets (with many of whom Malevich was friends, and some, like Khlebnikov and Kruchenykh, he illustrated): “I tell everyone: give up aestheticism, throw away your suitcases of wisdom, because in the new culture your wisdom is ridiculous and insignificant. Quickly take off the rough skin of centuries, so that it will be easier for you to catch up with us. I overcame the impossible and made abysses with my breath. You are in the nets of the horizon, like fish! We, Suprematists, are throwing your way. Hurry up! “For tomorrow you won’t recognize us.” But texts are texts and theories are theories, and the general public is usually interested in two questions: How many “Black Squares” were there in total? - when were they written? The very first one - along with the entire “Suprematist” series - was written in 1915. But then a reasonable question arises: why are 1913 mentioned in many sources? But because this is how Malevich himself dated this painting. Meaning not its physical execution, but the birth of an idea. The forerunner of the picturesque “Black Square” was the design elements of the production of Mikhail Matyushin’s opera “Victory over the Sun”. The dissonant music of the composer, the “abstruse” texts of the libretto by Alexey Kruchenykh - all this logically required non-standard visualization. Malevich's style not only came in handy - he actually creates another single score from grotesquely distorted forms of costumes and scenery. And here in some paintings a prototype of the “Square” appears - still fractional, divided into parts by diagonals, composed of fragments of different colors. Rethinking and final simplification of the form will come later - but it turned out to be important for the author himself to set exactly the date to which his first Suprematist steps relate. Malevich's brochure This first square, measuring 79.5 by 79.5 cm, was purchased in 1918-1919 by the Fine Arts Department of the People's Commissariat for Education (by the way, the purchasing commission was then headed by Wassily Kandinsky). The work ended up in the short-lived Museum of Painting Culture, and from there it went to the Tretyakov Gallery, where it remains to this day. This work differs from others in the cracks in the paint layer - craquelures. The second “Black Square” was born in 1923. The reason turned out to be banal: the museum did not want to provide the painting for display at the exhibition (and it was not much about the Venice Biennale). And Malevich repeats his Suprematist triptych - a square, a circle, and a cross - and in an enlarged format: 106 by 106 cm. (There is a version that Malevich’s students had a hand in the production of these paintings - which is not entirely excluded). Subsequently, these works were kept by the author, and after his death in 1935 they were transferred by his widow to the Russian Museum, where they are again located. The third “Square” was born in 1929 at the urgent request of the Tretyakov Gallery at the time of preparation there personal exhibition Malevich. The author repeated the original, first work in the same format - the cracked first one, in the opinion of the management, was not suitable for exhibition. Thus, there are two “Squares” in the Tretyakov Gallery. (The author put the same date on the back - 1913. In general, Malevich’s author’s dating is not easy - you shouldn’t really trust them without double-checking). And it would seem that’s all. But no. Already in the 90s, another “Black Square” emerged, smaller than all the previous ones: 53.5 by 53.5 cm. This “Square” attracted the attention of the general public after the 1998 crisis, when the property of the bankrupt Inkombank was to be auctioned off. Which (property) included the corporate collection. And that, in turn, is several works by Malevich. What, where? The details that were revealed were completely bewildering. No, the work itself in this format actually existed - together with its paired “Red Square” it was exhibited at the exhibition “Artists of the RSFSR for 15 Years”, held in Leningrad. Photographs of the exhibition have been preserved. Various examinations also confirmed the authorship. But here's the story... The work appeared in the early 90s in Samara, where a certain owner offered it to Inkombank - either for sale, or as collateral for a loan. The exotic details were later recounted by art critic Georgiy Nikich, who was invited as an expert: a certain young man brought the painting, and brought it in an ordinary sports bag, wrapped in some kind of rag. The Samara owners turned out to be distant relatives Malevich's widow, his third wife Natalya, who died much later than her husband, in 1990. They also received a number of works by the artist, as well as some family archive- and they did not attach such importance to all this that, in addition to the deal, they gave the archive to Inkombank for free. Not to mention the fact that the paintings were stored for some time in a box with potatoes. So, the works were being prepared for sale at auction - and later the head of the Gelos auction house admitted that the bidding could become very hot: several serious contenders expressed preliminary interest. But here comes a new twist: the state intervened in the matter, and the work was removed from the auction. The Ministry of Culture decided to exercise the right to acquire the work as part of the state Museum Fund Russian Federation(this possibility is stipulated in one of the articles of the Russian Federation Law on Culture). True, they implemented the solution at someone else’s expense - the million dollars for “Black Square” number 4 was not laid out by the budget, but by businessman Vladimir Potanin (the auction could have brought much a large amount, so Inkombank’s creditors had every reason to be dissatisfied). The painting was transferred to the Hermitage, where it is now located. Thus, there are four reliable “Black Squares”. Will there be more new ones? On the one hand, there seems to be no such thing. But is it possible to be sure of anything with an artist like Malevich? Magazine "DILETANT" (first historical magazine) June 2013 Author - Tatyana Pelipeyko

Louise Drewsholt.

Malevich's black square is not black

« The author does not know the content of the picture!» read under a black square on white by surprised and shocked visitors to an exhibition of avant-garde artists in Petrograd, at the beginning of the 20th century. Not many were able to accept and feel the moment of humanity’s transition to a new stage of development, expressed in the fine arts by Kazimir Malevich in abstract forms. And to this day« Black square» Malevich is the most scandalous painting by the artist, which never ceases to excite the minds of anyone who touches it. The consciousness of the overwhelming majority of earthlings is not capable of attributing« Black square» Malevich to works of art. They are increasingly calculating its commercial value.

Indeed, it is not easy for a person to understand that a simple« Black square» Malevich can serve as the beginning of a new direction in art. I will try to reflect in the article my feeling and understanding of this huge step forward made by humanity through the transition to new forms of fine art, where« black square» the creative genius of Kazimir Malevich occupies a central place.

Everyone knows, for example, that the Russian artist Alexander Ivanov worked on the painting for about 20 years.« The Appearance of Christ to the People» and didn't complete it. This is clear to everyone. A complex philosophical plot, a large multi-figure composition, a huge canvas. The work of an artist is perceived as a feat. And in this regard, is it possible to assume that« Black square» Is Malevich worth the artist’s years of searching and thinking? Meanwhile, Kazemir Malevich began his creative journey, like everyone else.

Black square. How it all began

In his youth, he liked the paintings of Ivan Shishkin and Ilya Repin. Then it seemed to him that the main thing was to learn to believably depict the surrounding visible world, which he did, developing more and more and delving into the secrets of fine art. For many thousands of years, starting from the time cave paintings, people tried to display the physical visible world on a plane, as close as possible to the visible visual images so that it is easier to identify. By the end of the 19th century, in this direction, the art of depiction had developed to unprecedented heights, honed by the experience of generations.

Considerable progress has been achieved in the realistic display of objects in the physical world, in forward and backward perspectives. In creating a reflection of space on a plane, the so-called direct perspective is often used, the theory of which appeared in the 14th century, depicting the convergence of parallel lines at infinity. Developing from simple to more complex, much later, discoveries of geometric perspectives were made in the so-called. reverse linear perspective. The famous “Trinity” icon by Andrei Rublev is written in reverse perspective, as if from the point of view of God, standing behind the icon and looking at the man in front of the icon.

Images-images-images through which visual measure developed, honed and transferred to the other 7 measures visual series, the ability to distinguish and designate objects using the same symbols visible world. We perceive over 90% of information with our eyes, any person, from the moment of birth to departure. And for people who carry a visual vector, as system-vector psychology reveals, these are different volumes of perception,the ability to see hundreds of shades of the same color. Without a visual vector, a person does not have the ability to aesthetically and artistically perceive the world of shapes, colors and composition.

Malevich's black square. Looking for a way out

As is commonly believed, by the middle of the 20th century, mastery had been achieved that made it possible to very accurately and recognizablely depict anything on a plane. For example, who has not been fascinated by the smallest details of the lace robes of majestic nobles from the paintings of great artists, painted by many hundreds of painters! As you know, the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries were also marked by great changes in all other areas of life. The camera, invented at the end of the 19th century, is an achievement of thought driven skin component humanity, took upon himself the task of accurately depicting reality. No matter how hard he tries, the artist will not be able to depict the geometry of the surrounding space more accurately than a camera. It's also possible, but it's not better. And if so, why should a person compete with technology?

It's time for artists to look for other paths. They began to reflect not so much the surrounding reality itself, but their own idea of ​​it. This is how new directions emerged abstract art, such as impressionism (Impressionnisme) - the external impression of what was seen, expressionism (Eksprissionizm) - expression inner experiences, arising when looking at objects of the visible world, etc. In addition, various experiments began. For example, not displaying an object as it looks, but searching for the simplest geometric shapes from which it consists.

This movement was called cubism, and its most famous representative is Pablo Picasso. There were many other formal delights. The new forms of art that arrived turned out to be beyond the control and incomprehensible of visual artists; they consider this new pretense or falsehood, admiration for the works of Kandinsky and Malevich, Mondrian and Picasso. Why? System-vector psychology also reveals this veil of misunderstanding. All abstract artists are owners sound And visual vectors.

According to system-vector psychology, the author of the Black Square - Kazimir Malevich possessed visual And Sound from the top vectors, cutaneous And anal from the lower ones. Finding himself at the forefront of times, he begins to look for his path in art. The work of the Impressionists led Malevich to the idea that the plot was just an excuse for a pictorial statement. He was faced with the question of whether it was possible to find a form of expression for painting that was not associated with the objective world. He wrote that the time has come for man to be liberated from hard work, through the machine, through liberation from the shackles of imitating nature in art. The time has come to build a new society, through the creation of a form that purely belongs to man.

The result of the search for this question was the Suprematist black square. Malevich writes his deep thoughts and arguments on this topic in his manifesto “God will not be thrown off.”

The random non-randomness of the Black Square

In 1913, the history of the creation of the painting began. While making sketches for the design of the futuristic opera “Victory over the Sun,” Malevich created an unusual piece of scenery, namely, a huge black square obscuring the sun. This discovery turned out to be the first step towards the so-called “pure artistic creativity"He foresaw and foresaw that the drawing H A black square made unconsciously will have great significance in art. The idea of ​​transforming man, through transforming the world, by creating his own forms, stood at the origins of Malevich’s black square.

For the first time« Black square» Malevich was presented to the public at a scandalous futurist exhibition in Petrograd in 1915. Among the artist’s other outlandish paintings, with mysterious phrases and numbers, with incomprehensible shapes and a jumble of figures, a black square in a white frame stood out for its simplicity. Initially, the work was called« black rectangle on white background». Later the name was changed to« square», despite the fact that, from a geometric point of view, all sides of this figure are of different lengths and the square itself is slightly curved. Despite all these inaccuracies, none of its sides are parallel to the edges of the painting.

In 1915, 1924,1929 and 1932, the artist painted four versions of the painting. Each of the paintings has its own proportions of conventional white and black. Another Malevich square, red, is written with deformations, which makes it seem as if it is in continuous movement. If you look closely at the background of the scandalous first picture, it is not white, but the color of baked milk. Thin and dense layers of paint alternate in the abrupt layers of the background.

The black plane of the square is smooth and uniform. The illusion of bottomlessness that occurs when black is inserted into white, with different techniques writing the figure and background, Malevich explained the essence of his paintings. He wrote like this: “ Black square - sensation, white background - nothing but sensation».

In addition to the black square, to convey the superiority of pure sensation, Malevich created non-objective works consisting of simple geometric figures, where main role color plays. In many paintings, it is the square that occupies a special place, attracting crosses, triangles, circles and, like a magnet, keeping them in balance and in motion at the same time, creating the illusion of a living organism.

Having painted several dozen canvases on the topic H black square, Malevich called the new direction of non-objective art the term suprematism from the Polish supremacy, superiority, domination. Indeed, according to system-vector psychology, sound vector and is dominant over all others. In his full development, a person with a sound vector is able to penetrate to the very essence mental person and he is the only one who is in connection with the divine plan of what is happening on earth.

Malevich doesn’t stand still, he continues to experiment. In 1918, he paints white on white. White forms seem to melt into boundless whiteness, creating the purity and infinity of the universe.He writes:« I am transported into a bottomless abyss. Disembodied geometric elements floating in unknown space».

Malevich designed prototypes of future space stations, being influenced by the theory of interplanetary flights. To achieve a complete feeling of weightlessness and being part of the universe, he rejected the concept of up and down in his works.

There are known facts that Malevich’s paintings were often hung upside down, but they did not lose their expressiveness. People who do not have abstract thinking, who do not have in their vector set sound vector, still cannot accept or understand Malevich’s paintings. This explains the impossibility of their perception of works created by man from the depths of his« sound» worldviews. There are only 5 percent of people with a sound vector in nature.

Sound root of the Black Square

The abstract intelligence of a sound engineer is, in its potential, the most powerful, the only one capable of comprehending abstract intangible concepts. Those with a sound vector carry ideas that move the rest of humanity forward. They are the first and only ones who are capable of determining the direction of movement of social transformations and global general development humanity.

Malevich's works, alien to the ideals of socialist realism, were rejected by Soviet propaganda. Job« Red Cavalry», which Soviet art critics claimed praised the revolution and the Red Army, turned out to be the only recognized painting by the disgraced artist. But there is evidence that, following an order from above, the artist simply added cavalry to a ready-made Suprematist composition. And Malevich’s inscription on the back of the picture proves his ironic attitude towards what is happening:« Red cavalry gallops from the October capital to defend the Soviet border».

The dispute over the Suprematist paintings of Kazimir Malevich is still not over.He wrote:« I didn’t invent anything, I just felt the night in me, and in it I noticed something new that I called Suprematism». How else can a sound artist with a specific role« night guard in the pack » And« feedback from the First Cause» express yourself?

It took the artist about 10 years to come to the idea of ​​Suprematism, transforming the world of art according to his new philosophical concept. Screen« black» closed the artist physical world subject forms of art history. The entire spectrum of colors includes white and black. The areas of the background and the figure are equal, with the same square shape, but with different meanings. White, consisting of a fusion of the entire spectrum of colors, is a frame for black, in which there is no light. Filled whiteness is torn by the gaping emptiness of black, turning white into a frame of infinite space.

Breakthrough of Malevich's Black Square

The beginning of the 20th century marked an era of great upheavals, a turning point in people's worldview and their attitude to reality. The world was in a state where the old ideals of beauty classical art faded completely and there was no return to them, and the birth of a new one was predicted by great revolutions in painting. There was a movement from visual realism and impressionism, as a transfer of sensations about it, to sound abstract painting. those. First, humanity depicts objects, then sensations and, finally, ideas.

Malevich's black squareturned out to be a timely fruit of the artist’s insight, who managed to create the foundations of the future language of art with this simplest geometric figure, which conceals many other forms. By rotating the square in a circle, Malevich received geometric shapes cross and circle. When rotating along the axis of symmetry, I got a cylinder. A seemingly flat, elementary square contains not only other geometric shapes, but can create three-dimensional bodies.

A black square, dressed in a white frame, is nothing more than the fruit of the creator’s insight and his thoughts about the future of art.. The geometric shape of the square is not drawn with a ruler, but painted with a brush. The composition itself literally fits into a mathematical formula. In search of volumetric meanings embedded in simple planar forms, if you divide the square into geometric shapes and imagine them in space with certain point vision, as they reconnect, they return to a plane figure.

Malevich also believed that it was time for art to break away from everyday life, from external reality, not by imitating this reality, but by designing it. Why not sound ideas!!!

In his other works, Malevich, according to in my own words, expressed the sensations of life, such as soaring, flying, harmony, disharmony, hovering, etc. These same sensations are capable of being perceived only by the other few owners of the sound and visual vectors, who understand and are specially developed in the perception of abstract phenomena.

Only people with abstract thinking are close and understandable to the ideas of Malevich and his Black Square about the principles of free form formation in space, where one form-figure flows into another, enlivening this endless chain of transitions. Malevich was well aware of the universality of the discovery of Suprematism, which dictated changes in all spheres of human creativity. He personally created Suprematist architectural projects, calling them architectons. Geometric bodies, built on the basis of the simplest geometric shapes, take on new life. Postmodern architecture is entirely based on these ideas.

For example, the center in Los Angeles, built in the 1980s, fully corresponds to what Malevich said that Suprematist forms will coexist with other forms of life on equal terms. It was created in a special color, rhythmic composition, from many simple geometric shapes. Depending on the point of view, the complex of buildings seems to be a complex single organism, perceived from different points of view, as a moving, growing and changing structure, as if it were alive.

The discovery of the system of Suprematism, made at the beginning of the twentieth century by Kazimir Malevich, thanks to the simplest thing, at the glance of those not dedicated to the black square, predetermined the image of the urban structure of the distant future.

The search for new, still unknown in art, methods of self-expression was carried out by the artist through multiple experiments for the sake of instilling in the viewer certain feelings, sensations and ideas, the advent of a new era significant changes in the human mind.

Upon completion of painting the black square, Malevich, as the artist himself describes, could neither sleep nor eat. So great was the inspiration of the significance of the changes revealed by him for all humanity. And art, like all other spheres of human life and activity, is subject to global changes. Especially in transitional moments of history, it goes far ahead.

Karl Marx also said that the price good work art also includes payment for many thousands of bad works, which someone still needs to write, so that, based on the accumulated experience, someone writes one good one. To know and feel the whole meaning laid down by the artist in« Black square», anyone needs to know and feel not only the meaning of the work itself, but also the entire history of painting, which implies the history of all humanity.

Malevich writes a lot about this in his publications. Following the idea of ​​Karl Marx, Black Square absorbed the colossal experience of many thousands of other paintings.

Black square. Gift to humanity

System-vector psychology of Yuri Burlan provides a clear explanation and the possibility of understanding why people, the overwhelming majority, still cannot understand and accept deep meaning, laid down by Malevich in « Black square».

Everything in the universe works according to common principles and natural laws, like black - absorbing and white - reflecting, like main principle the nature of receiving and giving. And in order to live according to the true balanced laws of nature, every confused person needs to turn to his nature. There he will reveal everything. There is a tool - system-vector psychology by Yuri Burlan. I hope that the mystery of the black square is not a mystery at all, but there is a meaning or design that we managed to uncover and understand.

Kazimir Malevich died in December 1935. An unusual funeral procession proceeded along Nevsky Prospekt in Leningrad, with a sarcophagus created according to the design of the deceased, installed on the open platform of a truck. There was a black square attached to the hood. This is how Malevich turned own funeral into the last creative manifestation.

According to the will, after death, the body of Malevich, the parent of the Black Square, was cremated in a Suprematist coffin, and then the urn was buried under his favorite oak tree artist near the village of Nemchinovka.

The article was written based on materials system-vector psychology Yuri Burlan a

　
P.S. the Suprematist painting by Kazimir Malevich below is from the collection of Yu.B.

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The Black Suprematist Square is a masterpiece by Kazimir Malevich that had a huge influence on 20th century painting. Today the masterpiece belongs and is stored in the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow). An estimate of how much the painting Black Square by Malevich is worth gave the following results:

• Estimated value of Malevich's Black Square: $20 million(according to Sotheby's auction, which works with Russian paintings)

There are other data that influence the cost of the canvas, such in history are:

• Research in 2015;
• Other masterpieces.

Many factors can affect the price of a painting, such as the discovery of new details. In the case of the Black Square, after checking the masterpiece by the Sotheby's auction house, which deals exclusively with Russian painting. According to the representative of the organization, Retto Barmetler, the following was found under the canvas:

• Another color creation by Casimir;
• Left inscription.

This data was achieved thanks to X-ray scanning of images. The photographs show that through the cracks (remained after the paints dried) another color work is visible. It was not possible to determine what kind of sketch this is or what is depicted on it.

The signature deserved special attention, which also could not be fully deciphered. The three letters were not deciphered, but experts presented a theory according to which the entire phrase sounded like “Battle of the Negroes in dark cave" According to many, the portrait is a reference and a certain dialogue between Casimir and Alphonse Allais (France), who painted a completely black picture called “The Battle of Negroes in a Dark Cave in the Dead of Night.”

The auction house itself said that these finds will affect the cost of the masterpiece and will certainly arouse interest in it. In any case, the presence of a second canvas with the image will have a beneficial effect on how much Malevich’s Black Square costs.

Price of other paintings by Kazimir Malevich

The composition of interest is not the most expensive work of the master, although it is the most famous. Among the most expensive paintings by the artist are:

• Suprematist composition. It was written in 1916, but presented to the general public only in 1927 at an exhibition in Berlin. Subsequently, Casimir's heirs became its owners. The original was sold in 2008 at a New York auction from Sotheby’s, and the transaction amounted to $60 million. It was this that became his most expensive work ever sold;
• Mystical Suprematism. Its creation took more than two years of work from 1920 to 1922. It also went through a difficult story when returning to the heirs of the Russian painter. Similarly, it was implemented in the USA in the center of the Big Apple for $37.7 million, but already in 2015;
• Suprematism. Another painting that returned from Germany to the USA, where the master’s descendants lived, but painted in the 1919-1920s. Sold through the same auction, but auctions took place in London in 2015. The buyer who paid for it 3 $3.76 million, expected to remain unknown;
• Suprematist composition. Also one of the 37 cardboards by Kazimir Malevich remaining in Berlin, created in the 19-20s of the last century. During the capture of the country by the Nazis, she was secretly taken to America, where in the late 90s she was transferred to her rightful owners. Its auction took place in 2000 through the Phillips company, and even then it was possible to get $17 million.

All these works confirm the interest of private collectors and art lovers in the work of Kazimir Malevich, one of famous works which is the Black Suprematist square.

There are works of art that everyone knows. For the sake of these paintings, tourists stand in long lines in any weather, and then, once inside, they simply take a selfie in front of them. However, if you ask a tourist who has strayed from the group why he is so eager to look at the masterpiece, he is unlikely to explain why he suffered, pushed and suffered with the focal length. Often the fact is that due to the constant information noise around a particular work, its very essence is forgotten. Our task in the “Great and Incomprehensible” section is to remember why everyone should go to the Hermitage, the Louvre and the Uffizi.

The first painting in our section was the painting “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich. It is perhaps the most famous and controversial work of Russian art, and at the same time the most recognizable in the West. So, a large-scale exhibition is currently taking place in London, dedicated to creativity artist. The main exhibit was, of course, “Black Square”. One could even argue that European critics Russian art is associated not with Karl Bryullov and Ilya Repin, but with Malevich. At the same time, unfortunately, few visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery or the Hermitage can clearly say why this painting is so famous. Today we will try to fix this.

Kazimir Malevich (1879 - 1935) “Self-Portrait”. 1933

1. This is not"Black Square", A"Black square on a white background"

And this is important. This fact is worth remembering like the Pythagorean theorem: it is unlikely to be useful in life, but not knowing it is somehow indecent.

K. Malevich “Black square on a white background.” 1915 Stored in the Tretyakov Gallery

2. It's not a square

At first, the artist called his painting “Quadrangle,” which is confirmed by linear geometry: there are no right angles, the sides are not parallel to each other, and the lines themselves are uneven. Thus he created a movable form. Although, of course, he knew how to use a ruler.

3. Why did Malevich draw a square?

In his memoirs, the artist writes that he did this unconsciously. However, the development of artistic thought can be traced through his paintings.

Malevich worked as a draftsman. It is not surprising that at first he was fascinated by Cubism with its correct forms. For example, the painting from 1914 is “Composition with Gioconda.” Black and white rectangles are already appearing here.

On the left – Kazimir Malevich “Composition with Mona Lisa”. On the right is Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, aka “La Gioconda”

Then, when creating the scenery for the opera “Victory over the Sun,” the idea of ​​a square as an independent element appeared. However, the painting “Black Square” appeared only two years later.

4. Why square?

Malevich believed that the square is the basis of all forms. If you follow the artist’s logic, the circle and the cross are already secondary elements: the rotation of the square forms a circle, and the movement of white and black planes forms a cross.

The paintings “Black Circle” and “Black Cross” were painted simultaneously with “Black Square”. Together they formed the basis of a new artistic system, but the dominance has always been behind the square.

“Black Square” – “Black Circle” – “Black Cross”

5. Why is the square black?

For Malevich, black is a mixture of all existing colors, while white is the absence of any color. Although, this completely contradicts the laws of optics. Everyone remembers how they told us at school that black color absorbs the rest, and white connects the entire spectrum. And then we did experiments with lenses, looking at the resulting rainbow. But with Malevich it’s the other way around.

6. What is Suprematism and how to understand it?

Malevich founded a new direction in art in the mid-1910s. He called it Suprematism, which means “supreme” in Latin. That is, in his opinion, this movement should have become the pinnacle of all creative searches of artists.

Suprematism is easy to recognize: various geometric shapes are combined into one dynamic, usually asymmetrical composition.

K. Malevich “Suprematism”. 1916
An example of one of the artist's many Suprematist compositions.

What does it mean? Such forms are usually perceived by the viewer as children's multi-colored cubes scattered on the floor. Agree, you can’t draw the same trees and houses for two thousand years. Art must find new forms of expression. And they are not always clear to ordinary people. For example, the paintings of the Little Dutch were once revolutionary and deeply conceptual. In still lifes, objects showed life philosophy. However, now they are perceived rather as beautiful pictures, the modern viewer simply does not think about the deep meaning of the works.

Jan Davids de Heem, Breakfast with Fruit and Lobster. Second quarter of the 17th century.
Each element in Dutch still lifes carries a certain symbolic meaning. For example, lemon is a symbol of moderation.

This harmonious system collapses when one gets acquainted with the paintings of the avant-garde artists. The system “beautiful - not beautiful”, “realistic - not realistic” does not work here. The viewer has to think what these strange lines and circles on the canvas could mean. Although, in fact, there is no less meaning in lemons in Dutch still lifes, it’s just that museum visitors are not forced to figure it out. In 20th-century paintings, you must immediately understand the idea of ​​the work of art, which is much more difficult.

7. Was it really only Malevich who was so smart?

Malevich was not the first artist who began to create such paintings. Many masters of France, England and Russia were close to comprehending non-objective art. Thus, Mondrian in 1913–1914 created geometric compositions, and the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint painted so-called color diagrams.

Hilma af Klint. From the series SUW (Stars and Universe). 1914 – 1915.

However, it was from Malevich that geometry acquired a clear philosophical overtones. His plan clearly followed from the previous artistic movement– cubism, where objects are divided into geometric shapes, and each of them is painted separately. In Suprematism, they stopped depicting the original form; artists switched to pure geometry.

Pablo Picasso "Three Women". 1908
An example of cubism. Here the artist does not yet abandon the prototype form - human body. The figures look like the work of a sculptor-carpenter, who seemed to have created his work with an axe. Each “cut” of the sculpture is painted with a shade of red and does not go beyond the boundaries.

8. How can a square be movable?

Despite the external static nature, this painting is considered one of the most dynamic in the history of the Russian avant-garde.

According to the artist, the black square symbolizes pure form, and the white background symbolizes endless space. Malevich used the adjective “dynamic” to show that this form is in space. It's like a planet in the universe.

So the background and form are inseparable from each other: Malevich wrote that “the most important thing in Suprematism is two foundations - the energy of black and white, which serve to reveal the form of action.” (Malevich K. Collected works in 5 volumes. M., 1995. Volume 1. P. 187)

9. Why does “Black Square” have two dates of creation?

The canvas was created in 1915, although the author himself wrote 1913 on the reverse side. This was done, apparently, to bypass its competitors and establish primacy in the creation of Suprematist compositions. In fact, in 1913, the artist was designing the opera “Victory over the Sun,” and in his sketches, indeed, there was a black square as a symbol of this victory.

But the idea was realized in painting only in 1915. The painting was presented at the avant-garde exhibition “0, 10”, and the artist placed it in the red corner, a place where icons are usually hung in an Orthodox home. With this step, Malevich proclaimed the significance of the painting and was right: the painting became a turning point in the development of the avant-garde.

Photo taken at the exhibition “0, 10”. "Black square" hangs in the red corner

10. Why is there a “Black Square” in both the Hermitage and the Tretyakov Gallery?

Malevich addressed the theme of the square several times, since for him it is the most important Suprematist form, after which in order of importance come the circle and the cross.

There are four “Black Squares” in the world, but they are not complete copies of each other. They differ in size, proportions and time of creation.

"Black Square". 1923 Kept in the Russian Museum

The second “Black Square” was created in 1923 for the Venice Biennale. Then, in 1929, the artist created a third painting especially for his personal exhibition. It is believed that the director of the museum asked for it, because the original from 1915 was already covered with a network of cracks and craquelure. The artist did not like the idea, he refused, but then changed his mind. So there is one more square in the world.

"Black Square". 1929 Stored in the Tretyakov Gallery

The last repetition was presumably created in 1931. No one knew about the existence of the fourth option until in 1993 a certain citizen came to the Samara branch of Inkombank and left this painting as collateral. The mysterious painting lover was never seen again: he never returned for the canvas. The painting began to belong to the bank. But not for long: he went bankrupt in 1998. The painting was bought and transferred to the Hermitage for storage.

"Black Square". Early 1930s. Kept in the Hermitage

Thus, the first painting from 1915 and the third version from 1929 are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, the second version in the Russian Museum, and the last in the Hermitage.

11. How did contemporaries react to “Black Square”?

If there is no longer any hope of understanding Malevich’s work, there is no need to be sad. Even the followers of the Russian avant-garde artist did not fully understand the artist’s deep intentions. The diaries of one of the master’s contemporaries, Vera Pestel, have survived to this day. She writes:

“Malevich wrote just a square and painted it entirely with pink paint, and with another black paint, and then many more squares and triangles different colors. His room was elegant, all colorful, and it was nice for the eye to move from one color to another - all of different geometric shapes. How calm it was to look at the different squares, you didn’t think about anything, you didn’t want anything. The pink color made me happy, and next to it the black color made me happy too. And we liked it. We also became suprematists.” (Malevich about himself. Contemporaries about Malevich. Letters. Documents. Memoirs. Criticism. In 2 volumes. M., 2004. Volume 1. P. 144-145)

This is the same as saying about still lifes of small Dutchmen - why think about it.

However, there are also more sensible comments. Despite the fact that not everyone understood the philosophical subtext of the painting, its significance was nevertheless appreciated. Andrei Bely said this about Suprematism:

“The history of painting and all these Vrubels in front of such squares are zero!” (Malevich about himself. Contemporaries about Malevich. Letters. Documents. Memoirs. Criticism. In 2 volumes. M., 2004. Volume 1. P. 108).

Alexandre Benois, founder of the World of Art movement, was extremely outraged by Malevich’s antics, but still understood the significance that the painting had acquired:

“A black square framed in white is the “icon” that gentlemen futurists offer in place of Madonnas and shameless Venuses. This is not simple joke, not a simple challenge, but this is one of the acts of self-affirmation of that principle, which has its name in the abomination of desolation...” (Benoit A. The last futurist exhibition. From “Malevich about himself...” T.2. P.524)

In general, the painting made a double impression on the artist’s contemporaries.

12. Why can’t I draw “Black Square” and become famous?

You can draw, but you won’t be able to become famous. Meaning contemporary art not only in creating something completely new, but also in presenting it correctly.

For example, black squares were painted before Malevich. In 1882, Paul Bealhold created a painting with the politically incorrect title “Night Fight of Negroes in the Basement.” Even earlier, in the 17th century, the English artist Flood painted the canvas “The Great Darkness.” But it was the Russian avant-garde artist who outlined the new philosophy with his painting and exploited it for several decades. Can you do this? Then go ahead.

Robert Flood "The Great Darkness" 1617

Paul Bealhold "Night Night Fight of Negroes in the Basement." 1882