Kasimir Malevich
Born - Kiev, Ukraine 1878
Died - Leningrad, USSR 1935
Kasimir Malevich went to Moscow in 1905, where his work developed under the influence of French Post-Impressionism. He was invited to take part in Larionov's first Knave of Diamonds exhibition. Malevich visited Paris in about 1912 and returned full of enthusiasm for Cubism. Declaring that he wished to "free art from the burden of the object", he invented a new movement called Supermatism, which was a pure form of Cubism. in 1915, he exhibited thirty-six abstract works including the infamous Black Square - literally just that. In later Supermatism works, Malevich moved away from his stark minimalism to introduce colour, depth and, occasionally, softer forms. Dynamic Supermatism is an example of a cool, coloured, geometric work in which the abstract forms combine and overlap without any emotional distraction. In 1918, a painting of a white square on a white ground became the logical extension of his non-objective art. Realizing that there was nowhere further for him to go, Malevich stopped painting and turned to writing and teaching. In the 1920s he developed three-dimensional sculptures, important to the growth of Constructivism.
Masterpieces:
- Woman with Buckets
- Supermatism: Yellow and Black.
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.