What is encrypted in the picture black square. Where is Malevich’s “Black Square” now? History of creation and possible theories

Even people far from art know who painted the “Black Square”. She became a kind of antipode of professionalism and artistic value, as well as the plot of many jokes. In fact we're talking about about a completely unique phenomenon in the creative world and “Black suprematist square"(the real title of the painting) is far from being as simple as it seems to the average person. What is the meaning of Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square is still not known for certain, but there are many interesting theory, which we will try to figure out together.

History of creation and possible theories

The author of “Black Square” - a sensational work that has excited minds to this day - is Kazimir Severinovich Malevich. Long-term searches and discoveries of a new direction bore fruit, and it is Malevich who is credited with the destruction of traditional foundations. Now there are no usual shapes, color combinations and “golden ratio” proportions. An exhibition of paintings with the futuristic title “0.10” (zero-ten) brought him worldwide fame and gave fame to the “Black Square”. The discovery was not only the superiority of simple lines and figures (three are considered the main ones: square, circle and cross), but also deep meaning. It should be noted that the Suprematist movement was a real breakthrough and opened A New Look on traditional art. Subsequently, the book “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich was published, in which the author creates even more mystery and does not provide an explanation for his work. However, there are several noteworthy theories related to the creation of the work.

Theory 1: hidden meaning

The simplest explanation is this unusual work- the artist simply painted over the failed painting with black paint. This can be supported by the multi-colored “veins” that appear against the background of the canvas. Numerous studies with special instruments in order to detect a genuine painting under a black background are still being carried out, but have not yet yielded any results. Art historians do not allow restoration of the painting itself and restoration of the supposedly existing lower image. However, their intentions are just clear, because if another painting is discovered, the price of the painting “Black Square” will be very doubtful.

Theory No. 2: the evolution of futurism

Being carried away by the theories of Cubism and founding own direction- Suprematism, the author brought to life the idea of ​​complete formalism with his work. Malevich’s manifesto “Black Square” is a rejection of content and a balance of clear forms. Not everyone can understand this phenomenon of art, but it also has plenty of followers. This work is even called “the pinnacle of non-objective art,” which emphasizes the complete separation of the image from reality and the absence of any artistic message.

Theory No. 3: psychological technique

Such manipulation of consciousness is successfully used in many areas of modern life. Subsequently, the term “Malevich square effect” even appeared. Its essence is that any person can be influenced public opinion and cannot consciously determine the value of an object, nor can it recognize truth and lies. Why is Malevich’s “Black Square” famous? By analogy with the “naked king,” the essence and meaning of this painting is determined not by the artist’s idea or even by the proportions, perspective and color used, but solely by the opinions of others. This role is played by art critics that were found in her more meaning than was originally intended.

By the way, this theory is also supported by the fact that initially the exhibition was not such a resounding success. Only with the appointment of Malevich to the post of People's Commissar of Fine Arts in 1929 did his paintings become widely known and popular. Thus, the artist literally forced recognition of his work, even through abuse of his official position.

Theory #4: Challenge to Religion

The reason for this opinion was the location of the painting. The exhibition included 49 works by the artist, and the famous “Black Square” was part of a triptych, which also included a circle and a cross. At the same time, the painting hung in the “red corner”, where, according to Orthodox customs, the icon was located. All critics paid attention to this moment, which is why they called “Black Square” a new icon of the coming century. It is known that Malevich actively supported the ideas of communism and held leadership positions under the new government. This is what fully contributed to his popularity.

Theory #5: Mystical insight

The author himself, when asked about the creation of his painting, answered that he acted unconsciously, almost in a trance. Whether this is actually true is unknown, but most people agree that there is some mysterious attraction in this work. Many see other figures in the depths, and none of them are painted black. In addition, especially impressionable people feel bad next to the canvas and experience attacks of panic and causeless fear. Affirm the mystical origins of creation and secret meaning, which means Malevich’s “Black Square” is very difficult, but attributing everything to the psychological impact described earlier is much more reasonable. It’s not for nothing that many people admire this canvas, but it can’t be an ordinary square!

Interestingly, “Black Square” is essentially a misnomer. The shape of the displayed geometric figure is incorrect, because neither side is parallel to the opposite. In addition, when painting the painting, black was not used at all. The required shade was obtained by mixing paints of different tones. That is why the effect of craquelure (the top cracked layer of paint) is clearly visible on the canvas, under which multi-colored stripes are visible.

Interesting fact about the “Black Square”:

It is known that Malevich was far from the first artist to position such minimalism in art. Several authors can be named as pioneers:

1. Robert Fludd painted the painting “The Great Darkness” in 1617, which is also made in the form of a black square.
2. In 1843, the work “View of La Hogue (night effect)” by the artist Bertal appeared.
3. In 1854 - “The Twilight History of Russia.”

Predecessors can also be called the humorous sketches “Night Fight of Negroes in the Basement”, dated 1882, and its frank parody “Battle of Negroes in a Cave” late at night"(1893). An equally interesting opus was the creation of the canvas “Philosophers Catching a Cat in a Dark Room” by the French journalist Alphonse Allais (1893). As you can already guess, all the canvases described above are a black rectangle.

Where is Malevich’s “Black Square” now?

The original painting has changed many owners, but now belongs to the foundation Tretyakov Gallery. It was bought and transferred into ownership by an influential and very rich Russian philanthropist. It is believed that the cost of the canvas was $1 million. How much does Malevich's "Black Square" cost? According to Sotheby's international auction, the cost is more than 20 million, but its artistic value is simply immeasurable.

By the way, in total Kazimir Malevich created four paintings of the “Black Square”.

It is the most mysterious and even scandalous in Russian painting. Many are openly indignant at the fact that such a seemingly meaningless picture, on which an ordinary black square is drawn, is considered a real masterpiece of Russian and world painting. What is its meaning? Why is such a thing attached to him? great attention? The answer to this question is in in simple words, without using a large number of professional terms, we will try to provide further.

In simple words about the meaning of the “Black Square”

The exact name of the painting is “Black Suprematist Square”. Author: Kazimir Severinovich Malevich (1879-1935). The painting was painted in 1915. Canvas, oil. Dimensions: 79.5 × 79.5 cm. Located in the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

The secret of the popularity of “Black Square” is that it is the pinnacle of non-objective art. The history of painting is characterized not only by the fact that artists sought to convey more accurately and more expressively in their paintings the world. The artists attached no less importance to the meaning of their paintings. Thus, back in the Renaissance, symbolism appeared, when paintings began to depict things that already slightly separated them from reality and pointed to a certain meaning, philosophy, various concepts. This side of painting, which is connected by the separation of painting from reality and its connection with inner world man and his abstract thinking has always developed and continues to develop in our time. Some artists used only details in their paintings, while others began to create entire directions. For example, one of the earliest such manifestations in the fine arts is also impressionism, which was received with hostility by the society of that time, but was quickly picked up by other artists who saw a special philosophical beauty in such an image. This also includes expressionism, cubism, modernism and other movements. In the end, the aspirations of the artists were aimed at one “point” - achieving maximum isolation from the real world.

At first it seemed that the Cubists achieved maximum isolation. However, their works are the same figures and real objects, only depicted using geometric shapes. Then it seemed that abstractionists had achieved the apogee of avant-garde painting, but even here real objects, their images or a hint of their presence are often depicted. After the experiments of hundreds, and maybe thousands of artists, the pinnacle of art was achieved by Kazimir Malevich, who with his “Black Square” put an end to the race of non-objectivity and isolation from naturalness!

Kazimir Malevich became the inventor of a special movement in painting, which he called Suprematism. This direction has become as non-objective as possible, independent of everything that surrounds a person, and as different as possible from everything that artists have ever created. Suprematism lies in the fact that there are no figures, no real objects, no recognizable forms, not even top-bottom, left-right. Suprematist paintings consist of geometric objects that express nothing and various color variations. The “Black Square” became a real “symbol” of this direction in painting, expressing what it means to be the maximum separation from reality, the maximum gap with classical “old” painting. It is impossible to create a more non-objective picture than “Black Square”. This is the maximum that the development of painting in this direction is capable of. It is for this reason that the painting “Black Square” is iconic and so important for the world art of painting.

El-Lissitzky owns a philosophical argument that even envisages the so-called Fourth Testament. Let us cite this thought, again associated with the name of K. Malevich: “...and if today communism, which has made labor the ruler, and Suprematism, which has put forward the square of creativity, go together, then in the further movement communism will have to lag behind, for Suprematism, having embraced all life, will lead everyone from the dominion of labor, the dominion of the beating heart, will liberate everyone in creativity and lead the world to the pure action of perfection. This is the action we expect from Kazimir Malevich.”

BACKGROUND

WHY and HOW did the need to “put pen to paper” arise?
Being a professional artist, knowing that on the part of the average person there is a misunderstanding in determining the dignity of a work of fine art called “Black Square” by Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, I did not dare to think that this problem is a “problem of misunderstanding”, which equally applies to to the entire creative community. Those who are listened to. Whose opinion is an irrefutable, authoritative truth for many. The only justification for the instilled opinion about the inaccessibility, simple and universal, of understanding the essence of all the work done by K. Malevich during the “creation” of the “Black Square” can only be “PR”. The desire to maintain an aura of mystery for the sake of attractiveness. Many articles have been written and a lot of research has been conducted on the meaning of the “Black Square” and the influence of the system of Suprematism born from it on artistic culture. A. Benois, a contemporary of Malevich, artist, art critic, wrote:
“A black square in a white frame is not a simple joke, not a simple challenge, not a random little episode that happened in a house on the Champ de Mars, but this is one of the acts of self-affirmation that beginning, which has as its name the abomination of desolation and which boasts that through pride, through arrogance, through the trampling of everything loving and tender, it will lead everyone to destruction.”
Following the critical assessment given by the master, many “figures” from culture, arrogantly flaunting their superiority, began to smear everything that did not fit into the image of the image they created. cultural environment, which often raises doubts bordering on pseudo-culture and pseudo-art. With the appearance of Malevich, how frightened were those who formed and are shaping the image of salon painting? With the appearance of the “Black Square” they realized that the end had come for their touching philosophy of mermaids and rugs with swans, designed for the average person. These facts are a direct attack on their material well-being.
Greed, anger, hatred, levers of power, everything was involved in order for people to forget about this work as quickly as possible. So that for almost a hundred years people would not understand what happened. Understanding the advantages of the “Black Square”, you can easily evaluate any creative work, evaluate the merits of the author. Those who are drawn to art are well aware of their limitations, the threat of being able to “hang noodles” on the ears of gullible ordinary people.
If society's demands for evaluating works of art and the merits of their authors increase, artificial stars from various factories will become ordinary Christmas tree decorations. But in order to raise these demands, one must be willing and refuse to be cattle.
Malevich, by writing “Black Square,” gave everyone an accessible opportunity to understand art and the trend of its development.
I was outraged by a number of assessments regarding the “Black Square” given in the media by some cultural representatives I respect:
N. Mikhalkov, T. Tolstoy, A. Evtushenko, A. Shilov, M. Shemyakin, etc.
Answering a direct question about the merits of “Black Square,” they allowed themselves to disparage the work of their colleague, to humiliate him in the face of people who are naturally interested in the opinions of their “idols.” They did not have the courage to admit their ignorance when evaluating this work.
Malevich himself, in his article “The Axis of Color and Volume,” suppressing the attacks of critics, far-sightedly answered them and today’s spiteful critics:
“...The attitude on their part was the most destructive in art, as well as in the lives of creators.
Limitations, unconsciousness, and cowardice prevented (are preventing) them from taking a broad look and embracing the entire horizon of the race and growth of the transformation of art.
Both the system of the royal bailiffs and the cultural officials treated (are treated) to the advancing idea of ​​​​creative art, they were also booed (are booed) by the sophisticated intelligentsia, public opinion, which, led by the sophisticated press, whooped (whoops) at everything creative and innovative.
The creativity of innovators was driven by the conditions created by these sophisticated experts into cold attics, into squalid workshops, and there the “innovators” waited (are waiting) for their fate, relying on fate. And if, through the greatest efforts, it was (is) possible to go out into the street with revolutionary works, then they were (are) greeted with abuse, swearing, boos and ridicule. Only the old is beautiful, they shouted (shouted) from all sides...
This is how they characterized (characterize) all those... who are still making nests for themselves in cultural institutions, stubbornly presenting the old as a beautiful altar of truth, to which young people should bow and believe...
But where are the scientific art museologists (professional art critics), where is their scientific character, where is their artistry, where is their understanding, or did they, due to their scientific nature and concept, not find the artistry or value of the phenomenon in the innovators?...
They set time as the barometer of understanding. When a work languishes in the ugly, mediocre brains of public opinion for a considerable number of years, such an uneaten work, but greasy with the saliva of society, is accepted...
It is recognized...

Already at the beginning of the 19th century, the artist struggled with “lustful and depraved rubbish” in art.
I, communicating with young people of the early twentieth century, observe with horror the “picture” of lack of spirituality, rudeness and depravity imposed on them through new communication means.
Emptying from their brains the very idea of ​​a philosophically harmonious consciousness and the beauty of life, and not carnal, “lustful and depraved” sensations.
A special feeling of envy covers me every time I come into contact with the problems to which the Great Russian artist Kazimir Severinovich Malevich dedicated his life.
Minimizing a work of art and bringing it to perfection using all means is an excellent creative goal.
In one of his Vitebsk letters, Malevich wrote: - “At the end is another topic about the Suprematist quadrangle (preferably a square), on which it would be necessary to dwell on who it is and what is in it; no one thought about it, and therefore I, busy peering into the mystery of its black space, which has become some form of a new face of the Suprematist world, will myself elevate it into a creative spirit... I see in this what people once saw in the face of God, and all nature captured the image of his God in a form similar to that of a human, but if someone from hoary antiquity penetrated into the mysterious face of the black square, perhaps he would see what I see in it.”
The resentment that arose when professionals, one after another, gave critical assessment the picture, without thinking about the fact that their opinion was being listened to, made me write this work.
I selected and reviewed the materials:
- textbooks, specialized and “non-specialized” literature;
- I studied publications from the Internet, and this is a problem highlighted on the Internet;
- listened to the presentation of specialists in the cultural and artistic environment about this problem;
- I compared the described and heard idea of ​​the painting “Black Square” with my understanding and did not find any coincidence with my thoughts.
It became clear that there was a clear and obvious misunderstanding, and in in rare cases misunderstanding, no merit of creativity, K.S. Malevich, neither the merits of the work called "BLACK SQUARE", nor the generalized meaning of the appearance this phenomenon in fine arts. As information accumulated, this opinion only intensified.
Researchers of Malevich's work in their articles and scientific works, relying only on emotional perception, consider, criticize and discuss - they impose the wrong idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe "BLACK SQUARE".
If they have not correctly or not fully correctly determined the creative merits of this picture, all further reasoning is of almost no scientific value.
Art critics, students and Malevich himself, trying to characterize the painting, were unable to answer the questions - How? and why?
How? The creation process is underway painting.
Why? It is these values ​​that are the criterion for the dignity of any work.
Malevich, having created “BLACK SQUARE”, did not immediately realize the seriousness of the event, about which he wrote:
"What is this? Or a black hole, or maybe something can grow out of this?”
As stated by the researcher of Malevich’s work, A.S. Shatskikh: -
“Malevich approached the “Black Square” through a philosophical understanding of the world...
When the black quadrangle appeared, he could neither eat nor sleep for a whole week. This painting was such an important event in his work.
He was walking towards her long years. It was climax in his work, his synthesis of painting, sculpture, applied art and his philosophical speculations."
This phenomenon is the merit of a special mindset, the presence of charisma and great hard work of the author.
Malevich wrote:
"The Black Square" absorbed all the pictorial ideas that existed before, it closes the way to naturalistic imitation, it is present as an absolute form and heralds an art in which free forms - unrelated or interconnected - constitute the meaning of the picture."
The researchers note:
“According to the students, from the square grew new world, lively, joyful. The square gathered around K.S. Malevich of new people, the generation of the future that they dreamed of.”
For the first time, the painting “Black Square” appeared in Petrograd, at the exhibition “0.10” (zero - ten) on December 17, 1915. According to the artist, he painted it for several months.
Malevich called one of the first paintings “Quadragon”, another - “Black Square on a White Background”, and, finally, the final name - “Black Square”, which does not define the relationship to the white canvas.
In the future, it should become clear to the reader why Malevich could not immediately decide on the title of the painting.
Having listened and looked closely at the general discussion on the topic of this picture, I was amused by the fantasy and literary excellence people who call themselves experts in the field of art:

T. Tolstaya:
“Any draftsman can do such work,” and Malevich in his youth
worked as a draftsman - but draftsmen are not interested in such simple
geometric shapes. I could paint a picture like this
mentally ill - but he didn’t draw it, but if he did, it’s unlikely that she would have
there would be the slightest chance of getting to the exhibition at the right time and at the right time
place."

N. Semchenko:
“What is the merit and innovation of Malevich? Malevich was the first to exhibit
a drawn square as a work of fine art.
It is a fact. But the meaning of the event itself is that it has no
has nothing to do with fine art itself, and consider
It’s impossible for Kazimir Malevich to be a great artist.” ...

Nominated for the Booker Prize in 2005, St. Petersburg resident Sergei Nosov’s novel “The Rooks Have Flew Away”: One of the characters discovers that Malevich’s square is just just a square, without secret meanings.
Dear reader may ask me, does the author think too much of himself? Am I being ironic towards professional art critics?
Yes! This is exactly what I want to emphasize.
For me, Malevich is not an idol, but it is impossible not to pay tribute to his genius.
Without knowledge of his merits and heritage, the development of art in general is IMPOSSIBLE.
And when people who know a lot introduce me to his work unclear words, the use of which completely makes it impossible to understand anything, they talk and write about everything except the essence - I am indignant.
It is impossible to read this nonsense:

T. Tolstaya:
“It is impossible not to note that in several of Malevich’s works created
just before the discovery of Suprematism, suddenly begins
there is a tendency towards monumental significance and towards
human experience, breaking through the avant-garde
stylistics."

T. Tolstaya:
“Having performed this simplest operation, Malevich became the author of the most famous
the most mysterious, most frightening picture in the world -
"Black Square". With a simple movement of his wrist, he once and for all
an uncrossable line, marked the abyss..., between a person and his
shadow, between a rose and a coffin, between life and death, between God and
The devil. According to him in my own words, he “reduced everything to zero.”
For some reason the zero turned out to be square, and this is a simple discovery -
one of the most terrible events in art in its entire history
existence."

T. Tolstaya:
“I am listed as an “expert” on “ contemporary art" in one of
funds in Russia, existing on American money.
They bring us " art projects", and we must decide
give or not give money for their implementation. Together with me in
the expert council employs real specialists in the “old”,
pre-square art, subtle connoisseurs.
We all hate the square and the “self-affirmation of that beginning,
which has for its name the abomination of desolation.” But they also bring us
carry projects of the next abomination of desolation, only abominations and
nothing else. We are obliged to spend the money allocated to us,
otherwise the fund will be closed. And it (the fund) feeds too many in our poor
country.
We are trying...”

Having assessed and realized that my idea of ​​the “Black Square” is more justified than that which is cultivated in society, I wrote this work and shared my thoughts with you.

The worldview of K.S. Malevich and mine.

“Kazimir Malevich is a more than significant name in the history of modern art.”
“This is the symbol and banner of all avant-garde creativity.”
“His theoretical research is referenced by almost all areas of modern art...“Black Square” concentrates in itself everything intimate that fills the spiritual quest of authors and researchers of the aesthetic world of our time.”
“The name of Malevich is being put forward today as the foundation of a new, modern direction in art history, cultural studies and even philosophical thought, a direction filled with extraordinary depth and significance.”
“All this has already become an absolute, an axiom that does not require any proof, knowledge with which it is impossible to disagree, which is a shame to doubt and which is simply indecent to discuss.”
N. Semchenko and "K"

The virtues of the man who created the work of painting called “Black Square” will be glorified for centuries by everyone who strives even in the slightest degree for global perfection.

Malevich, “... quite obviously, is a Great Innovator who made a discovery that was fundamentally important for the technological civilization of the twentieth century.”
N. Semchenko and "K".

The purpose with which I took up the pen, the desire to explain - How? From the artist's perspective this picture could have arisen.

HISTORICAL PROCESS

The process of searching for the perfect.
In history, by creating material and spiritual values, man contributes to the progressive development of society.
As a result of this activity, the product of labor remains:
- tools:
stick, crystal axes, weapons, machines, spearheads, spear handles, stone axes, knives, fishing harpoons, hammers, etc.;
- Houseware:
dishes, clothes, furniture, books, etc.;
- buildings
menhirs, dolmens, cromlech at Stonehenge, St. Basil's Cathedral.
By getting to know himself and the results of his work, a person improves his understanding of the universe.
For descendants, values ​​remain that expand his worldview.
WORLDVIEW (worldview), a system of generalized views on the world and man’s place in it, on people’s attitude to the reality around them and to themselves, as well as their beliefs, ideals, principles of cognition and activity determined by these views. There are three main types of worldview: everyday (everyday) worldview, which reflects ideas common sense, traditional views about the world and man; religious worldview associated with the recognition of the supernatural principle of the world; a philosophical worldview that summarizes the experience of spiritual and practical exploration of the world. Based on a rational understanding of the culture of philosophy, it develops new ideological orientations. The bearer of a worldview is an individual and a social group that perceives reality through the prism a certain system views. It has enormous practical meaning, influencing norms of behavior, life aspirations, interests, work and life of people.
(encyclopedic reference)
These values ​​also include works of fine art:
- cave drawings;
- architecture;
- painting.
Of the variety of figures, the one who brought something new and significant to the understanding of human essence remains in history:
Thinkers:
- Socrates;
- Galileo Galilei;
- Marie Francois Arouet, Voltaire.
Writers:
- William Shakespeare;
- Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy;
- Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.
Artists:
- Rafael Santi;
- Leonardo da Vinci;
- Kazimir Malevich.
Musicians:
- Johann Sebastian Bach;
- Ludwig van Beethoven;
- Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich.
Scientists:
- Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilievich;
- Mendeleev Dmitry Ivanovich;
- Sakharov Andrey Dmitrievich.
Improve what has already been achieved:
- balloon;
- airship;
- helicopter;
- airplane;
- rocket launcher;
- spaceship.

Everything else is absorbed by time.
Search for ideals.
In search of the perfect, a person strives to define “the best”:
- best figure………………. - Venus Tauride;
- the best hunter...……………… - Perov “At a halt”;
- the best product …………………………… - Feberge;
- best performer…………………- Elvis Presley;
- the best lawyer ……………………… - A. Makarevich;
etc.
As in all other areas of human activity, in the fine arts there is a process of searching for the best work of art. Searching for a work that would meet the requirements of perfection - “IDEAL”.
If we can prove that Malevich created the most ideal work of fine art, and the ideal cannot but be beautiful, we will thereby rehabilitate his merit in the eyes of the ignorant.
Wanting to preserve the achievements of mental and physical labor, it is common for a person to record his thoughts in some way. Write down, sketch or depict the knowledge acquired by him/her:
- in science...:
- in painting...:
- in sculpture...:
- in architecture...:
By comparing some achievements with others, new, more advanced models are created.
For millennia, even better has been chosen from the best.

THE PROCESS OF CREATING A MAN-MADE MIRACLE

By the beginning of the twentieth century, in the field of fine arts, most of the consciously set goals and objectives for Artists, problems that the artist faced in the process of his creative activity. The basic laws of creativity were discovered and successfully used, including in painting:
Let's list some of them.
PAINTING:
- the law of beauty - "GOLDEN SECTION";
- laws of chiaroscuro;
- laws on color;
- laws of plasticity;
- laws of perspective;
- statics and dynamics, etc.
COMPOSITION:
- the law of unity of content and form;
- law of integrity;
- law of typification;
- law of contrasts;
- the law of novelty;
- the law of subordination of all laws and means
compositions ideological plan;
- the law of vitality;
- the law of the influence of the “frame” on the composition of the image on the plane, etc.

The achievements of artists of the past are consciously and worthily used, “MODERNISM” was born and is developing, including “AVANTGARDISM” and “SUPREMATISM”, as its variety. “Malevich, an irrationalist, believed that the latest artistic trends can be studied with the help of rational scientific tools. Experimental experiments and research should, in his opinion, clearly reveal how the development of art took place.”

Alexandra Shatskikh - “Kazimir Malevich – writer and thinker”

GOAL AND ITS ACHIEVEMENT

At the end XIX - early twentieth centuries, following evolutionary process social development, creative pride forced artists to set themselves original, complex tasks and goals.
However, almost a century later, today's artists and art historians, endowed with a decent education and knowledge in the field of art, continue to be tormented by the problems of past centuries, wanting to perceive the evolution of creativity as some kind of inextricable process. This perception is indeed slowly evolving art, but in to a greater extent it improves what has been achieved, what is already known, studied and slows down progress. It does not allow, it prevents you from looking at achievements from the outside and assessing the achievements of “today”. They With with great difficulty refuse “plagiarism” and academic heritage.
By assessing what is understandable, studied, and known, it is easier for them to express themselves, manipulate verbal “abracadabra,” and compete in intelligence. In no case do I want to specifically edit the works of respected researchers and analysts of Malevich’s work, A. Shatskikh, D. Sarabyanov, N. Semchenko and his company, who are unfamiliar to me, and Tatyana Tolstoy, who accidentally came here, who considers it her duty to speak out on the topic, in my understanding which has problems, but is forced to substantiate its idea based on their work. My greatest regret is the lack of understanding of Malevich’s merits on the part of M. Shemyakin and A. Shilov.
From an interview with Mikhail Shemyakin on Radio Liberty on December 1, 2005:
“... This is a coffin slab that crushes people... It is precisely this coffin slab that has turned into a huge square of Malevich that crushes modern Russian artists.”
“... Yes, this is interesting, from the point of view of psychiatry already...”
Personally, I had a better opinion of them.
D. Sarabyanov noted: “this was a risky step towards that position that puts a person in the face of Nothing and Everything.”
The later generation, on the contrary, does not fully or at all take into account the developments of the past. All this leads to “creative chaos,” which in most cases leads to primitivism.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, a young man in his prime creative forces, actively participating in and imitating the latest trends and trends in art, could not help but be noticed among his colleagues.
“Sometimes it happens that when you first meet a person you don’t get any sympathy for him, you don’t like him, but when you live with him, you like him. So it is in another matter. Other ideas are not perceived, but if you live with them under their constant conversation, then they become acceptable; this also happens with painters when they don’t like a type, but working on it, they begin to like it - then the feelings will love and create the image.”
"Treatises and theoretical writings." K. Malevich.

SEARCHING FOR A GOAL

Living, communicating and working in the midst of the active creative community of Russia of his time, Malevich, like other aspiring artists, for a long time was faced with the fact of searching and choosing a life path.
During this period of his life, the “provincial youth” studied:
He studied at an agricultural school, but showed an early interest in drawing. . At the age of seventeen, Kazimir attended the Kyiv drawing school of N.I. Murashko.
Since 1896, he and his family have lived and worked in Kursk. Together with local amateur artists, he organized an art club.
Since 1905 to 1907 Malevich made three unsuccessful attempts to enter the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. This means that all this time he was actively preparing to enter one of the best art educational institutions in Russia, mastering the “creative science”.
Malevich’s last (1907 – 1910) educational stage was classes at the school-studio of Ivan Fedorovich Rerberg, one of the founders of the Moscow Association of Artists. He worked in Moscow for some time.
“The era itself, saturated with technical and political transformations, powerfully dictated the emergence of a new attitude to beauty.”
“At a young age, the future futurist went through a period of fascination with I. Repin and I. Shishkin and copied the works of Russian classics quite well. He worked quite professionally in the field of realistic painting, and during the First World War he created brilliant propaganda cartoons directed against the Kaiser’s army. There is no abstractionism in these works. Nothing foreshadowed contact with the supernatural.”
Quotes from the Internet.

The artist’s originality of thinking forces “non-thinking” researchers of Malevich’s work to give superficial reviews that lead away from the depth of understanding in the search creative path and in choosing a goal.
“...in this part of Malevich’s work...seems like a provincial re-drawing from a metropolitan magazine or the figment of the imagination of an inexperienced amateur who has seen enough different paintings at exhibitions."
D. V. Sarabyanov.

“We will not dwell on the early work of the artist, when he tried his hand at primitive art, when he “...switched to the naturalistic school, went to Shishkin and Repin,” when he was interested in impressionism, elements of modernism, Cezanism, Cubism, Fauvism , symbolism - all these are attempts to externally borrow foreign stylistic systems, which can be considered as school exercises aspiring artist"
The question arises, who are “We”? N. Semchenko and "K".

“And it immediately becomes obvious that Malevich’s attempts to get closer to the mastery of Shishkin, Ingres or Repin can never be realized simply because for this it is necessary to be able to draw. It's a little easier to imitate the Cubists and Futurists. Here, serious skill is no longer required, just audacity and pressure, which Malevich possessed in full.”
To whom is it obvious? N. Semchenko and "K".

“What is there to admire in this dubious provincial chic? For example, the painting “Cow and Violin” (1913. Russian Museum). Of course, everyone understands the absurdity of such a comparison and everyone can see the professional helplessness of the author in both the cow and the violin. And what’s so great about that?”
Who understands? N. Semchenko and "K".

Mastering the skills of the Great painters, Malevich came closer to understanding art. I was approaching the realization of the importance of setting the right, new goals in art. Studied heritage and artistic techniques. I set myself, as a novice artist, feasible tasks and solved them.
Is this really not enough to become “Shishkin”?
His creative hobbies can be clearly traced by studying the biography, literary heritage and paintings of the artist. It becomes clear how hard and creatively - painfully he “approached” the main goal of his work.
“Humanity moves through signs, each sign carries with it a certain degree of ascent, movement without a sign has no effect.” This is what Malevich wrote in one of his notebooks (private collection, p. 164, verso).
It was this phrase that guided researchers creative heritage Malevich on the wrong path. They perceived the concept of “sign” not as a phenomenon, a message, but literally as a simplified symbol. Malevich was thinking about... - something else.
The goal was to search for the image and form of such a work of art, which, in accordance with all the laws of creativity, approached the concept of an ideal painting. It is known that the main criterion for assessing the aesthetic merits of phenomena and objects in the surrounding world is visual perception. The knowledge gained from the study of science, history, the development of fine arts, aesthetics, ethics, etc. is associated with the knowledge of beauty and the search for ideals. If all the laws of creativity with optimal characteristics are applied to a work, such a work is called ideal.

Target:- create a professionally competent work
realistic art, taking into account those known at that time,
laws of painting and physiological capabilities of its perception
person.

Possessing professional knowledge and creative skill, Malevich decided to create a work of realistic art, the depicted object of which is the simplest geometric figure - a flat square, “painted” with uniform paint, devoid of directional lighting, that is, uniformly illuminated, on a white flat background. In this case, the object itself must be in the center of the canvas and when demonstrating it, the center must be perpendicular to the point of view.
When creating such a work, the artist would be obliged to use the maximum of laws that every professionally trained, competent artist used, was obliged to use, or take into account in his work. When the idea was determined in Malevich’s mind, the search for possibilities for its implementation began.
According to Malevich: “in the “suprematist mirror” all phenomena of the world are reduced to Zero.”
As A. Shatskikh noted: “The “Black Square” embodies the idea of ​​a new spirituality, is a kind of icon, a plastic symbol of a new religion...
The appearance of this painting revealed to the artist a comprehensive utopia of a new “objectless world”, which made him acutely feel his calling. For him, from the very beginning, it was obvious that the “Black Square” was not given to him, but given, to reinterpret the well-known formulation of the neo-Kantian Hermann Cohen. For many years, Malevich sought to comprehend and put into words the meaning of his main work.”
(A. Shatskikh, pp. 11, 15, 17).

Artists of past generations found solutions to the problems associated with creating a painting. We decided on composition, proportions, lighting, perspective, movement. Patterns and trends, technical capabilities, painting techniques, etc. The Impressionists most successfully solved the problems of color perception and the influence of lighting.
As a result of Malevich’s successful achievement of his goal, Artists would have the opportunity for a concentrated, targeted, conscious, expanded search for new ways and directions in the development of art. Such a work became the starting point for all future generations of artists. I would call “Black Square” - “The ABC of Painting”. I would make an analogous comparison with the “D. Periodic table” or with the “scale” in music. Having mastered the ABC, knowing how to use it, you can begin to consciously “Create”, and then to whom God has given. Those creative problems that “Black Square” does not directly solve are easily explained from the perspective of this work.
Features of human physiology.
Let us pay attention to the imperfection of human vision.
Human vision (visual perception) is the process of psychophysiological processing of images of objects in the surrounding world, carried out by the visual system.

Vision.

GENERAL INFORMATION

"Due to the large number of steps in the process visual perception his individual characteristics are considered from the point of view of different sciences - optics, psychology, physiology, chemistry. At each stage of perception, distortions, errors, and failures occur, but the human brain processes the information received and makes the necessary adjustments.
These processes are unconscious in nature and are implemented in multi-level autonomous correction of distortions. This is how spherical and chromatic aberration, blind spot effects are established, color correction is carried out, a high-quality stereoscopic image is formed, etc.
In cases where subconscious information processing is insufficient or excessive, optical illusions arise.”
Nobel Prize winners 1981. David Hubl and Torsten Weisel, "Astrophilosophy".

“To this day, the problem of overcoming the boundary between the physical laws that organize the work of the physical apparatus of perception and the emergence of a mental phenomenon has not been solved: “Neither the Jung-Helmholtz theory nor the Hering theory can fully explain how signals are converted into a mental image of an object.”
Tonquist, 1983

A person cannot really see “flat”, “black”, “square”.

1. Instead of a geometrically regular square, human vision perceives (sees) a horizontally elongated rectangle.
2. Instead of a flat square, a person will see a biconvex volumetric rectangle with direct or reverse perspective.
3. Instead of black, human vision will perceive an unevenly colored plane.
Before Malevich, artists knew the problems associated with the imperfection of human vision:
“Color science disciplines began to develop especially intensively in the twentieth century, which is associated with the development of industrial production of aniline dyes, color photography and television. At the origins of modern representatives of the perception of color are truly famous names:
M.V. Lomonosov (1711-1765),
T. Jung (1773-1829),
G. Fechner (1801-1887),
G. Helmholtz (1821-1849),
J. Maxwell (1831-1879),
E. Goering (1834-1918).
However theoretical basis Most of these disciplines were founded at the beginning of the eighteenth century.”
Doctor of Psychological Sciences, P.V. Yanshin, “Psychology and psychosemantics of color.”

1. From science we know that humans see worse than animals and insects.
2. The sector of gaze perceived by human vision is approximately equal to -27*;
3. An object with an angular coverage of 90*,180,* 360* can be seen by a person when:
a) translation of the position of the pupils;
b) when turning the neck;
c) turning the torso;
d) when turning on your feet;
e) with mirror reflection. (I will not consider this topic for now, otherwise I will be distracted from the main thing for a long time).
Using this knowledge in their work, the artists did not think about the fact that the problem of vision itself, perception, could become the object of the main creative goal.
Malevich was lucky, he saw the purpose of creative expression in solving problems associated with peculiarities human perception.. In my opinion, Malevich had extraordinary vision. He probably had problems with it. And on top of that, he spent a long time communicating with his blind mother, whom he loved very much.
This helped him in choosing a goal and setting creative goals. Malevich, solving the problem of imperfect visual perception and the perception of a work of fine art through sensations, solved the most difficult problem - the problem of creativity.

Setting and solving creative problems.

On the way to achieving the goal, multiple creative tasks arose, which K. Malevich took on to solve.
Find, select, justify and force the professional community to unconditionally agree with the choice of the optimal canvas size on which the process will begin
creation of a work.
To solve the problem, it is necessary to take into account everything that has been developed over time, scientifically and practically, in this direction.

Object selection:

“BLACK SQUARE” - Malevich created it with the aim of exhibiting it at an exhibition. The Square first appears in Petrograd, at the “Last Futurist Exhibition “0.10” (zero - ten) on December 17, 1915, (in the catalog No. 39 under the name “Quadrangle”). He is clearly visible in the famous photograph and takes pride of place in the "red corner" as an icon. This first square was purchased in 1918-1919 by the Fine Arts Department of the People’s Commissariat for Education, the purchasing commission chaired by V. Kandinsky.”
(from art historical sources)

Now, having set a goal and determined the size of the canvas, we will answer the question “How?” Malevich created "Black Square".

Task 1.
Draw a square on a plane.
In the process of work, the artist encountered a complexity that requires encyclopedic knowledge and individual professionalism. In a geometrically regular square depicted on a plane, a person sees a horizontally elongated rectangle. This is due to the imperfection (features) of human vision.
Since a person does not have the ability to perceive a rectangle, with equal sides like a square, Malevich had to change the proportions of a geometrically correct square so that the visually perceived square looked like a “square”.
Malevich’s merit lies in the fact that by means of visual deception, by enlarging the vertical sides of the square and depicting them as concave, he forced the viewer to see the rectangle as a square, and not as a horizontally elongated “barrel”. The difficulty is that these changes are not determined by anything other than individual sensations.
The main stream of eyewitnesses who were lucky enough to see this work claim that they saw a square. For greater persuasiveness, this image is inspired by the title of the painting - “Black Square”. IN psychologically Malevich does not allow one to doubt the elementary mathematical capabilities of the author, and makes the viewer see a geometrically regular square in a rectangle.
Conclusion - 1: Malevich forced the viewer to perceive a rectangle as a square. Nevertheless, he coped with this task.

Task 2.
In the desired “square” (white canvas), you need to enter another square - black.
To solve this problem, the author did the same manipulation that was done earlier, only the color of the rectangle is black. The difficulty is in choosing the proportional relationship between the “canvas square” and the black square inscribed in it. Using knowledge of the mathematical meaning of the Golden Section proportions, it is not difficult to calculate these ratios.
Conclusion - 2: Malevich had knowledge of the “Law of Beauty” and knew how to apply it.

Task 3.
Bring encyclopedic knowledge into harmony with the imperfections of human visual perception.
We know that a person perceives white and black colors differently.
Let's conduct an experiment: - take two geometrically equal squares, - cover one of them with black paint. When we look at them at the same time, we will see that the black square will appear smaller than the white one. Malevich had to take this effect of imperfect vision into account when determining the proportions of the two “squares”. An artist can solve this problem experimentally, consciously distorting the meaning of the “golden ratio”, using knowledge, talent and charisma, achieving a harmonious, ideal relationship between given rectangles. As one of the researchers of the artist’s work correctly noted, “it was not the material side of creating a painting, but the refined stage of the spiritual process that was the idea of ​​​​Malevich’s work on the Black Square.”
Conclusion - 3: Using knowledge and talent, Malevich succeeded. Experimentally, those harmonious relationships between rectangles that can be called “ideal” were found. Reflecting on the solution to this problem, the reader can decide on the question that arises - Why? The artist did not rewrite or copy “Black Square”, but repeated it throughout his life.

Task 4.
Inscribe in the center of the desired “square” (canvas) - inscribed.
If we draw diagonals at both “squares” and align the centers, we will see that the inscribed rectangle will be perceived below the geometric center. To solve this problem, Malevich had to shift the geometric center of the inscribed “square” along the vertical axis, placing it above the geometric center of the canvas, so that the inscribed black square was visually perceived in the center of the canvas. The distance between centers is also a subject of complex creative and emotional search.
Most portrait artists use this knowledge when choosing options for the composition of a portrait.
Conclusion - 4: And Malevich coped with this task.

Task 5.
Draw a square relative to the “Law of Perspective”.
The painting is called “Black Square” for a reason. The author did not call it a black square in a white square. Malevich called one of his first paintings “Quadrangle”.
In one of his Vitebsk letters, Malevich wrote: “At the end of the day is another topic about the Suprematist quadrangle...”
A. Benois, a contemporary of Malevich, an artist, an art critic, wrote: “A black square in a white frame”
The shape of the white base cannot be square, since according to the Laws of Perspective, the two parallel, lateral sides of the canvas, in order to appear as straight vertical sides, must have a concave shape. Changing the shape of the canvas is a mechanical process not related to painting.
Malevich, moving towards achieving his goal, simplified as much as possible the possibility of extraneous, side tasks that would distract from solving the main one - to depict a flat, black, square, in ideal proportions, on a white background. Moreover, the area of ​​the canvas and the area of ​​the black square must be in ideal relationships to each other and in ideal possibilities for human perception. Therefore, we cannot consider the area of ​​the canvas to be a square and the goal of bringing it to visual perception as a square was not set. As for the perception of the black square, this is a question of the main goal. Since any point moving away from the X axis, up or down, acquires the properties of perspective contraction, and the sides of the square Ae - Cm and eB - mD relative to point of view 0, moving away from the X axis, with visual perception tends to converge at one point on the horizon, Malevich changed the shape of the line AeB to AsB, and CmD to CnD. Removes the perspective effect that distorts the shape of the square.
Determination of distances es and nm – creative process, based on sensations.
Conclusion - 5: The artist makes the viewer perceive the sides AB and CD as straight, and the figure ACDB as a square.

Task 6.
Using the knowledge of the “Laws of Painting”, remove airy, direct and reverse perspectives.
It is known that on the border of two contrasting colors There is an effect in which a light color is visually perceived as even lighter, and a dark color as darker. To remove this effect, the artist must use the skill of a painter. By mixing various colors describe the boundaries of contrasting colors in such a way that the viewer has no doubt about the uniformity of color - white and black. During the writing of "Black Square", ideas about computer resolution and filters did not exist, but in practice, to give the plane uniformity of color, artists use various techniques:
- change the size and shape of the brush;
- change the shape and size of the brush stroke;
- in various combinations, change the tonality of the color;
- apply “filters” - lising (writing with translucent paints
different shades, on top of the main color, giving the color nobility in perception);
- etc.
Only a very good painter can do this. Many Great Artists possessed these qualities. Leonardo da Vinci was a virtuoso of such techniques.
In impressionism, this technique is the basis of the method.
Conclusion - 6: Malevich also coped with this task.

Task 7.
Remove the perspective that arises when demonstrating a picture.
In the process of viewing a work of art, questions related to spatial perception inevitably arise.
We encounter the law of perception every day:
- looking at exhibits in museums;
- picking up comfortable spot for watching TV shows;
- buying tickets with seats to the theater or stadium, etc.
We get upset if they are inconvenient for the full perception of the spectacle. The optimal convenient distance for human perception is considered to be a distance equal to approximately three diagonals of the object we are considering:
- TV;
- computer;
- book;
- a picture
and approximately equal to the value of the most favorable perception by the average person, approaching the ideal characteristics. This knowledge led the author to the “Golden Proportions”. Artists solve this problem every time they start new job from nature. Students “fight”, wanting to take the most comfortable place in the audience, before the performance.
Malevich, knowing what kind of work he did while working on the creation of “Black Square,” understood that according to the laws of creating exhibition displays, works of this kind should be hung slightly above the horizon, that is, above the line running parallel to the floor, through the centers of the viewer’s pupils. This means that if his picture were hung in this way, the center of the square would be above the line of sight (even slightly), and the viewer would have to lift his head a little to view the picture. In this case, according to the law of perspective, the parallel, side lines of the square would acquire the property of parallel lines and tend to converge at one point on the horizon line located above the level of vision.
Thus, the viewer again would not see the square, would not see the “Miracle”.
The MIRACLE effect can only occur in someone whose viewing angle is perpendicular to the center of the painting and the distance to the painting corresponds to the “Golden Proportions” in relation to the size of the canvas. “Black Square” has only one single point from which the viewer can perceive it as a “miracle”.
K. Malevich solving this problem. He himself puts together an exhibition of his works and hangs the “Black Square” in the corner at an angle towards the viewer, like an icon, thereby removing the effect of creating a perspective that is not necessary for viewing.
That's why the painting is called an icon!
Malevich himself described the painting as “a naked, frameless icon of my time.” The viewer, limited in the ability to maneuver in front of the painting located in the corner of the exhibition hall, finds the optimal point from which the “Black Square”, in combination with other feelings of people, is perceived as a “Miracle”.
Conclusion: - the effect of perceiving a MIRACLE may occur. Under normal conditions, a person cannot see this. A distorted object will not affect the senses of perception, this is commonplace, there is a lot of this around.
Based on the above, one more conclusion can be drawn: - no one since the time of Malevich has seen a miracle in a painting called “Black Square”. Hear - heard, but did not see. And now showing it as an ordinary picture, the audience is deprived of the opportunity to perceive the “MIRACLE”.
28.01.2008 In January-February 2008, by presenting the painting at an exhibition in Paris, they deceived the French. Showing “Black Square” as an ordinary painting is like leading someone to a miracle and blindfolding it, preventing them from looking at it. It’s like taking tourists to the Giza Valley and talking about the pyramids while looking at pictures in an album.
Why then take it out?
Malevich, at the 1915 exhibition “0.10” and in the exhibitions at the landmark 2004 exhibition at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw, “Warsaw - Moscow, 1900 – 2000”, “Square” from the Tretyakov Gallery was presented as the central exhibit of the exhibition. At the same time, it is posted in the “Red Corner”.
The presentation of the organizers of the exhibition and the owners of the painting is not clear:
- or is this a formal imitation of Malevich?
- or did you realize the importance of a special display of the painting?
From November 8 to December 4, 2005, at the Tretyakov Gallery, at the exhibition of graphics by contemporary artists from Central and Eastern Europe - “The Meaning of Life - the Meaning of Art”, “Black Square” was also exhibited in the “red corner”. Since it must be viewed by the viewer:
- in the corner, limiting the view of perception by the eye;
- at an angle, removing the perspective obtained if the center of the square is above the horizon line.
Then it becomes unclear again - Why?! at the exhibition on January 28, 2008, “Black Square” was presented as an ordinary painting. This is clearly visible in the photographs.
Conclusion - 7: - the creative elite does not have a reasonable, accurate understanding of the merits of K. Malevich and the special significance of the painting called “Black Square” in world art.

We have finished looking at the processes of creating a painting, creating a “Miracle” and assessing its merits. The question arises, “if a miracle has been created, why does it need to be duplicated?”

Task 8.
The most important - sensational task, coming from the above - described! Collect all versions of Malevich’s painting, “Black Square” together. When demonstrating a painting, take into account everything that was discussed above and make the most reasonable determination of both the merits of the artist and the dignity of the painting. It is known that Malevich created four or seven “Black Squares”.
Clearly aware of the process of creating a picture, it becomes clear that since the main creative problems faced by the author are solved by sensations, the artist cannot, for the purpose of self-control, rewrite an already created square. He is forced to try new options. While in the process of creative search, test those very sensations that cannot be measured by anything other than experiment and talent. One of the last conclusions that can be drawn is that in order to more deeply appreciate the dignity of this work, all the squares must be exhibited together, in one exhibition display.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1913 1915 1919-1920 1923 1927 1929 1932 1935
“We know of several picturesque squares, but we cannot say definitively how many, since perhaps squares still unknown to us may emerge. They differ from the very first one, as a rule, in greater accuracy of execution, material, and, importantly, proportions. So far there is no study of these proportions, by which, in essence, sometimes it is only possible to establish which of the Squares known to us is captured in a particular photograph.”
It follows from this that the “Black Square” that the artist himself chose for demonstration is the most successful in relation to the implementation of creative ideas.
The square accompanied Malevich on his final journey. Researchers of Malevich’s work note that the artist painted the following paintings:
- “Red Square” (in two copies);
- « White square"(Suprematist composition);
- “White on white” - one;
- “Black Square” (several copies), - without catching that copies
There cannot be a “Black Square”.
They write:
“It is reliably known that in the period from 1915 to the early 1930s, Malevich created: four copies of “Black Square”, which differ in design, texture and color.
“The plane forming a square signifies the beginning of Suprematism, a new color realism as non-objective creativity.”
“Suprematism is divided into three stages, according to the number of squares - black, red and white: the black period. Colored and white. All three periods developed from 1913 to 1918. The basis for their formation was: to convey the power of statics through the economic essence of the plane or to form visible dynamic peace. This was achieved in a purely planar form.”

Generalized conclusion.
The creation of this work is a historical milestone in the development of all art, including fine art. Malevich told his students: “We need to grow you, so that we can grow oak trees out of you, so that we can sow seeds, not words, all over the world.” According to the students, a new world, alive and joyful, grew out of the Square.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Square gathered around K.S. Malevich of new people, the generation of the future they dreamed of. He made it possible for the next generation of Artists around the world to realize the achievements of previous millennia. Starting from the “Black Square” as a launching pad to move creative thought forward, taking into account the achievements of previous generations as a passed stage.
Nowadays, many of those who have masterfully mastered and imitated historical heritage, by and large calling themselves “Artists”, in fact they are not. They can be called good craftsmen, no more. Artist with capital letters, this is someone who, taking into account the achievements of his predecessors, brings something new and his own to art.
It must be a great shame that until now among the so-called “creative intelligentsia” there has not been a sufficiently understanding, trained specialist who would popularly explain the merits of this work.
Having proved and explained that K. Malevich created a work that, from the point of view of creative laws, has no flaws, that is, an ideal work or as close as possible to an ideal work, in comparison with all that were created by artists, we can say that it is beautiful, so - as “ideal cannot but be beautiful.
All other works, including those of different genres, provide an opportunity for researchers, critics, “experts,” professional artists, and ordinary people to reason, doubt, and argue. “Black Square” deprives this public of the opportunity to “verbalize,” which is what irritates them.
Anyone who, having seen this picture, while exchanging impressions, claims that he did not see anything special except a flat, black square, does not understand that he saw a man-made “miracle”. What a person, due to his physical imperfection, cannot see.
This is the goal, the task that the artist sought to achieve. The painting “Black Square” is the property of all the people to whom it belongs and therefore, due to its significance, it is time to stop the periodic corporate speculation about the desire to sell the painting for short-term financial gain.
© Intellectual property is protected by copyright.

A hundred years ago, these two words acquired a meaning that haunts a great many people.

For any foreign art lover, the painting “Black Square” is the most famous Russian work of art, a symbol of an idea that was long ahead of its time even in the rapid 20th century.

Artist of the Age of Cataclysms

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich lived a life that is least similar to the fate of a clever art charlatan, who set the goal of getting rich by selling abstruse theories, the symbol of which many “experts” see is Malevich’s painting “Black Square”. He was born in 1879 in Kyiv, into a large family of a production manager at a sugar factory. The desire to draw was with childhood, but low income did not allow him to receive a systematic art education and forced him to start his working life early as a draftsman.

In Kursk, where the Malevich family moved, he organized a circle of painting lovers and began preparing to enter the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he unsuccessfully tried to enter in 1905 - he lacked formal education. Although Kazimir was already family man, he moved to Moscow, studied at the private school of a graduate of the Imperial Academy of Arts F.I. Rerberg and actively participated in the activities of artistic associations, sometimes the most radical, such as “Jack of Diamonds”, “Donkey’s Tail”, “Blue Rider”, etc. d.

Search time

New times abolished old values. The meaning of the visual function of painting was lost; photography and the emerging cinema began to document the time, forcing artists to experiment with form. Social and economic revolutions made familiar themes irrelevant, actively influencing the search for new content in paintings.

Malevich lived in the thick of artistic life, was influenced by the most advanced trends: he painted impressionistic landscapes, participated in shocking actions of the futurists (for example, he walked along the Kuznetsky Bridge with wooden spoons in his buttonholes), painted paintings in the style of cubism, developed his own style - “abstruse realism”, designed the publications of the most avant-garde poets, such as A. Kruchenykh and Velimir Khlebnikov. Together with Mayakovsky, he published “Today’s popular print,” which reflected the events of the outbreak of the First World War.

"Victory over the Sun"

Back in 1913, events took place that largely determined creative destiny Malevich. The “First All-Russian Congress of Futurists” took place in St. Petersburg, in which three people took part: the inventor of the new language - “zaumi” - Alexey Kruchenykh, a supporter of musical dissonance Mikhail Matyushin and an active opponent of figurative painting Kazimir Malevich. The result of this inspired work was two performances of the opera “Victory over the Sun,” which went down in the history of avant-garde art. It is from here that Malevich’s painting “Black Square” comes from - a similar motif appeared in the form of a backdrop in the scenery for the 1st act of the opera.

The main theme of the opera was the birth of a new, machine future, which can only arise with the complete destruction of the old world. This theme was embodied by non-professional actors in fantastic costumes based on Malevich’s sketches, who uttered an obscure but expressive “zaum”, moving among amazing scenery to the sharp atonal sounds extracted from the performances ended in scandal, i.e. the goal was achieved.

Exhibition "0.10"

Contemporaries noted Malevich's ability to unite artists around himself and generate unifying ideas. But even for his like-minded people, the exhibition of 39 paintings prepared for the exhibition, which opened on December 19, 1915 in the N. Dobychina gallery in Petrograd, was a complete surprise. The title “Zero, Ten” meant zero object forms in the paintings and ten participants in the exhibition (although there were 14). It was on it that the painting “Black Square” first appeared - the photo captured it in the “red corner”, where icons were usually located.

The artist himself hung the paintings the night before the opening, wrote posters and signatures, and prepared the manifesto “From Cubism to Suprematism. New pictorial realism." Thus, he became the head of a new artistic movement, the symbol of which was the painting “Black Square”. The exhibition was designated as “The Last Futurist,” but his colleagues did not agree with its definition as a transition to Suprematism, as Malevich proposed; the artist proclaimed too radical ideas.

Suprematism

The name comes from the Latin supremus - highest - and Polish supremacja - superiority, supremacy. In the theoretical developments of the new style, Malevich spoke about the dominance of non-objectivity as the defining quality of true fine art. Freed from figurativeness, painting becomes an act of pure creation, similar to the divine, and the painting “Black Square” in this sense has the quality of a first cell, the primary element of a new world.

The basis of the new world created by the artist had one main expression - “Black Square”. The meaning of the picture was determined by the meaning of the atom from which the display is built existing world, and a new, different reality, and the versatility of this world gave ambiguity to the “Black Square”. What is she wearing?

Apotheosis of pointlessness

Proclaiming the independence of truly pure art from the function of documenting the surrounding reality, the artist inevitably comes to the loss of any figurativeness, or to the search for an initial form that cannot be separated into its component elements. This is the primary element that Malevich found - “Black Square”. The meaning of the picture is that the impression it makes does not depend on semantic content, on associations with the object world, on specific references and allusions. The task set by the master is not easy, it requires the participation of the viewer, his tension mental strength, the presence of some baggage. And most often it does not give obvious answers, but only indicates a new way of receiving impressions from existence, and isn’t this the goal of art?

Color is the basis of new painting

Full name of itself famous painting the master designated it as follows: “Black Suprematist square on a white background.” For the artist and philosopher, every word was important here, because the primacy of color, its primacy lies at the basis of Suprematism. You can find a description of the painting “Black Square” by Malevich, where the color of the paint applied to the canvas appears to be a complex mixture various shades, among which there is no clearly black, and the white frame is called the shimmer of light cream shades.

It seems that this made sense for the master when he took further steps - in the famous “white on white” series, when the expressiveness of painting is built on the subtlest color relationships between planes. The painting “Black Square” is a declaration of the dominant color, the most significant, significant, and contrasting. Although understanding it as a result of mixing all primary colors (warm and cool, spectral and complementary), strengthens the meaning of this declaration.

Energy and light

It is not for nothing that the first mention of the black square was found in Malevich’s work on the design of the futuristic opera “Victory over the Sun.” The description of the painting “Black Square”, the explanation of the white background on which an opaque dense figure is placed, as light shining from behind an approaching curtain, is found both in the artist himself and in the audience, and is especially organic in the context of the events taking place in the opera.

It’s amazing how Malevich managed to predict picturesque directions that became relevant half a century later. Ad Reinhardt and Sol LeWitt undoubtedly followed the path indicated by Black Square. In Mark Rothko, the energy of color and vibration of a laconic form acquires cosmic proportions, and the means of expressing this energy are almost literally similar to the Suprematist.

It is not known how important the hand-made form, the slight non-parallelism of the sides of the square, the pulsation of the background and the flickering of black color were for Malevich, but something makes you look closely at this picture and with every minute the mystical radiation from it becomes more noticeable.

Crisis of ideas, end of art?

It is trite to attribute prophetic qualities to an artistic genius, but in the case of Malevich the gift of foresight is obvious. The apocalyptic motifs that Malevich endowed with “Black Square” were also obvious to contemporaries. They saw the meaning of the painting as a dead end to which art, and especially painting, and the development of social thought had led.

The usual function of fine art was declared obsolete, and the square was seen as a logical result of the creative searches of the formalists. It is not for nothing that there is a legend that, having seen the “Black Square”, Picasso lost interest in cubism - there was nowhere to move further... What had already happened did not add optimism war time and a clear premonition of future revolutionary upheavals.

And yet, from the top of the past, in the slogans proclaimed by Malevich, one can hear a call to look for new ways, and the denial of old methods of displaying the changing world does not seem dominant. This was confirmed by the further creativity of the master and his students, the vitality of his ideas.

Reference point

Malevich’s canvas still excites dense commentators who are excited by the artist’s name and the amount paid for the original painting - “critics” who have an infantile virgin intellect. They are confident in the zero significance of such art. absorbing the light matter of true artistic values, is also seen by highly educated guardians of spiritual traditions and moral norms.

Meanwhile, the name of Malevich is known to every future artist, designer or architect all over the world; Suprematism influenced the most famous modern masters. For example, the author of ultra-modern forms in buildings and the human environment - Zaha Hadid - especially emphasizes the influence of the ideas of the Russian artist on all her work.

What is needed to paint the painting “Black Square”

You can live your whole life without thinking about a well-fed, comfortable life, and look at the world differently than others. argue with friends and enemies, raise students, try to convince the state authorities that you are right and end up in poverty and exile, die from a painful illness at an early age and turn your own funeral into an event of avant-garde art.

But why complicate things? A canvas, a little paint and a minimum of painting skills - a masterpiece of world significance is ready. And even better - a computer graphics editor and a high-quality printer - it’s smoother, more correct, more beautiful... And the most important thing is not to make unnecessary mental efforts, because everything is so simple...

A century-long joke: experts from the Tretyakov Gallery spoke in detail about the secrets of the famous “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich. The picture is already a hundred years old, but it is still impossible to say that it is well understood by the general public. Even art critics argue. The discussion is fueled by new facts that have become known to specialists. The name of the painting was originally completely different, and under the layers of paint there were two more paintings.

Sensational research details and unique footage. Employees of the Tretyakov Gallery filmed how they looked into the Black Square, reported. In X-rays, complexly interconnected structures are clearly visible under the picture. geometric figures. This is a completely different picture. Yes, not one, but two, experts say. And both are colored.

The fact that the “Black Square” is not simple, and there is another image inside, was known already in the nineties of the last century, after the first studies. But the technology did not allow us to understand what exactly was there. Now, in the year of the painting’s centenary, experts have resumed their work using digital equipment. It wasn't just paintings that were discovered.

“The most important thing: in addition to the two compositions, we found fingerprints, presumably of Malevich himself, because they are embedded right on the damp layer, these are mainly areas of a white field,” said Ekaterina Voronina, a researcher at the department of scientific examination of the Tretyakov Gallery.

We also found an inscription. True, Malevich’s handwriting is not easy. But the experts deciphered: “The battle of blacks in a dark cave.” Now they consider this to be an absentee dialogue between the artist and his predecessors. Back at the end of the nineteenth century, black rectangles “Night fight of blacks in the basement” by Paul Bilhold appeared, and then by Alphonse Allais.

One thing is clear: Malevich’s creative process was complex. But the version that he simply sketched unsuccessful works with black paint in his heart is refuted by new research.

"This is a complex paint that consists of several substances. Among them, for example, burnt bone, black carbon-containing pigment and chalk. That is, he prepared this paint. It was not spontaneous - he squeezed it out, wrote it - but still he thought about how it was will look like this,” noted Ekaterina Voronina.

“This is a special combination of pigments that gives a special velvety effect that Malevich needed. Because he needed not just black color, but a deep black abyss,” added Zelfira Tregulova, general director of the Tretyakov Gallery.

This is not only one of the most mysterious paintings in the world, but also one of the most expensive. Whether “Black Square” will become even more expensive, because now there is not one painting, but three, is a question. But the fact that interest in him will not disappear is absolutely certain. An infrared image of the painting may also appear in the Tretyakov Gallery. However, the fact that this is not exactly a “Black Square” can be seen even with the naked eye.

Yulia Bogomanshina, Alexandra Sergomasova, Dmitry Sharakin, TV Center