Why Is This Black Square Renowned?

On the 19th of December, 1915, an exhibition showcasing avant-garde artworks commenced in what is presently recognized as St. Petersburg, Russia. Among these pieces, many challenged conventional boundaries of form and style, yet one in particular sparked controversy. Kazimir Malevich's "Black Square" hung in the corner of the room, symbolically occupying a space traditionally reserved for religious icons.

Critics derided the painting's simplicity, asserting that even a child could have produced it. Some went as far as to claim that the "Black Square" would lead humanity to its downfall. Such critiques have plagued paintings like Malevich's, as their outward simplicity incites outrage and bewilderment.

However, a closer examination reveals that Malevich's work is far more intricate than it initially appears, and it may not even depict a black square at all. Contrary to its name, the central form of the painting is neither perfectly black nor perfectly square. Its sides lack parallelism and equal length, and the shape is not precisely centered on the canvas. Instead, Malevich deliberately positioned the form slightly askew, imbuing it with an illusion of movement and the white space surrounding it with a vibrant, living quality.

Technical analysis has revealed that Malevich had previously utilized the canvas for two other paintings. Presently, cracks in the aged paint, known as craquelure, reveal fragments of dusty yellows, vivid reds, and faded emeralds, hinting at the various stages Malevich underwent before arriving at the painting's final form. His creative process is also evident in the vigorous brushstrokes, proudly displayed and moving in multiple directions. Additionally, traces of hair and Malevich's fingerprints are embedded in the paint, adding both metaphorical and literal texture to the artwork.

Malevich's entire history is deeply intertwined with the "Black Square" in numerous ways. He was born to parents who spoke Polish in Ukraine and resided there until he had saved enough funds to travel to Moscow. Upon his arrival in 1904, he immersed himself in all the avant-garde styles that were prevalent in the city. He experimented with Impressionism, assimilated Post-Impressionism, underwent a futurist phase, and was influenced by the Cubists.

By 1913, Malevich was on the brink of a significant breakthrough. He realized that even the most innovative artists were still painting objects from everyday life. However, he was irresistibly drawn to what he referred to as the "desert, where nothing is real except feeling." As a result, the feeling became the substance of his work, culminating in the creation of "Black Square" and a new style he named "Suprematism," where feeling alone was made supreme. This was achieved through non-objectivity, a departure from the world of objects so extreme that it went beyond abstraction.

Malevich believed that the simplification and distortion that characterized abstract art were ultimately meaningless since these styles were still focused on depicting real-world objects. To him, only the completely non-representational would truly be new. While this radical approach alarmed critics, Malevich was undeterred. He spent the next decade explaining his Suprematist works in essays and teaching his ideas to a new generation of artists.

However, after Stalin's rise to power in the 1920s, avant-garde approaches like Suprematism were deemed unproductive for the Communist state. Eventually, it became dangerous to produce any art outside of socialist realism, an enforced artistic style celebrating Soviet leaders and heroic workers. In 1930, Malevich was arrested by Soviet authorities for spreading subversive ideas. Under severe pressure, he returned to figuration, painting peasants standing robotically in barren Over time, the figures underwent a gradual disintegration, losing their arms and ffacesas the grip of mechanization tightened its hold on the countryside.

Simultaneously, Malevich produced a self-portrait that appeared to have completely forsaken Suprematism. However, the open hand depicted in the painting formed a quadrilateral, and a revolution square was situated in its corner. This symbolized a man who had endured the trials of wars and revolutions yet remained steadfast in his pursuit of creating new art - a sanctuary of pure emotion that transcended the weight of material objects and the anguish of a fractured world. Nevertheless, even these later paintings retained glimmers of his earlier ideas.