Abstract
After finishing Black Square, the foundation for pure abstract art, Kazimir Malevich sought to further consolidate and develop the connotation of suprematism, using the “zero of form” as a core principle to deepen his metaphysical thinking about color. In his theoretical writings and artistic practice from 1915 to 1920, Malevich developed the concept of artistic evolution, namely “three stages of suprematism” (black–red–white), endowing each stage with a corresponding motivation (economy–revolution–pure action). Malevich saw White on White, which contained universal utopian ideas, as the final stage of Hegel's evolutionary view of history, in which the concepts were integrated into a purely unified form and became self-contained, corresponding to what Malevich referred to as the “unified world architectural system on Earth” or the “post-historical” era of art. Combining Arthur Danto's declaration of the “end of art”, painting has come to an end in the narrative level in White on White, where both form and color are “transformed into zero,” and the interpretation of artistic concepts turn into the interpretation of philosophical concepts. However, abstract art has entered a diversified era in the theoretical atmosphere of the “art world,” and the “emptiness” of abstract art has the potential to continue to nurture or generate new connotations and ideas. The “end of art” in the context of suprematism emphasizes the “liberation” of art in the dual sense of aesthetic and social values, which is closely related to the aesthetics of the Russian Silver Age.
Keywords
suprematism; Black Square; White on White; evolution; the “end of art”
First Page
115
Last Page
126
Recommended Citation
Ai, Xin. 2024. "From Black Square to White Square: The Evolutionary Thought of Kazimir Malevich's Suprematism and the End of Art." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 43, (4): pp.115-126. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol43/iss4/12
