Synopses & Reviews
A key figure in a succession of art movements in the early 20th century, Kazimir Malevich (1879andndash;1935) was Russiaandrsquo;s most influential avant-garde artist. His style of severe geometric abstraction, which he called andldquo;suprematism,andrdquo; was a precursor to constructivism. When, in the 1930s, his work was banned in the Soviet Union after theStalinist regime labeled abstract art as andldquo;bourgeois,andrdquo; he developed a new kind of fi guration, still with the sole aim of communicating his theories about the nature of art. Illustrated with paintings, drawings, and sculptures, as well as the teaching charts Malevich used to explain his ideas, this expansive volume offers new insight into the artistandrsquo;s career. Accessible essays by leading art historians discuss all aspects of his diverse output, offering an overview of his groundbreaking work, as well as a detailed exploration of many of his drawings, teaching activities, and revolutionary ideas.
Synopsis
In 1927, Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935)--the creator of the modernist icon -Black Square on a White Ground---published The World as Objectlessness, his vision of a -world of non-representation, - through the Bauhaus publishing arm. For a long time this book was Malevich's only publication in a Western language, and the title then, somewhat imprecisely translated, was Die gegenstandslose Welt (The Non-Objective World). Malevich described his theory as -the supremacy of pure feeling or perception in the pictorial arts, - and emphasized the -feeling- of a work, rather than the depiction of objects, advancing a philosophy that was both anti-material and non-utilitarian, focusing on geometric forms--lines, squares and circles--within a limited chromatic range. This volume offers a new translation of the artist's illustrated text, along with important research on the preliminary drawings made for the Bauhaus publication, which are now in the possession of the Kunstmuseum Basel. The intensive research on these works of art provides new insights into the history of this creation: when and where were the illustrations done, and what stage in Malevich's artistic development do they reflect? Malevich's The World as Objectlessness is a snapshot of a moment in a boundless artistic universe.
About the Author
Achim Borchardt-Hume is head of exhibitions at Tate Modern.