Pioneered geometric abstract art and originated the Russian avant-garde movement of Suprematism.
Early influences were with Fauvism, Cubism & Futurism.
Famously in his manifesto, ‘Cubism to Suprematism’, he rejected all previous art movements
as non-creative. He concentrated on geometric abstract art as being created
from the individual, from within and not by copying nature or a scene placed in front of an artist.
His Suprematism work is considered a key turning point in abstract art. He influenced many modern artists and his theories can still be linked to today’s contemporary art movements.
Quotes:
“Academic naturalism, the naturalism of the Impressionists, Cezanneism, Cubism, etc.,
all these, in a way, are nothing more than dialectic methods which, as such,
in no sense determine the true value of an art work.”
“Feeling is the determining factor … and thus art arrives at non-objective representation through Suprematism.”
“No more ‘likenesses of reality,’ no idealistic images, nothing but a desert.”
“Suprematism is the rediscovery of pure art which, in the course of time, had become obscured by the accumulation of “things”.”
“The black square on the white field was the first form in which nonobjective feeling came to be expressed.
The square = feeling, the white field = the void beyond this feeling.”