Suprematism

Suprematism

Suprematism is an early 20th-century art movement that emphasises the fundamentals of geometry, often using a limited range of colours.

The first exhibition of suprematist paintings occurred in December 1915 in St Petersburg, known as O.10. Kazimir Malevich showcased thirty-five abstract paintings, including the iconic 'Black Square on a White Ground.' In 1927, Malevich published 'The Non-Objective World,' a crucial theoretical document in abstract art. Malevich, who considered the square a core element, expanded his forms to include rectangles, triangles, and circles in vibrant colours against a white background.

Suprematism, a key modernist movement, faced decline with Stalin's rise in 1924 and the enforcement of socialist realism. In his last years, Malevich painted figurative pictures. Artists like El Lissitzky and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy were significantly influenced by suprematism after encountering Malevich in 1919.


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Parra's studio, with Parra at the centre, his back to the camera as he works on the large painting takes centre stage, showing a faceless blue woman in a striped dress, painted in red, purple, blue and teal. The studio is full of brightly coloured paints, with a large window on the right and a patterned rug across the floor under the painting.