1928–1930: Kazimir Malevich. The Return to Color.

Category: Art History / Suprematism / Ukrainian Avant-garde
Reading Time: 8 Min

I. Introduction: Beyond the Black Square

Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935) remains the defining figure of absolute abstraction, the founder of Suprematism—the supremacy of pure artistic feeling. While his Black Square (1915) serves as the iconic zero point of modern art, his work is far more complex, especially his later phase rooted in Ukraine.

His artistic journey was a perpetual search for a universal language, moving from Impressionism and Symbolism to the geometric purity of Suprematism. However, the final, poignant chapter of his artistic life was deeply tied to his teaching and painting during his time in Kyiv.

II. The Suprematist Creed

Suprematism, as conceived by Malevich, sought to free art from the burden of the object, reducing painting to the most elemental geometric forms: the square, the circle, and the cross. This was an attempt to achieve a spiritual, non-objective world view.

Malevich believed that only pure geometric abstraction could truly express the dynamic forces and cosmic scale of the new industrial age. [cite_start]The white background of his Suprematist works symbolized infinity.

The Biographical Detail:
Although born in Kyiv, Malevich returned to the city later in life. [cite_start]His teaching years at the Kyiv Art Institute (1928–1930) were critical. [cite_start]This period marked a shift—a temporary return to the figurative, often using stylized peasant themes. This artistic direction was partly forced by the changing Soviet political climate, but it also saw Malevich reconnect with his childhood memories of the Ukrainian countryside.

“The square is a living, royal infant. It is the first step of pure creation in art.”

— Kazimir Malevich

III. The Kyiv Period: Peasant Themes and Unknown Faces

During his time in Kyiv, Malevich produced a striking series of works that re-engaged with the human figure and the rural landscape, though filtered through a Suprematist lens.

The faces of his “peasants” are often faceless, abstracted oval shapes, or marked by simple crosses, suggesting that the figure is not a portrait of an individual but an archetype—a symbolic representation of the collective worker or the essential human form. The forms themselves are voluminous and bright, contrasting sharply with the ascetic rigor of his Suprematist period.

IV. The Theory of Color and the Peasant Archetype (Premium Content)

Malevich’s late figurative work, especially the peasant themes, is distinguished by his revolutionary use of color. While the Suprematist works used color to define space, the Kyiv period works use bold, saturated hues—primary reds, blues, and yellows—to construct the form itself.

This return to the vibrant color palette, sometimes referred to as Post-Suprematism, was a philosophical statement. It demonstrated that even after reaching the absolute purity of the Black Square, the artist must engage with the material, cultural world. He fused the absolute geometry of abstraction with the powerful, enduring aesthetics of Ukrainian folk art and Byzantine traditions, creating an ultimate synthesis of the sacred and the abstract. This body of work, much of which was hidden or misunderstood for decades, is now seen as a vital bridge between pure modernism and the folk-inspired roots of the region.

V. Conclusion: The Pioneer and the Prophet

Malevich’s enduring legacy is his status as the pioneer who took art to its final abstract frontier. However, his work from the Kyiv period proves that his genius lay not just in reduction but in synthesis. He showed that the search for the cosmic universal (Suprematism) could coexist with the earthly and cultural (the peasant theme), solidifying his place as a profound, multifaceted figure in Ukrainian and world art history.