Overview

Kasimir Malevich's (1878-1935) sudden and startling realization of a nonrepresentational way of painting, which he called Suprematism, stands as a seminal moment in twentieth-century art. Rainer Crone and David Moos trace the artist's development from his beginnings in the Ukraine to his involvement with Futurist circles in Moscow through to the late 1920s and beyond. They convincingly demonstrate that Malevich's late representational painting, still widely misunderstood, solidifies his extraordinarily inventive stance. Against the historical background of distinctly Russian progressive cultural and scientific movements, the authors define affinities between Malevich's work and other nonpolitical revolutions: relativity and quantum theory in physics; the work of Roman Jakobson and the ""Prague School"" in linguistics; and the exploration of language in the writings of the poet Velimir Khlebnikov. They situate the artist within the fundamental epistemological shift from nineteenth-century objectivity to an all-pervasive modernist subjectivity, relying upon Malevich's contribution to illustrate the ways cultural production is mediated through various modes of transmission. Rainer Crone holds the Chair for Twentieth Century Art at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit t, Munich, and is adjunct professor of art history at Columbia University. David Moos is a doctoral candidate in art history at Columbia University.

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9781780233796

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There are nuggets of great value. Of most significance is the analysis of the usually neglected figurative paintings Malevich painted after his Supremacist excursions. The achievements of these final works are excellently revealed as a synthetic climax to his dual exploration of Being and the nature of art. The discussion of such works as the Self-portraits, Complex presentiment and Peasant woman is both lucid and illuminating. * <i>Burlington Magazine</i> * . . . reading it offers very real insight into the the difficulties of understanding the work of its subject. * <i>Times Literary Supplement</i> * It is clear the authors seek to create a totally new approach to the artist. Indeed, their ambitions go further they want to establish a new methodology for art history itself . . . these extensive visual examinations of the works are intelligent and instructive. * <i>Slavonic and East European Review</i> *

Author Information

Rainer Crone is Professor Emeritus at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany. David Moos is a curator and writer.

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