Suprematism

Suprematism was an art form conceived by the Russian painter Kasimir Malevich between 1913 and 1915. It was an art of pure geometric abstraction. According to Malevich, art was independent of political and social ends, and art stood alone and should be autonomous. Suprematism opposed constructivism, which believed that art should serve a social purpose. Within Suprematism, geometric shapes are mainly used, especially the square. In addition, pure colors, white and black, were used. The representation of objects and ideas was completely rejected by Malevich. Within completely abstract art, Malevich championed the supremacy of geometric forms. At the end of the 1920s, the influence of suprematism in Russia waned. Malevich's ideas, however, had already reached Central Europe and Western Europe. Here they influenced European Constructivism, Bauhaus, the international style of architecture and the minimalist art of the 1960s.