Gallery · Room 04 · Russia, 1915–1920s
Suprematism
Pure geometric shapes floating on white, with nothing left to describe.
Wall text
Kazimir Malevich gave the name Suprematism to an abstract art built from the simplest geometric forms, such as squares, circles, lines and rectangles, painted in a small range of colors.
It was first shown at the exhibition 0.10 in Petrograd in December 1915. Malevich hung thirty-five abstract paintings, led in the catalogue by his black square on a white ground. He placed the square high across a corner of the room, where an icon traditionally hangs in a Russian home.
The forms float on a white ground with no horizon, so color seems to drift in space. In 1916 and 1917 Malevich's group Supremus included Liubov Popova, Ivan Kliun, Olga Rozanova and Nadezhda Udaltsova. El Lissitzky met Malevich in 1919 and carried the ideas into Constructivism and design. Under Stalin, Malevich's career faded, and he died in 1935.
