Formal elements of Suprematism
In The Non-Objective World Malevich described his struggle to free himself from any visual representation, whether naturalistic, Impressionist, Cubist, or Futurist. He found liberation in the square, devoid of color. During the 20th century, other artists developed other systems for expressing emotional response rather than identifiable objects or people. For the pioneer Malevich, elemental geometric shapes “formed the basis for a new language that could express an ‘entire system of world-building’” [Sarabianov 1990: 166].
“The black square on the white field was the first form in which non-objective feeling came to be expressed. The square = feeling, the white field = the void beyond this feeling” [Malevich, trans. by Dearstyne 1959: 76].
Malevich found that black against white gave a suggestion of space. His white ground was not a simple, flat white, but a complex and slightly textured application of multiple pigments (typically lead white and zinc white) and other white materials (calcium carbonate and barium sulfate) [Railing 2011: 48; Shatskikh 2012: 252]. To create the visual illusion of space, Malevich arranged certain colors – often white, black, red – in a particular manner. This became a basic tenet of Suprematism [Walker 1990: xi].
“…as planes all the Suprematist forms are units of the Suprematist square. Most of them fall into line along diagonal and vertical axes… They also attain their maximum intensity when the Suprematist forms are positioned horizontally. … The forms are built exclusively on white, which is intended to signify infinite space” [Malevich 1921, trans. Bowlt. 1990: 178].
Railing [2011] went further, arguing that these paintings reflected Malevich’s study and experience of the optical qualities of light: “These are the phenomena of the pure sensation of seeing… when the eye, stimulated by a bright light such as the sun, produces luminous planes of color in the eye’s optical field, numerous shapes and colors floating in front of the closed eyes” [49].
Malevich, Kazimir, trans. by John E. Bowlt. 1990. Futurism-Suprematism, 1921. Pp. 177-8 in Kazimir Malevich, ed. by Jeanne D’Andrea. Exhibition catalogue. Los Angeles: The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center.
Malevich, Kazimir, trans. by Howard Dearstyne. 1959. The Non-Objective World. Chicago: P. Theobald. (Originally written and translated into German in 1927.)
Railing, Patricia. 2011. Malevich’s Suprematist Palette: ‘Colour is light.’ InCoRM Journal 2 (Spring-Autumn): 47-57
Sarabianov, Dmitrii, trans. by John E. Bowlt. 1990. Malevich and his art, 1900-1930. Pp. 164-8 in Kazimir Malevich, ed. by Jeanne D’Andrea. Exhibition catalogue. Los Angeles: The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center.
Shatskikh, Aleksandra, trans. by Marian Schwartz. 2012. Black Square: Malevich and the Origin of Suprematism. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Walker, John. 1990. Foreword. Page x in Kazimir Malevich, ed. by Jeanne D’Andrea. Exhibition catalogue. Los Angeles: The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center.