FLASH SITE
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich
Born in Kiev in 1878. Died in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1935. Together with Kandinsky and Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich was one of the founders and theoreticians of non-objective art. He studied first in Kiev, and at the beginning of the 1900s, in Moscow, at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecutre and the studio of F.I. Rerberg. This was a time of discoveries for the young artist. In Moscow, thanks to the extensive collections of French paintings owned by S.I. Shchukin and I.A. Morozov, Malevich learned about Impressionism, Cubism and Fauvism, became good friends with young artists, and participated in exhibitions of “The Jack of Diamonds” and “Donkey’s Tail” groups. Having gotten over his interest in Impressionism, during which he painted mainly sketches from life, Malevich took an interest in Cubo-Futurism. He began to work with the poets Alexei Kruchenykh and Velimir Khlebnikov, and in 1913 created the decor for the futuristic opera “Victory Over the Sun” (libretto by Kruchenykh, prologue by Khlebnikov, music by Mikhail Matyushin). This was the period of alogism, of unintelligible creative work, which would be replaced by a trend of art developed by Malevich himself—Suprematism. In 1915, Malevich created the most renowned of his works, Black Square, which was first displayed at the “0.10” exhibition in Petrograd along with 38 other Suprematist works, thus issuing the manifesto of Suprematism. The revolutionary events in Russia were in keeping with the revolutionary nature of Malevich’s art. As early as 1919, Malevich’s first personal exhibition was opened in Moscow. From 1919 to 1922, the artist lived and worked in Vitebsk, and began to teach. From among his pupils, he formed the group “Unovis” (Affirmers of the New Art). During these years, Malevich created most of his philosophical-theoretical texts. From 1923, the artist lived in Petrograd, and continued to teach. In the mid 1920s, he went on to construct spatial Suprematist compositions called architectons. In 1927, Malevich exhibited his works abroad for the first time in Berlin. Later, the creative work of Malevich was marked by a return to figurative art.
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich
Re-photographed from collection of the artist’s family
Courtesy of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
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