Kazimir Malevich is not only “Black Square”. What is the meaning of Malevich's work? Why did he become so popular? It turns out that Malevich worked as a fabric designer and drew sketches of costumes for the play. And much more... We bring to your attention little-known creativity artist.

Malevich, is there any point?

I say “Malevich” - you imagine a black square. But Malevich painted not only a square, but also many different colored figures. And not only figures. But now let's talk about them. When you look at Malevich’s paintings, the question arises: “why did he paint this?” By the way, Malevich answers the question “why” - very long and boring in his philosophical works. To put it simply and briefly, it was a protest. Creativity as protest. An attempt to create something completely new. And there’s no arguing that Malevich managed to surprise and shock. A hundred years have passed since the “Black Square” was created, and it still haunts people, and many consider it their duty to dismiss “I can do it too.” And you can do this, and Malevich could do it. Malevich was the first to think of this - and therefore became popular.

Even the artist draws inspiration from the master’s paintings!

Malevich was able to come up with a new direction. This direction of painting is called “Suprematism”. From the word “supremus”, which means “highest”. At first, Malevich called color “high.” After all, color is the main thing in painting. And then, with the advent of popularity, the artist already called his style “superior”. I could afford it. Now Suprematism is the highest, the best, the only true style of painting.

Suprematist artists draw different geometric shapes, most often square, rectangle, circle and line. The colors are simple - black, white, red and yellow. But there may be exceptions - every artist draws the way he wants.

If you want to understand the directions contemporary art, then we recommend reading a couple of books in the selection.

How did Malevich understand painting?

This can be said in one quote:

“When the habit of seeing in paintings images of corners of nature, Madonnas and shameless Venuses disappears, then only we will see a purely pictorial work.”

How does it differ from the work of the “unclean”? The fact that painting, according to Malevich, should create something that has never existed before. Create, not repeat. This is what distinguishes an artist from a craftsman. The artisan “stamps” the product. And the artist’s work is one such thing. Without repeating what has already been created. If we see a landscape on a canvas, this is a “repetition” of nature. If a person is drawn, this is also a repetition, because people already exist in life.

Malevich coined the term – pointlessness. In the picture we must see the non-objectivity, and only in this case the picture is real. Because if we see an object, it means that this object exists in the world. If it exists, it means that the artist did not draw anything new. Then why did he draw at all? This is the philosophy.

In addition to the famous “Black Square,” Malevich also painted white and red squares. But for some reason they did not become so popular.

So, the meaning of Malevich’s paintings is that the artist comes up with something that has never happened and never will. This is how he excites the audience. The public likes to discuss, condemn, or vice versa – admire. That is why Malevich gained popularity, and debates about his work have not subsided to this day. But Malevich is not only Suprematism.

What else did Malevich paint?

All artists, before moving on to such experiments, first learned academic painting. The one that follows the rules to which we are accustomed. Malevich is no exception. He painted landscapes and portraits and was engaged in fresco painting.

Sketch of a fresco painting entitled “The Triumph of Heaven”:

Scenery. "Spring":

Portrait of a girl:

After this, Malevich moved on to experiments. The artist tried to convey the movement of people using geometric shapes. One of the most popular paintings in this style is called "Lumberjack". The effect of movement is achieved through smooth color transitions.

And these are paintings from the artist’s “Peasant Cycle”. “To the harvest. Marfa and Vanka." At first glance, the figures seem motionless, but another moment and we will see movement.

Another “moving” picture is “Harvest”:

And this picture is called “Athletes”. The main thing here is color and symmetry. This is an example of how the Suprematism movement can be used not only in drawing squares and lines. The silhouettes consist of multi-colored figures. But at the same time we see people in the picture. And we even notice the sports uniform.

Fabrics from Malevich

Malevich created sketches of such fabrics. Their ornamentation was invented under the influence of the same Suprematism: on the fabric we see figures and typical colors - black, red, blue, green.

Based on the sketches of Malevich and Alexandra Ekster (artist and designer), the craftswomen of the village of Verbovka made embroidery. They embroidered scarves, tablecloths and pillows, and then sold them at fairs. Such embroideries were especially popular at fairs in Berlin.

Malevich also drew sketches of costumes for the play “Victory over the Sun.” It was an experimental play that defied logic. The only one musical instrument which accompanied the piece was an out-of-tune piano. From left to right: Attentive worker, Athlete, Bully.

What inspired Malevich?

How was Malevich able to come up with a new direction? Amazing fact, but the artist was inspired folk art. In his autobiography, he called ordinary peasant women his first art teachers. Future artist I looked at their work and realized that I wanted to learn the same way. Take a closer look at the embroidery - this is the beginning of Suprematism. Here we see the same geometry that Malevich would later create. These are ornaments without beginning or end - multi-colored figures on a white background. Squares. In Malevich's Suprematist drawings the background is white, because it means infinity. And the colors of the patterns are the same: red, black, blue are used.

1. At the porcelain factory in Petrograd, tableware and tea sets were decorated according to the sketches of Malevich and his students.

2. Malevich was the designer of the bottle of Severny cologne. The artist designed the bottle at the request of perfumer Alexandre Brocard. This is a transparent glass bottle, shaped like an ice mountain. And on top there is a cap in the shape of a bear.

3. The familiar word “weightlessness” was invented by Malevich. The artist understood development (whether creative or technical) as an airplane that had overcome its weight and taken to the sky. That is, weightlessness for Malevich meant an ideal. And weight is a frame, a weight that pulls people down. And over time, the word began to be used in its usual meaning.

4. A true artist has art everywhere. Even in everyday life. This is what Malevich's office looked like. We see a black square, a cross and a circle. In the middle is one of the Suprematist paintings that the artist painted at that time.

5. Malevich had a wonderful sense of humor. He signed some paintings like this: “The meaning of the painting is unknown to the author.” Funny, but honest.

6. There is still not a single Malevich museum in the world. But there are monuments.

Opening of the monument to the “Black Square”:

Monument to the work of Malevich:

7. Malevich is not only an artist and designer, but also a writer: he wrote poems, articles and philosophical books.

8. Malevich was abroad only once, but his work was popular throughout Europe. And now most of his paintings are in museums in Europe and America.

9. All his life the artist thought that he was born in 1878. And only after the celebration of his 125th anniversary it became clear that his real date of birth was 1879. Therefore, Malevich’s 125th anniversary was celebrated twice.

10. Recently programmers came up with the “Malevich font”. It's difficult to read, but looks interesting.

7 facts about the “Black Square”

1. The first name of the “Black Square” is “Black quadrangle on a white background.” And it’s true: “Black Square” is not actually a square. After all, neither side is equal to the other. It's almost invisible - but you can apply a ruler and measure.

2. In total, Malevich painted 4 “Black Squares”. They are all different in size and are located in Russian museums. The artist himself called his square “the beginning of everything.” But in fact, the first “Black Square” is a painted over picture. Which one – we don’t know. There was a lot of debate about whether to remove the paint from the square and look or leave everything as is. We decided to leave it. After all, first of all, this was the will of the artist. And under the x-ray you can see what kind of drawing Malevich began to draw. Most likely, this is also something geometric:

3. Malevich himself explained “painting over” differently. He said that he drew the square quickly, that the idea arose as an inspiration. Therefore, there was no time to look for a clean linen - and he took the one that was lying at hand.

4. “Black Square” quickly became a symbol of new art. It was used as a signature. Artists sewed a square piece of black fabric onto clothing. This meant that they were artists of a new generation. In the photo: Malevich’s students under a flag in the form of a black square.

5. What does “Black Square” mean? Everyone can understand the picture in their own way. Some people believe that in a square we see space, because in space there is no up and down. Only weightlessness and infinity. Malevich said that a square is a feeling, and White background- nothing. It turns out that this feeling is empty. And also - the square does not occur in nature, unlike other figures. This means it is not related to real world. This is the whole meaning of Suprematism.

6. At his first exhibition in St. Petersburg, Malevich defiantly hung the “Black Square” in the corner where icons usually hung. The artist challenged the public. And the public was immediately divided into opponents of the new art and its admirers.

7. Main value“Black Square” is that every admirer of Malevich’s work can hang a reproduction of the painting in his home. Moreover - own production.

Finally, I offer this quote from Malevich, which explains all of his work:

“They always demand that art be understandable, but they never demand that they adapt their heads to understanding.”

On May 15, 1935, one of the world's most famous avant-garde artists, Kazimir Malevich, died. We remember him and offer to find out 5 interesting facts about the artist’s biography.

A brilliant artist, one of the most misunderstood (or incomprehensible?), endlessly discussed (and condemned), but certainly recognized (especially abroad), innovators of the Russian visual arts– Kazimir Malevich, was the first of 14 children of the nobleman Severin Malevich, who lived with his wife Ludwiga Galinovskaya in the Vinnitsa province.

And until the age of 26 of his life, he was no different from many people, combining work as a draftsman with his passion for painting in his free time.

But the passion for creativity eventually prevailed and Malevich, who had managed to get married by that time, left his family and went to Moscow in 1905 to enroll in a painting school (where he was not accepted!).

From here begins his path to the domestic Olympus of great names, which was interrupted on May 15, 1935 by the death of Kazimir Severinovich - philosopher, teacher, theorist, renowned Soviet artist, who left his descendants a revolutionary legacy that had a huge impact on modern architecture and art; the founder of a whole movement in painting - Suprematism (the primacy of one primary color over other components: for example, in some of Malevich’s works figures bright colors immersed in a “white abyss” - white background).

Let's today, remembering the brilliant giant artist who once blew up the world with his works and ideas, let's get acquainted with the most interesting facts from his difficult and colorful life.

The most famous work Kazimir Malevich. There are only four paintings created in different time. The very first one, written in 1915, is in the Hermitage, where it was transferred by billionaire V. Potanin for indefinite storage (purchased for $1 million from Inkombank in 2002. It is surprising that low price immortal, the most famous Russian painting in the world, difficult to compare with prices for other works by Malevich, for example, “Suprematist Composition” was sold on November 3, 2008 for $60 million).

Two more variants of the “Black Square” are in Tretyakov Gallery(Moscow) and one in the Russian Museum (St. Petersburg).
In addition to the Suprematist “Black Square” (first invented by Malevich as a setting for the opera by M.V.

Matyushin “Victory over the Sun”, 1913) “Black Circle” and “Black Cross” were created.

Career

Never entered any educational institution the great self-taught Kazimir Malevich became the author of a number of scientific works, propagandist own direction in art, the creator of the group of like-minded avant-garde artists "UNOVIS" and the director of the Leningrad state institute artistic culture!

Wives

Having married at a young age (his wife bore the same name as him - Kazimira Zgleits), Malevich was forced to dissolve the marriage after moving to Moscow. Having taken two children, his wife left for the village of Meshcherskoye, got a job as a medical assistant in a psychiatric hospital, and then ran away, getting mixed up with a local doctor, dropping off the young children with one of her colleagues, Sofya Mikhailovna Rafalovich.

When Kazimir Malevich found out about this and came to pick up the children, he also took Sofya Mikhailovna to Moscow, who after some time became his second wife.

Jail

In 1930, an exhibition of the artist’s works was criticized, after which he was arrested and spent many months in an OGPU prison, accused of espionage.

grave

Malevich's body was cremated in a coffin made according to his design. An urn with ashes was lowered under an oak tree, near the village of Nemchinovka (Odintsovo Moscow district region), placing above it wooden monument: cube with a black square (made by Kazimir Malevich’s student - Nikolai Suetin).

A few years later, the grave was lost - during the war, lightning struck the oak tree and it was cut down, and a road for heavy military equipment passed through the artist’s grave.

Kazimir Malevich is not only “Black Square”. What is the meaning of Malevich's work? Why did he become so popular? It turns out that Malevich worked as a fabric designer and drew sketches of costumes for the play. And much more... We bring to your attention a little-known artist's work.
What else did Malevich paint?
All artists, before moving on to such experiments, first learned academic painting. The one that follows the rules to which we are accustomed. Malevich is no exception. He painted landscapes and portraits and was engaged in fresco painting. Sketch for a fresco painting entitled “The Triumph of Heaven”

Scenery. "Spring":

After this, Malevich moved on to experiments. The artist tried to convey the movement of people using geometric shapes. One of the most popular paintings in this style is called “The Lumberjack”. The effect of movement is achieved through smooth color transitions.

And these are paintings from the artist’s “Peasant Cycle”. “To the harvest. Marfa and Vanka." At first glance, the figures seem motionless, but another moment and we will see movement.

Another “moving” picture is “Harvest”:

And this picture is called “Athletes”. The main thing here is color and symmetry. This is an example of how the Suprematism movement can be used not only in drawing squares and lines. The silhouettes consist of multi-colored figures. But at the same time we see people in the picture. And we even notice the sports uniform.

Fabrics from Malevich
Malevich created sketches of such fabrics. Their ornamentation was invented under the influence of the same Suprematism: on the fabric we see figures and typical colors - black, red, blue, green.

Based on the sketches of Malevich and Alexandra Ekster (artist and designer), the craftswomen of the village of Verbovka made embroidery. They embroidered scarves, tablecloths and pillows, and then sold them at fairs. Such embroideries were especially popular at fairs in Berlin.

Malevich also drew sketches of costumes for the play “Victory over the Sun.” It was an experimental play that defied logic. The only musical instrument that accompanied the play was an out-of-tune piano. From left to right: Attentive worker, Athlete, Bully.

TOP interesting facts about Malevich
At the porcelain factory in Petrograd, tableware and tea sets were decorated according to the sketches of Malevich and his students.

Malevich was the designer of the Severny cologne bottle. The artist designed the bottle at the request of perfumer Alexandre Brocard. This is a transparent glass bottle, shaped like an ice mountain. And on top there is a cap in the shape of a bear.

It was Malevich who came up with the familiar word “WEIGHTNESS”. The artist understood development (whether creative or technical) as an airplane that had overcome its weight and taken to the sky. That is, weightlessness for Malevich meant an ideal. And weight is a framework, a heaviness that pulls people down. And over time, the word began to be used in its usual meaning.
For a true artist, art is everywhere. Even in everyday life. This is what Malevich's office looked like. We see a black square, a cross and a circle. In the middle is one of the Suprematist paintings that the artist painted at that time.

Malevich had a wonderful sense of humor. He signed some paintings like this: “The meaning of the painting is unknown to the author.” Funny, but honest.

There is still not a single Malevich museum in the world. But there are monuments. Opening of the monument to the “Black Square”

Monument to the works of Malevich

Malevich is not only an artist and designer, but also a writer: he wrote poems, articles and philosophical books.

Malevich was abroad only once, but his work was popular throughout Europe. And now most of his paintings are in museums in Europe and America.

All his life the artist thought that he was born in 1878. And only after the celebration of his 125th anniversary it turned out that his real date of birth was 1879. Therefore, Malevich’s 125th anniversary was celebrated twice

Recently programmers came up with the “Malevich font”. It's difficult to read, but looks interesting.

7 facts about the “Black Square”

The first name of the “Black Square” is “Black quadrangle on a white background.” And it’s true: “Black Square” is not actually a square. After all, neither side is equal to the other. It's almost invisible - but you can apply a ruler and measure.

. In total, Malevich painted 4 “Black Squares”. They are all different in size and are located in Russian museums. The artist himself called his square “the beginning of everything.” But in fact, the first “Black Square” is a painted over picture. Which one - we don’t know. There was a lot of debate about whether to remove the paint from the square and look or leave everything as is. We decided to leave it. After all, first of all, this was the will of the artist. And under the x-ray you can see what kind of drawing Malevich began to draw. Most likely, this is also something geometric:

Malevich himself explained “painting over” differently. He said that he drew the square quickly, that the idea arose as an inspiration. Therefore, there was no time to look for a clean linen - and he took the one that was lying at hand.

“Black Square” quickly became a symbol of new art. It was used as a signature. Artists sewed a square piece of black fabric onto clothing. This meant that they were artists of a new generation. In the photo: Malevich’s students under a flag in the form of a black square.

What does "Black Square" mean? Everyone can understand the picture in their own way. Some people believe that in a square we see space, because in space there is no up and down. Only weightlessness and infinity. Malevich said that a square is a feeling, and a white background is nothing. It turns out that this feeling is empty. And also - the square does not occur in nature, unlike other figures. This means it is not connected to the real world. This is the whole meaning of Suprematism.

At his first exhibition in St. Petersburg, Malevich demonstratively hung “Black Square” in the corner where icons usually hung. The artist challenged the public. And the public was immediately divided into opponents of the new art and its admirers.

The main value of “Black Square” is that every admirer of Malevich’s work can hang a reproduction of the painting in his home. Moreover, it is of our own production.

And finally, a quote from Malevich, which explains all of his work: “They always demand that art be understandable, but they never demand that they adapt their heads to understanding.” Unusual paintings to you!

Unlike "Black Square", " White square» Malevich is less popular in Russia famous painting. However, it is no less mysterious and also causes a lot of controversy among experts in the field. pictorial art. The second title of this work by Kazimir Malevich is “White on White.” It was written in 1918 and belongs to a direction of painting that Malevich called Suprematism.

A little about Suprematism

It is advisable to start the story about Malevich’s painting “White Square” with a few words about Suprematism. This term comes from the Latin supremus, which means “highest.” This is one of the trends in avant-garde art, the emergence of which dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.

It is a type of abstract art and is expressed in the depiction of various combinations of multi-colored planes, representing the simplest geometric outlines. This is a straight line, square, circle, rectangle. Using their combination, balanced asymmetrical compositions are formed, which are permeated with internal movement. They are called Suprematist.

At the first stage, the term “Suprematism” meant superiority, the dominance of color over other properties of painting. According to Malevich, paint in non-objective canvases was freed for the first time from its auxiliary role. Paintings painted in this style were the first step towards “ pure creativity", which equalizes the creative powers of man and nature.

Three paintings

It should be noted that the painting we are studying has another, third name - “White Square on a White Background”, Malevich painted it in 1918. Already after the other two squares were written - black and red. The author himself wrote about them in his book “Suprematism. 34 drawings." He said that the three squares are associated with the establishment of certain worldviews and world-building:

• black is a sign of economy;
• red represents the signal for revolution;
• white is seen as pure action.

According to the artist, the white square gave him the opportunity to explore “pure action.” Other squares indicate the path, white carries white world. He affirms the sign of purity in creative life person.

From these words one can judge what Malevich’s white square means, according to the author himself. Next, the points of view of other specialists will be considered.

Two shades of white

Let's move on to the description of Kazimir Malevich's painting "White on White". When painting it, the artist used two shades of white, close to each other. The background has a slightly warm tint, with some ocher. The square itself is based on a cool bluish tint. The square is slightly inverted and is located closer to the upper right corner. This arrangement creates the illusion of movement.

In fact, the quadrangle depicted in the picture is not a square - it is a rectangle. There is evidence that at the beginning of the work the author, having drawn a square, lost sight of it. And after that, after taking a closer look, I decided to outline its borders, as well as highlight the main background. For this purpose, he drew the outlines with a grayish color, and also highlighted the background part with a different shade.

Suprematist icon

According to researchers, when Malevich worked on the painting, which was later recognized as a masterpiece, he was haunted by a feeling of “metaphysical emptiness.” This is precisely what he tried to express with great force in “White Square”. And the faded, not at all festive, only emphasizes the eerie mystical state of the author.

This work seems to follow and is a derivative of “Black Square”. And the first, no less than the second, lays claim to the “title” of an icon of Suprematism. Malevich's "White Square" shows clear and straight lines, outlining a rectangle, which, according to some researchers, is a symbol of fear and the meaninglessness of existence.

The artist poured all his spiritual experiences onto the canvas in the form of some kind of geometric abstract art, which actually carries

Interpretation of whiteness

In Russian poetry, the interpretation of the color white comes close to the Buddhist vision. For them, it means emptiness, nirvana, the incomprehensibility of existence. Painting of the 20th century, like no other, mythologizes white people.

As for the Suprematists, they saw in it primarily a symbol of multidimensional space, different from Euclidean. It plunges the observer into a meditative trance, which purifies the human soul, similar to Buddhist practice.

Kazimir Malevich himself spoke about this as follows. He wrote that the movement of Suprematism is already moving towards the pointless white nature, towards white purity, towards white consciousness, towards white excitement. And this, in his opinion, is the highest level of the contemplative state, be it movement or rest.

Escape from life's difficulties

Malevich's "White Square" was the pinnacle and end of his Suprematist painting. He himself was delighted with it. The master said that he managed to break through the azure barrier dictated by color restrictions and emerge into whiteness. He called on his comrades, calling them navigators, to sail after him towards the abyss, since he erected beacons of Suprematism, and infinity - a free white abyss - lies before them.

However, according to researchers, behind the poetic beauty of these phrases their tragic essence is visible. The white abyss is a metaphor for non-existence, that is, death. It is suggested that the artist cannot find the strength to overcome the difficulties of life and therefore retreats from them into white silence. Malevich completed two of his last exhibitions with white canvases. Thus, he seemed to confirm that he preferred going to nirvana to real reality.

Where was the painting exhibited?

As mentioned above, “White Square” was written in 1918. It was shown for the first time in the spring of 1919 in Moscow at the exhibition “Objectless Creativity and Suprematism.” In 1927, the film was shown in Berlin, after which it remained in the West.

It became the pinnacle of non-objectivity that Malevich strove for. After all, nothing can be more pointless and plotless than a white quadrangle against the same background. The artist admitted that White color attracts him with its freedom and limitlessness. Malevich’s “White Square” is often considered the first example of monochrome painting.

This is one of the few paintings by the artist that is in US collections and is available to the general American public. Perhaps it is for this reason that this picture is superior to his others famous works, not excluding “Black Square”. Here it is considered as the pinnacle of the entire Suprematist movement in painting.

Encrypted meaning or nonsense?

Some researchers believe that all kinds of interpretations about the philosophical and psychological meaning of Kazimir Malevich’s paintings, including his squares, are far-fetched. But in fact, there is no high meaning in them. An example of such opinions is the story of Malevich’s “Black Square” and the white stripes on it.

On December 19, 1915, a futuristic exhibition was being prepared in St. Petersburg, for which Malevich promised to paint several paintings. He had little time left; he either did not have time to finish the canvas for the exhibition, or was dissatisfied with the result that he rashly covered it with black paint. This is how the black square turned out.

At this time, a friend of the artist appeared in the studio and, looking at the canvas, exclaimed: “Brilliant!” And then Malevich came up with the idea of ​​a trick that could be a way out of the current situation. He decided to give the resulting black square some mysterious meaning.

This may also explain the effect of cracked paint on the canvas. That is, there is no mysticism, just a failed picture covered in black paint. It should be noted that numerous attempts have been made to examine the canvas in order to discover the original version of the image. But they were not successful. Today they have been stopped so as not to damage the masterpiece.

Upon closer inspection, hints of other tones, colors and patterns, as well as white stripes, can be seen through the craquelure. But this is not necessarily the painting located under the top layer. This may well be the bottom layer of the square itself, which was formed during the process of writing it.

It should be noted that there are very many similar versions regarding the artificial excitement around all Malevich squares. a large number of. But what really? Most likely, the secret of this artist will never be revealed.

During his 56 years of life, Kazimir Malevich managed to invent a new direction in art, abandon it, and most importantly, create one of the most revolutionary paintings in the history of painting.

Draftsman

Kazimir Malevich's first profession was very distantly connected with art - he worked as a draftsman in the Administration of the Kursk-Moscow railway. Several times I tried unsuccessfully to move to Moscow and enter college. Moscow school painting, sculpture and architecture, tried to study painting and participated in artistic life, but each time he returned to Kursk. The artist’s mother managed to move the family to Moscow, who got a job as a canteen manager and after a while called her son and daughter-in-law to her place.

Spoons in buttonhole

In February 1914, Malevich participated in a shocking “futurist demonstration”, during which artists walked along the Kuznetsky Bridge with wooden Khokhloma spoons in their coat buttonholes. Malevich himself subsequently showed off more than once with a similar accessory.

Triumph of the square

Kazimir Malevich invents a new direction in art - Suprematism, which was characterized by a rejection of figurative painting. Now all the most important concepts could be expressed using combinations simple figures: square, circle, cross, line and dot. In 1915, he showed his famous “Black Square” at the “0.10” exhibition. A whole room was allocated for the artist’s works, in which the image of a square occupied exactly the “red corner”, the place where icons traditionally hung in houses. In addition to the “Black Square”, two other of his software works: “Black Circle” and “Black Cross”, which introduced the main elements of the new “ABC of Suprematism”. Malevich would return to depicting simple figures more than once, creating “Red Square” and “White Square”, as well as several author’s repetitions of the famous “Black Square”. In addition, this iconic work was reproduced many times by his students and followers and soon became a visual symbol of avant-garde art.

"Forge of the Avant-Garde"

At the invitation of Marc Chagall in 1919, Malevich moved to Vitebsk to teach at Narodny art school, which in terms of the intensity of its artistic life could only be compared with the German Bauhaus. On the basis of the school, Malevich creates a new avant-garde association “UNOVIS” (“Advocates of New Art”). Its symbol was a black square, which was worn sewn onto the sleeve. At the Vitebsk School they not only taught painting and architecture, but also organized exhibitions and discussed philosophical questions, came up with new concepts and staged avant-garde performances, including a unique Suprematist ballet, which can be called the world's first performance.

Red Commissioner

Immediately after the revolution, Malevich, like many avant-garde artists, was favored by the Soviet authorities. He was appointed Commissioner for the Protection of Monuments and a member of the Commission for the Protection of artistic values, then he worked at Narkompros (People's Commissariat of Education), directed art institutes, and traveled with exhibitions to Warsaw and Berlin. But nothing lasts forever. By the early 1930s art course Soviet power changes, Suprematism becomes obsolete, and Malevich is arrested. With the help of influential friends, he manages to justify himself, but his authority in the Soviet artistic community is irrevocably undermined, Malevich’s work is subjected to harsh criticism. Throughout Soviet period official art criticism recognized only one abstract work by Malevich - the painting “Red Cavalry Galloping” from the Russian Museum.

Return to realism

IN last years life, the artist returns to realism. This is usually explained by the fact that Malevich gave in to the demands of the authorities, but perhaps this was only a natural continuation of his earlier ideas. Now, in order to penetrate into the essence of things, it is not necessary to destroy their form. Squares, circles and human figures are equally expressive. The extremely realistically written “Working Woman” is, in essence, a conventional geometric abstraction. During this period, Malevich came close to postmodern freedom in the used expressive means, adapting the painting manners of Renaissance artists or impressionists depending on their goals.

Suprematist funeral

As the artist bequeathed, his funeral was filled with Suprematist symbolism. Malevich still considered “Black Square” his main work, so the image of the square was everywhere - on the coffin, in the hall of the civil funeral service, and even on the train carriage that carried the artist’s body to Moscow. According to Malevich, he was supposed to lie in his Suprematist coffin, with his arms outstretched, “spread out on the ground and opening to the sky.” The artist’s ashes were buried in the village of Nemchinovka near Moscow. After the Great Patriotic War the exact location was forgotten and lost. Now the supposed burial place of Malevich is located on the territory of an elite residential complex.