Suprematism
In 1913 Kazimir Malevich created a new form of art, characterised by abstract non-representational images, basic geometric shapes and a limited colour palette: he named it Suprematism. Inspired by the Russian Formalists and the idea of ‘zaum’ as basic, truer form of language, Malevich sought to define an equivalent approach to visual arts. His idea was to liberate art from representational messages or functional purpose, to have it finally free to show pure perception or feelings, to make it pure creation, reducing the artwork to simple squares, crosses, circles on textured canvas. These theoretical principles were captured in Malevich’s book The Non-Objective World in 1927, but by then Suprematism has already made its mark in Russia in several exhibitions and in the artistic community. From the second half of 1920s the movement suffered from Stalin’s politics, but its influence had already reached other artists outside Russia, such as El Lissitzky and Moholy-Nagy.