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Malevich, Life and Work
Book by Jeannot Simmen, Kolja Kohlhoff
- GenresArt
95 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 26, 2017
Op zich een prima overzicht van het leven en werk van Malevich. Een toegankelijk boekje dat toch ook wel enigzins de diepte in gaat. Ik vind het alleen vervelend wanneer kunstboeken me vertellen wat ik zou moeten voelen bij schilderijen; vertel me wat ik zie, op zijn hoogst wat de maker heeft gevoeld of bedoeld maar laat de rest open (dat is het leukste gedeelte, namelijk). Ik heb geleerd dat ik Malevich een doetje vind, hoewel ik dat al wel vermoedde.
September 3, 2022
The book itself is well-written and a great showcase of the conceptual themes and events that informed Malevich's art. As a piece of art history, this is one of the better books I have read, though I still feel that much could have been done in terms of historical research and interpretation.
Malevich's work by itself is something that interests me greatly. The man tried to make objective and to put out into the world one of the most subjective things one can think of, specifically the "supremacy of pure artistic feeling". From realistic portraits and landscapes he slowly abstracted away the world, pushing the boundaries of perspective (as with Cubism), linear time (as with Futurism), and with the figure itself (as with other abstract works of the time, such as the Bauhaus and De Stijl). His answer to these challenges, both in the individual shapes of the square, cross, and circle, and in the more complex Dynamic Suprematism works, act as a negation of the object, the ultimate subversion of expectation at the time where one is ultimately forced to look at the art and forge an entire meaning out of it from whole cloth.
Malevich's work (and abstract art in general) signify to me the embodied necessity of the viewer. Art does not, and can never exist in a vacuum, by its very nature, though attempts to try anyway always result in pieces that lead either to a spotlight on the history, the context and the conceptual messages that caused the art, or to apathy and annoyance. All art does this to some extent, but abstract art, by not having the ability to hide behind figures or narrative, does this in a particularly striking way.
A black square can speak volumes.
⬛
Malevich's work by itself is something that interests me greatly. The man tried to make objective and to put out into the world one of the most subjective things one can think of, specifically the "supremacy of pure artistic feeling". From realistic portraits and landscapes he slowly abstracted away the world, pushing the boundaries of perspective (as with Cubism), linear time (as with Futurism), and with the figure itself (as with other abstract works of the time, such as the Bauhaus and De Stijl). His answer to these challenges, both in the individual shapes of the square, cross, and circle, and in the more complex Dynamic Suprematism works, act as a negation of the object, the ultimate subversion of expectation at the time where one is ultimately forced to look at the art and forge an entire meaning out of it from whole cloth.
Malevich's work (and abstract art in general) signify to me the embodied necessity of the viewer. Art does not, and can never exist in a vacuum, by its very nature, though attempts to try anyway always result in pieces that lead either to a spotlight on the history, the context and the conceptual messages that caused the art, or to apathy and annoyance. All art does this to some extent, but abstract art, by not having the ability to hide behind figures or narrative, does this in a particularly striking way.
A black square can speak volumes.
⬛
June 11, 2017
An introduction to the work and life of Kazimir Malevich - and it contains many small format reproductions of his paintings in color. It is an easy to read book and the main stations of the development of Malevich, both as in his personal life and as an artist, are covered. Some historical and political background is provided, too. I enjoyed to read the book and compared to other art books on Malevich, it is a light weight book that can easily be carried on a travel or in the train.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews