Page 39 - Studio International - September 1967

Supremalist composition
c. 1916-17
pencil
4 x 6½ in.

Malevich only emerged as a writer when he had reached On New Systems in Art, which discusses the movements in
absolute maturity as an artist. He was 37 years old when modern art that led him to Suprematism, remains
he published his first pamphlet, From Cubism and Futurism Malevich's main work of the period. Most Unovis-
to Suprematism, the most important of the earliest texts. In period writings were never published, though certain
the beginning he limited himself to rather short state- chapters from a large book entitled The World as Non-
ments, often of a poetic nature. There is a close corre- objectivity were made available in a German translation
spondence between these texts and his participation in as recently as 1962.
public discussions and artists' meetings in Moscow and His main work of the last decade is a series of articles
Petersburg. which can be regarded as constituting one book, which
The writings from the first years of the Revolution I refer to as New Art. The other major publication was
sprang from immediate needs, and the greater part of the Bauhaus book Die gegenstandslose Welt (Munich 1927).
them were polemical. Malevich was never supported by It gave only fragments of his ideas. The translation was
any critic in the formative years of his art; in fact he often poor, and the book was produced without Malevich's
had to defend his position, which gave a temporary direct collaboration and, apparently, to his dissatisfaction.
character to some of his writings. This became even more New Art, hitherto virtually unknown, was published in
pronounced during the first years of Revolution, when the Ukrainian magazine Nova Generatsiya (1928-30). It
administrative responsibilities replaced avant-garde activi- consists of 11 chapters or lectures covering the develop-
ties. ment of modern art from Cezanne to the architecture
He gradually became aware that it was important to of Le Corbusier and Gropius and the Russian post-
establish a philosophical basis for his own achievements revolutionary movements.
in painting and to investigate the consequences of non- It is obvious that Malevich's conceptions of modern art
objective painting. In 1919, when he left for Vitebsk, he form a most important part of his authorship. In New Art
set out to develop at length the ideas touched upon in he uses a formal analysis developed from observations
From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism. Despite the mainly within the work of Cezanne and the Cubists.
interest the philosophical attempts may have, the book Originally he divided the development of Cubism into
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