Suprematism
In 1913 Kazimir Malevich created a new form of art characterised by abstract, non‑representational imagery, basic geometric shapes and a limited colour palette, which he named Suprematism. Inspired by the Russian Formalists and the idea of zaum as a basic and truer form of language, Malevich sought to define an equivalent approach within the visual arts. His aim was to liberate art from representational messages or functional purposes, allowing it to express pure perception or feeling and to become pure creation, reducing the artwork to simple squares, crosses and circles on textured canvas. These theoretical principles were articulated in Malevich’s book The Non‑Objective World in 1927, at a time when Suprematism had already established itself in Russia through numerous exhibitions and within the artistic community. From the second half of the 1920s the movement suffered under Stalin’s cultural policies, but its influence had already reached artists who were working beyond Russia’s borders, such as El Lissitzky and Moholy‑Nagy.