Kazimir Malevich and the origins of a Black Square by JELENA IVANOVA

Kazimir Malevich and the origins of a Black Square.

A lot of people are familiar with Kazimir Malevich’s painting ‘Black Square’. That painting has become very famous and for more than a hundred years has caused many controversies, disagreements, questions and different judgments.

Malevich’s ‘Black square’1915 is not actually a square, and it is not as simple as it seems. The sides are not equal and not parallel to each other. Also it is not completely black, Malevich used a mixture of three home-made paints and added chalk to get the appearance of black colour. Careful colour selection and intentionally created irregular shape shows us that the ‘Black Square’ is most likely not a spontaneous work of art, but the result of the artist’s thoughtful work.

“By the way, the original name of ‘Black Square’ under which it was listed in the catalogue – ‘Quadrangle’. Without strictly straight angles, in terms of geometry, it really was a quadrangle. It was not the negligence of the author, but his principled position, the desire to create a dynamic form.”2 Why this monochrome image of a very simple form is became so famous.

Although Malevich did not make a discovery and was not the first to draw a black square. Squares and other rectangles in black colours were drawn long before him, but it was his painting that had great success and recognized as a masterpiece.

Robert Fludd British prominent physician and mystical philosopher pictured his version of a black square as image for nothingness three hundred years before Malevich.

Like Malevich's ‘Black square’, Fludd's image of a black square is not the correct shape, rather reminiscent of a rhombus shape with non-equal sides. This simple black square marked with "And so on to infinity..."on the white margins around black square on each side. “While for many, the blackness might signify mortality and death, for Fludd this image represented the beginning of creation”3 He illustrated his theory of the origin of the world, depicting what existed before the universe as initial chaos, “which he describes as an empty nothingness, a sort of ‘pre-universe’ or ‘ununiverse’”4

Robert Fludd's black square representing the nothingness that was prior to the universe, from his Utriusque Cosmi (1617)

According to Malevich’s theory of Suprematism, the black square marks the zero degree of painting, since black colour refers to the first level of development and the beginning of movement.

Both Fludd’s and Malevich’s black squares are similar in that what both images represent the idea of a beginning. Beginning of creation in Fludd’s idea and beginning of movement in Malevich’s idea.

Another noted French artist Gustave Dore in his comic book ‘History of Holy Russia’ in 1855 drew a black square illustration for the period of the 14th Century in Russia with the mocking comment: ‘The origins of Russian history are lost in the darkness of antiquity’. This book was not only comic book, it has a political context with antiRussian propaganda for public opinion. David Kunzle American professor of Art History wrote in his article in 1983 about this book “Is a bizarre story in itself, the pattern of revival corresponding to the pattern of European hostility towards Russia down to the present”5

Malevich’s painting, as well as an illustration by Gustave Dore, was perceived ambiguously from the first presentation to the public. Malevich first exhibited his ‘Black Square’ in 1915 and in the exhibition hall he posted the painting in the place where the Russian Orthodox always placed icons. And many people perceived it as anti-religious context with anti-Christian act. The location of the painting at the exhibition and painting by itself caused a wide response from the public. In Russian houses, the icons were located in the most revered place in a prominent corner. It could be perceived sacrilegious for believers to see a black spot like a hole in a place regarded to sacred space in the house. Malevich himself later gave his explanation for this act and wanted to show ‘Black Square’ as an icon of the avant-garde style.

Famous critic and artist of the early 20th Century Aleksandr Benua believed that Malevich degraded Art with ‘Black Square’, he wrote “...in the corner, high above, right under the ceiling, in the holy place hangs the "work" of Mr. Malevich depicting a black square in a white frame. Without a doubt, this is the “icon” which the Futurists offer as a replacement for the Madonnas...this is not a mere joke, not a mere

challenge, not a chance little episode ... it is one of the acts of self-assertion of the principle which has for its name the abomination of desolation, which boasts that through pride, through arrogance, through violation of all things lovable and gentle it will lead all beings to death.”6 Recently, art researches found under the top coat of Malevich’s ‘Black Square’1915 his hand written inscription: ’Battle of negroes in a dark cave’7, which is very reminiscent of the titles of painting of French playwright Paul Bilhaud ‘Negroes Fight in a tunnel’7,1882 and the comic illustration by French journalist Alphonse Allais ‘Battle of the Negroes in the Cave in the Deep At Night’7, 1897. When and why Malevich wrote this note remains a mystery, because the artist claimed that he was not familiar with these paintings, although the titles are very similar.

After 1840, with the development of the illustrated press and newspapers with comic content, monochrome jokes began to appear in the images of various artists, where cartoonists depict black rectangles for a joke. So Paul Bilhaud and Alphonse Allais were also not the only ones in the idea of their joke creations. In the Raymond Pelez's caricature of "first impression of the salon of 1843" we discover a black monochrome painting, a large rectangle richly framed, a "Night Effect that is not clear. bought by Mr Robertson, a wax manufacturer"8

There are just some of the examples where the artists created black quadrangles to be parody, caricature or jokes.” The numerous caricatures of non-figurative paintings are proof that the idea of a painting that represents nothing was common long before 1910”8 But Malevich considered very seriously and substantiated his work as a Manifesto in art, and his painting became famous in the history of painting. If Malevich wanted make a joke, he would not repainted these idea. Kazimir Malevich created four black squares during his lifetime and they are all different shades of black and different sizes.

Another difference between the Malevich’s ‘Black Square’ and all the previous black rectangles in its title. In the title there is no any play with meaning and there is complete absence of the plot. The title ‘Black Square’ is what the painting actually reveals.

He was the first who did not play with meanings, but seriously created a painting that exactly corresponding to its title.

Creating the theory of Suprematism, Malevich developed ideas that he shared with the artists of the West. He created his theory at a time when many artists were looking for new ways to express the reality and sensations. “By ‘Suprematism’ I mean the supremacy of pure feeling in creative art. To the Suprematist the visual phenomena of the objective world are, in themselves, meaningless; the significant thing is feeling.”9 The birth of Suprematism was not accidental,” it was predetermined by the vector of the development of European artistic thinking of the early 1910s, steadily moving towards pure abstraction. At this time, many artists of France, England, Holland, Russia were on the verge of pointlessness, and some overstepped it.”2 Actually Malevich developed individual experiments to the level of fundamentally new principle- based direction at the right time. He invented as well new graphic language

with his own alphabet which was very commensurate with the coming time of development in art. The ‘Black Square’ was created as a work of a new direction in painting art.

Malevich not only presented his creation as a manifesto of Suprematism. He as well very cleverly promoted the appearance of his painting as an icon of the avant-garde style and surrounded it with mystery, entangling it with ranges of meaning and fiction. It is very important for artist creatively present his work to the public in order to attract the attention and Malevich succeeded.

“The real date of creation ‘Black Square’ - 1915 - Malevich moved back, and for many years the inscription "Black supremacist square. 1913", made on the back of the work by his hand, was not questioned and the picture lived with the dating, invented by its author.”2 Malevich stated that he picked up the idea in his previous work and dated the painting with the date of creation of his sketch of the curtain for play in 1913.2 “In a situation of fierce rivalry between avant-garde artists and the struggle for leadership that unfolded in Russian artistic life in the 1910s, it was extremely important for Malevich to prioritize Suprematism in turning art to pointlessness. The shift of the date of the ‘Black Square’ to 1913 shifted and the time of the emergence of Suprematism. Thus Malevich asserted his absolute primacy in the avant-garde movement of art.”2 Unlikely that was done intentionally, but this was his position about the chronology of the emergence of Suprematism.

‘Black Square’ became a zero point in new alphabet and in history of art. The square is the simplest form and black colour that absorbs all light and all colours, like nothing, like the absence of an image and new beginning in art.

Suprematism from Supreme, what means excellent, because the artist considered the new direction he had created as the highest point in the development of painting art. Malevich could speak clearly and with inspiration about Suprematism and attracted many supporters and followers to his side. He believed that Suprematism is the Art that does not repeat forms, but creates.

Moreover Malevich presented his new theory to people as the new religion. In his letter to M. Gershenzon, in1920, he wrote: "People should be led out of all religions to the religion of pure action, in which there will be no rewards and promises. I do not know how you will react to my decisions, but I see in Suprematism, in three squares and the cross began not only picturesque, but everything in general, and a new religion, the New Temple I see also”2 “Almost from the moment of birth, "Black Square" has gained much more importance than just a picture, and not only because it was declared by Malevich as a manifesto of a new direction. The provocativeness of the figurative solution and presentation gave “Black square” the mark that transcended the boundaries of Suprematism. It has become and still remains the subject of worship, imitation, controversy and irony.”2 The black square is valuable not only as a manifesto of Suprematism, and as well as an example within the framework of a social and cultural context. “It is impossible to evaluate the ‘Black Square’ by itself, only together with the space for which it serves.”10 It was created and raised to the level of Art by the public resonance.

Malevich created the point in art, brought the world moving to the primitivism to the point of absurdity, announced start of a new era with transition from image to concept. “It is from zero, in zero, that the true movement of being begins.”11

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7. Translated from the original titles. Although these titles or comic references may be regarded as racist today, at the time of creation the word Negro was historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. This word became an offensive term after middle of 20th Century.

8. Rosenberg, Raphaël, ‘De La Blague Monochrome à La Caricature de l’art Abstrait’, in L’art de La Caricature, ed. by Ségolène Le Men, Arts (Nanterre: Presses universitaires de Paris Nanterre, 2014), pp. 27–40 <http://books.openedition.org/pupo/2208> [accessed 24 May 2021] 9. Kasimir Malevich, The Non-Objective World: The Manifesto of Suprematism 10. Kopenkina, Oksana, ‘Malevich’s Black Square: Why Is This a Masterpiece’, Arts Diary & Pad, 2019 <https://arts-pad.com/black-square-malevich/> [accessed 22 May 2021] 11. Malevich, Kazimir Severinovich, Matthew Drutt, Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Tex ) Menil Collection (Houston, Kazimir Malevich : Suprematism (New York, N.Y. : Guggenheim Museum ; Distributed by Harry N. Abrams, 2003) <http://archive.org/details/kazimir00male> [accessed 25 May 2021] 12. J.Frede, ContributorArtist, Writer, and Sailor based in Los Angeles, ‘NCCA Kronstadt: After Malevich’, HuffPost, 500 <https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ncca-kronstadt-after-male_1_b_4740656> [accessed 21 May 2021]

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