Featuring Selections from the Khardziev and Costakis Collections
Text by Linda S. Boersma, Bart Rutten, Aleksandra Shatskikh.
In 1915, Kazimir Malevich (1878–1935) radically transformed the course of twentieth-century art with his "Black Square" painting and his manifesto "From Cubism to Suprematism." These works espoused a new art of pure geometricism, intended to be universally comprehensible regardless of cultural origin. Although he is famed for his rigorous pursuit of the "non-objective," Malevich in fact explored many strands of painting, embracing at various stages Impressionism, Symbolism, Fauvism and Cubism, as well as traditional Russian folk art. Drawing on the collections of Nikolai Khardzhiev and Georges Costakis--the two leading collectors of Russian avant-garde art, whose collections were largely assembled at a time when abstract art was banned in the Soviet Union--this catalogue traces the breadth of Malevich’s career through his oil paintings, gouaches, drawings, sculptures and designs for opera and film. All phases of his development are represented here, from his early Impressionist-style work to his iconic Suprematist pieces, as well as his lesser-known figurative paintings and works on paper. These are contextualized alongside work by Malevich’s contemporaries, such as Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky, Natalia Goncharova, Vera Pester, Ivan Puni and Mikhail Meno.
"Suprematist No. 38" (1915-1916) is reproduced from Kazimir Malevich and the Russian Avant-Garde.
Kazimir Malevich was one of the most extraordinary and innovative artists of the twentieth century. As one of the founders of abstract art, Malevich has had an indelible impact of the course of history. Not only an artist, he was an influential teacher and a passionate advocate of the 'new' art. Charismatic and self-assured, Malevich became the leader of a new generation of Russian avant-garde artists, which would go on to create a new art for a new era. Featured image, "Yellow Plane in Dissolution" (1917), is reproduced from the Spring 2014 title, Kazimir Malevich and the Russian Avant-Garde, published to accompany the first major survey of the artist's work in 20 years, currently on view at the Stedelijk Museum. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 7 x 11 in. / 240 pgs / 349 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $59.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $70 ISBN: 9783863354206 PUBLISHER: Walther König, Köln/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam AVAILABLE: 1/31/2014 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AU/NZ AFR
Kazimir Malevich and the Russian Avant-Garde Featuring Selections from the Khardziev and Costakis Collections
Published by Walther König, Köln/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Text by Linda S. Boersma, Bart Rutten, Aleksandra Shatskikh.
In 1915, Kazimir Malevich (1878–1935) radically transformed the course of twentieth-century art with his "Black Square" painting and his manifesto "From Cubism to Suprematism." These works espoused a new art of pure geometricism, intended to be universally comprehensible regardless of cultural origin. Although he is famed for his rigorous pursuit of the "non-objective," Malevich in fact explored many strands of painting, embracing at various stages Impressionism, Symbolism, Fauvism and Cubism, as well as traditional Russian folk art. Drawing on the collections of Nikolai Khardzhiev and Georges Costakis--the two leading collectors of Russian avant-garde art, whose collections were largely assembled at a time when abstract art was banned in the Soviet Union--this catalogue traces the breadth of Malevich’s career through his oil paintings, gouaches, drawings, sculptures and designs for opera and film. All phases of his development are represented here, from his early Impressionist-style work to his iconic Suprematist pieces, as well as his lesser-known figurative paintings and works on paper. These are contextualized alongside work by Malevich’s contemporaries, such as Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky, Natalia Goncharova, Vera Pester, Ivan Puni and Mikhail Meno.
