Malevich Square - Interesting Facts. Malevich's "White Square": features, history and interesting facts Interesting facts about Malevich's square

His most famous painting, Black Square, is now valued at more than $20 million. The author himself called this work the pinnacle of his work.

Square, circle, cross

In 1913 Kazimir Malevich Together with fellow Suprematists, he prepared a production of the opera Victory over the Sun. All the scenery for the performance was made by the artist himself. In these works, he first sketched the idea of ​​the picture - in the opera, a black square replaced the sun, thereby telling the audience that Suprematist creativity now illuminates the path for those who go forward.

That is why the year of the appearance of the Black Square itself is designated by the artist as 1913, although he painted his masterpiece in 1915.

Then all the Suprematists were preparing for the exhibition "0.10" in St. Petersburg. For them, in the “Art Bureau N.E. Dobychina” was allocated two whole halls, at least 30 works were required, but so many were not recruited. They say that before the exhibition, Malevich painted day and night. It was then in this race for the number of Suprematist paintings that the triptych appeared - "Black Square", "Black Circle" and "Black Cross".

It would seem that the artist worked for quantity. But no, as soon as the "Black Square" was completed, Malevich breathed a sigh of relief. He said that he created his main work - and at the exhibition he hoisted it into the "red corner" of the hall, the place where the viewer's eye immediately fell.

Black square in the "red corner" of the exhibition "0.10", 1915. Source: Public Domain

Negro battle

For more than 100 years, all people who are not indifferent to the "Black Square" have explored the length and breadth of the picture, trying to find secret meaning. Someone thought that Malevich just laughed at everyone. Someone saw the grand philosophical meaning, and someone - just a way to earn money and remembered the fabulous amount that you can get for this picture. But only in 2015, using X-rays, researchers discovered that two more drawings by Kazimir Malevich, cubo-futuristic and proto-suprematist, were hidden behind the black square. Also under the black paint museum workers found letters. From them they managed to put together the phrase: "Battle of the Negroes at night."

Malevich himself said this about his Black Square: “I could neither sleep nor eat. I was trying to figure out what I did. But he couldn't."

The experts of the Tretyakov Gallery found a painting under the paint layer color image. Photo: RIA Novosti / Vladimir Vyatkin

Four Masterpieces

The artist's "Black Square" is presented in four copies, but they all differ from each other in some way - in color, in texture, in drawing, in size. You can see and compare them by visiting Russian museums. The first "Square" lives in Tretyakov Gallery. The second, which, according to many experts, was painted by the artist's associates under his guidance, is in the Russian Museum. The third Malevich depicted already in 1929 specifically for the Tretyakov Gallery, where he is kept together with the first "Square". But with the fourth incarnation of the main figure of Suprematism, Detective story. In the 1990s, this painting was left as collateral in a bank in Samara, but the owner never came to pick it up. Canvas redeemed Vladimir Potanin, paying for it, according to rumors, a million dollars, and gave the creation of Kazimir Malevich to the Hermitage.

A picture instead of an icon?

The funeral of Kazimir Malevich, oddly enough, is also associated with the black square. Malevich himself insisted that he be buried according to the Suprematist rite. Therefore, a special sarcophagus was made for the ceremony, on the lid of which a black square was painted. Those wishing to say goodbye to the creator could not only see Malevich in last time, but also to look at the painting "Black Square", which stood next to the coffin. After the memorial service, the sarcophagus was hoisted onto a truck, on which a black square was also previously applied. Since Malevich died in Leningrad, and the body was to be buried in the Moscow region, the sarcophagus was transported by train to the capital. The second memorial service for Malevich was already held in the Donskoy Monastery. And there, near the sarcophagus, among the flowers, there was not a portrait of Malevich, but the Black Square. Needless to say, the monument on the artist's grave in Nemchinovka was the embodiment of a black square on a white cube. During the battles in the Great Patriotic War the monument disappeared, information about the exact burial place of Kazimir Malevich was gradually lost.

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

A bit 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, the emergence of which dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.

It is a kind of abstract art and is expressed in the image of various combinations of multi-colored planes, which are the simplest geometric outlines. This is a straight line, square, circle, rectangle. With the help of their combination, balanced asymmetric compositions are formed, which are permeated with internal movement. They are called suprematists.

At the first stage, the term "Suprematism" meant the superiority, the dominance of color over the rest of the properties of painting. According to Malevich, paint in non-objective canvases was for the first time freed from a supporting role. The paintings painted in this style were the first step towards "pure creativity", equalizing creative forces 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 worldbuildings:

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

According to the artist, the white square gave him the opportunity to study "pure action". Other squares indicate the way, white carries the white world. He affirms the sign of purity in creative life person.

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

Two shades of white

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

In fact, the quadrilateral shown 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, having looked closely, I decided to outline its boundaries, as well as highlight the main background. To this end, he painted the outlines in 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." That is what he tried to express with great force in the "White Square". And faded, not at all festive, only emphasizes the eerie-mystical state of the author.

This work, as it were, follows, is a derivative of the Black Square. And the first, no less than the second, claims the "title" of the icon of Suprematism. On the "White Square" by Malevich, clear and straight lines, outlining a rectangle, which, according to some researchers, are 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 white color approaches the vision of Buddhists. For them, it denotes emptiness, nirvana, the incomprehensibility of being. Painting of the 20th century, like no other, mythologizes white.

As for the Suprematists, they saw in him, first of all, a symbol of a multidimensional space, different from Euclidean. It plunges the observer into a meditative trance, which purifies the soul of a person, 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 excitements. And this, in his opinion, is the highest level contemplative state, be it movement or stillness.

Escape from life's difficulties

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

However, according to researchers, their tragic essence is visible behind the poetic beauty of these phrases. The white abyss is a metaphor for non-existence, that is, death. A conjecture is expressed that the artist cannot find the strength in himself to overcome the difficulties of life and therefore leaves them in white silence. Malevich completed two of his last exhibitions with white canvases. Thus, he confirmed that reality prefers to go to nirvana.

Where was the painting exhibited?

As mentioned above, "White Square" was written in 1918. For the first time it was shown in the spring of 1919 in Moscow at the exhibition "Pointless Creativity and Suprematism". In 1927, the picture was shown in Berlin, after which it remained in the West.

She became the pinnacle of non-objectivity, to which Malevich aspired. After all, nothing can be more pointless and plotless than a white quadrangle on the same background. The artist admitted that White color beckons him with its freedom and infinity. Malevich's "White Square" is often regarded as the first example of monochrome painting.

This is one of the few paintings by the artist, which ended up in US collections and is available to the general American public. Perhaps this is the reason why this painting is superior to his others. famous works, not excluding the Black Square. Here she is considered as the pinnacle of the entire Suprematist trend in painting.

Encrypted meaning or nonsense?

Some researchers believe that all kinds of interpretations about the philosophical and psychological significance of Kazimir Malevich's paintings, including his squares, are far-fetched. In fact, they don't really make any sense. 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 smeared it with black paint. So it turned out a black square.

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 this situation. He decided to give the resulting black square some mysterious meaning.

This can also explain the effect of cracked paint on the canvas. That is, no mysticism, just a failed picture filled with black paint. It should be noted that attempts were repeatedly made to study the canvas in order to find the original version of the image. But they did not end with success. To date, they have been discontinued so as not to damage the masterpiece.

Looking closely through the craquelure, you can see a hint of other tones, colors and patterns, as well as white stripes. But it's not necessarily the picture under top layer. This may well be the bottom layer of the square itself, which was formed in the process of writing it.

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

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich (1878 - 1935) - an artist famous in the genre of avant-garde, impressionism, futurism, cubism.

Biography of Kazimir Malevich

Kazimir Malevich was born in Kyiv on February 11 (February 23), 1879. His parents were of Polish origin. His father, Severin, worked as a manager in Kyiv at the factory of the then-famous sugar factory Tereshchenko. But according to other data, the father of Kazimir Malevich was the Belarusian folklorist and ethnographer Severin Antonovich Malevich. However, if the identity of the artist's father raises questions, then it is known for certain that Kazimir's mother, Ludwig Alexandrovna, was an ordinary housewife.

Fourteen souls of children were born in the family, but only nine survived to adulthood, and Casimir was the eldest among this noisy gang.

He began to draw with light hand his mother, at the age of fifteen, after she gave her son a set of paints. When Malevich was seventeen, he worked for some time at the Kyiv art school N.I. Murashko.

The Malevichs decided to move the whole family to the city of Kursk in 1896. What this decision to move was connected with is unknown, but what is known is that Kazimir worked there for some time as some petty official, languishing from routine longing.

This could not go on for a long time, so he nevertheless gave up his career as a clerk for the sake of painting.

His first paintings were painted under the influence french impressionists and themselves, of course, were also created in the style of impressionism. After some time, he became passionately interested in futurism. He was almost the most active participant in all futuristic exhibitions, and even worked on costumes and scenery, in a word, designed a futuristic opera called "Victory over the Sun" in 1913. This performance, held in St. Petersburg, became one of the most milestones in the development of the entire Russian avant-garde.

It was the geometrization of forms and the maximum simplification in design that prompted Kazimir Malevich to think about creating a new direction - Suprematism.

Creativity Malevich

The artist made a revolution, took a step that no one in the world could decide before him. He completely abandoned figurativeness, even fragmented figurativeness, which had previously existed in Futurism and Cubism.

The artist showed his first forty-nine paintings to the world at an exhibition held in Petrograd in 1915 - "0.10". Under his works, the artist placed a sign: "Suprematism in painting." Among these canvases was the world-famous "Black Square", written in 1914 (?), which caused fierce attacks from critics. However, these attacks do not subside to this day.

The very next year, Kazimir Malevich published a pamphlet titled “From Cubism to Suprematism. New pictorial realism ”, in which he clearly justified his innovation.

Suprematism eventually had so much a huge impact not only for painting, but also for architectural art West and Russia, which brought its creator truly world fame.

Suprematism Musical instrument flower girl

Like all artists of a non-standard, "left" direction, Kazimir Malevich was very active during the revolution.

The artist was engaged in the scenery for the first performance of Vladimir Mayakovsky's "Mystery - buff" in 1918, he was in charge art department at the Moscow Soviet. When he moved to Petrograd, he was in charge and taught at the Free Art Workshops.

In the autumn of 1919, Kazimir went to the city of Vitebsk to teach at the People's Art School, which was organized by Marc Chagall, and which was soon transformed into the Artistic and Practical Institute. He left Vitebsk only in 1922 to return to Petrograd and work for porcelain factory, to invent more and more new forms of murals, studied the possibilities of applying Suprematism in architecture.

In 1932, Malevich achieved the position of head of the Experimental Laboratory at the Russian Museum, where he developed the theory of the "surplus element in painting", which he had put forward earlier.

In the same 1932, Malevich suddenly turned again to traditional realism. Perhaps this was due to the trends of the new time, but, one way or another, but to finish this new period Kazimir Malevich could not do his own work. In 1933 he fell seriously ill, and two years later, in 1935, he died.

Almost 100 years have passed since Kazimir Malevich created the famous Black Square, and the hype around him has not subsided. Consensus how exactly famous painting was created, has not yet arrived. About the history of the origin of the masterpiece, on this moment, there are two versions: prosaic and mystical.

The prose version tells how Malevich prepared for a very big exhibition. But the circumstances did not develop in his favor and the artist either did not have time to finish the work, or simply ruined it. And in a panic, not knowing what to do, he grabbed a dark paint and drew a black square on top of his work. As a result, the so-called “crackle” effect was formed on the canvas - this is when the paint cracks. So it turns out as a result of applying paint to another one that has not dried. It is in this chaotic arrangement huge amount cracks people find different images.

But the mystical version says that Kazimir worked on this work for more than one month. Through the philosophical understanding of the world, when a certain deep understanding and insight was achieved, and the "Black Square" was created.

After the painting was finally finished, the creator could neither sleep nor eat. As the creator himself wrote, he was busy peering into the mysterious space of the black square. He claimed that he sees in this square what people once saw in the face of God.

Why is this picture known to the whole world? There are few people who do not know about it. Maybe the whole point is that no one did this before Malevich? Maybe it's about innovation?

But! The thing is that Kazimir Malevich was not the first artist who painted a black square on canvas.

In Paris, in 1882, there was an exhibition called "The Art of the Inconsistent" and the work of six artists took part in the exhibition. The most extraordinary picture was recognized by the work, which was called "Night Fight of Negroes in the Basement" by Paul Bilhod. Guess what was on it? A lot of artists fail just because they didn't get their work right.

A brilliant artist, one of the most misunderstood (or misunderstood?), endlessly discussed (and condemned), but unconditionally recognized (especially abroad), innovators of Russian visual arts- Kazimir Malevich, was the first of 14 children of the gentry Severin Malevich, who lives with his wife Ludviga Galinovskaya in the Vinnitsa province.

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

But the passion for creativity, in the end, prevailed and, having managed to get married by that time, Malevich left his family, went to Moscow in 1905 - to enter the school of painting (where he was not accepted!).

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

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 vibrant life.

Most famous work Kazimir Malevich. Only four paintings created in different time. The very first, 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 such a low price of the immortal, the most famous Russian painting in the world, is 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 versions of the "Black Square" are in the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow) and one in the Russian Museum (St. Petersburg).
In addition to the Suprematist "Black Square" (first invented by Malevich as a scenery for M.V.

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

Career

And not enrolled in any educational institution the great self-taught Kazimir Malevich, becomes the author of a number of scientific works, propagandist own direction in art, the founder of a group of like-minded avant-garde artists "UNOVIS" and the director of the Leningrad State Institute of Artistic Culture!

Wives

Marrying in young age(his wife had the same name as him - Kazimira Zgleits), Malevich, after moving to Moscow, was forced to dissolve the marriage. Taking two children, his wife left for the village of Meshcherskoye, getting a job as a paramedic in a psychiatric hospital, and then fled, entangled with a local doctor, leaving the young children of one of her colleagues, Sofya Mikhailovna Rafalovich.

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

Prison

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 sketch. An urn with ashes was lowered under an oak tree, near the village of Nemchinovka (Odintsovsky district of Moscow region), setting up a wooden monument above it: a cube with a black square (made by a student of Kazimir Malevich - Nikolai Suetin).

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

On May 15, 1935, one of the most famous avant-garde artists in the world, 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 misunderstood?), endlessly discussed (and condemned), but unconditionally recognized (especially abroad), innovators of Russian fine art - Kazimir Malevich, was the first of 14 children of the gentry Severin Malevich, who lives with his wife Ludviga Galinovskaya in the Vinnitsa province.

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

But the passion for creativity, in the end, prevailed and, having managed to get married by that time, Malevich left his family, went to Moscow in 1905 - to enter the school of painting (where he was not accepted!).

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

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 vibrant life.

The most famous work of Kazimir Malevich. Only four paintings created at different times. The very first, 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 such a low price of the immortal, the most famous Russian painting in the world, is 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 versions of the "Black Square" are in the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow) and one in the Russian Museum (St. Petersburg).
In addition to the Suprematist "Black Square" (first invented by Malevich as a scenery for M.V.

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

Career

The great self-taught Kazimir Malevich, who did not enter any educational institution, becomes the author of a number of scientific works, a propagandist of his own direction in art, the creator of a group of like-minded avant-garde artists UNOVIS and the director of the Leningrad State Institute of Artistic Culture!

Wives

Having married at a young age (his wife bore the same name as him - Kazimira Zgleits), Malevich, after moving to Moscow, was forced to dissolve the marriage. Taking two children, his wife left for the village of Meshcherskoye, getting a job as a paramedic in a psychiatric hospital, and then fled, entangled with a local doctor, leaving the young children of one of her colleagues, Sofya Mikhailovna Rafalovich.

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

Prison

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 sketch. An urn with ashes was lowered under an oak tree, near the village of Nemchinovka (Odintsovsky district, Moscow region), and a wooden monument was erected over it: a 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 and cut it down, and a road for heavy military equipment passed along the artist's grave.