Suprematism

Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition, 1915

Suprematism was founded by Kazimir Malevich in 1913. Suprematism called for pure abstraction, and non-objective art. Malevich believed that art should liberate and be liberated from the representational world. Suprematist art did not represent "meaningless objects" from the representational world, and only the feeling evoked from it was thought to have true significance. The art was made up of purely geometrical shapes with no political or social reference. The images are above politics and the natural world. By detaching the images from reality Malevich creates a utopian artwork. It becomes a form of art that anyone can relate to. Free from any references. Suprematist painting is thus free from the constraints and restrictions of reality. The purity of basic geometrical shapes evokes emotion and contemplation. Malevich defines Suprematism in his published essays, The World of Non-Objectivity, as “the supremacy of pure feeling in creative art.”

Kazimir Malevich, Red Square/Black Square, 1914

As in Suprematist Composition, Malevich’s art consisted of shapes painted on pure canvas. The Suprematist images painted by Malevich were not based on any images from reality. Red Square/Black Square was exhibited in Malevich’s 0.10 Exhibition. Here, Malevich suspends floating squares in ephemeral space. Again, he uses pure geometric shapes. Each form is free and individual, not a naïve copy from the representational world.

On the downside, Suprematism called for total and complete abstraction, and its creativity was limited. Undoubtedly it was a short-lived movement, and even the founding father of the movement, Malevich returned to figurative painting by 1930. However, Suprematism had great influence on the Constructivists, which in turn influenced the Bauhaus. Principles and theories of the movement have become wide spread.