User:AnnabelHurst/Red Square (painting)

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Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions, also know as Red Square, is a 1915 painting by Kazimir Malevich. Red Square was part of Malevich's Suprematist art movement (1915-1919), where he sought to create artworks that were universally understood.

A non-representational work, Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions, is depiction of a red quadrilateral on a white field.

Red Square is currently in the collection of the Russian Museum in St Petersburg.

Background
The use of the square was first introduced by Malevich in 1913 as stage curtains for the Russian Futurist/Cubo-Futuris t opera “Victory Over the Sun,”. The design reflected the synthesis of Russian and Western European art in the eve of World War I.

It was later displayed at The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0,10 in Petrograd alongside other notable works by Malevich including Black Square and White on White.

Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions, unlike Black Square and Black Circle, was not included in "First Russian Art Exhibition" held in Berlin in 1922 as the Red Square was not considered important to UNOVIS. Exhibiting Malevich's Suprematist paintings, like Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions, proves difficult as it is not always clear what is the top or the bottom of the canvas. Even exhibitions where Malevich helped mount the works, it is likely that the paintings were hung in various positions.

Suprematism
Emphasizing pure abstraction and geometric shape Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions is an example of Suprematism. Concerned only with form and the purity of shape, particularly that of the square, Malevich primarily considered Suprematism as an exploration of visual language as well as a step in the evolution of religious understanding. The rejection of form was a fundamental premise of Suprematism. For Malevich, Suprematism was purely aesthetic, divorced from political or social meaning. On the back canvas of Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions, there is an inscription that reads "Peasant Woman (Suprematis|m|)", making this one of the first times Malevich used term "Suprematism".

Restoration
One year before Malevich's death, three of his paintings including Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions were accepted for restoration. The reasoning behind the restoration was due to the painterly layers flaking as well as some minor losses to the coats of paint. The flaking of the painting likely occurred due to Malevich repainting a section of Red Square that had previously been painted. These paintings have been continually restored, with the most detailed restorations taking place in 1976 and 1988.

Description
In December 1920, Malevich looked back at the period of Suprematism, concluding. that is marked by three evolutionary pages that corresponded with a square: a black, a red and a white phase. Describing his Suprematist works as nonobjective, but never abstract, Malevich intended to liberate painting from the burden of recognizable images.

When creating Red Square Malevich began by drawing a line at the top of the form in the proportion of 2:8:2. He then seems to pull down one corner of the quadrilateral, stretching the shape into a distorted configuration. Whilst the red quadrilateral may appear asymmetrical, it maintains its symmetry along one diagonal axis. This depiction of the quadrilateral demonstrates how Malevich was beginning to manipulate basic forms. On the canvas the quadrilateral was not intended to be an "image" but rather a "living form". Malevich described the square in a letter to Alexander Benous as the "single bare and frameless icon of our time". The composition of Red Square is determined by the cohesion of the spatial environment represented on its surface and surrounding it.

Intimate in scale and densely painted, Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions contains intense brushwork with the flat application of the red pigment creating an ambiguous effect on the surface of the painting. The ruby red pigment used by Malevich creates a depth and glow to the surface of the painting. The application of the color is uniform, without shadow or tone, yet the actual application of the color is not meticulous. Malevich's fragmentary use of varnish can be seen with only the form of the red quadrilateral being varnished. However, this is a departure from some of Malevich's other paintings where the white background, rather than the form, would be varnished. Malevich does not attach any symbolic relevance to color as Suprematist practices emphasize that the colors and shapes speak their own language. This is an expression of Malevich's belief that everything is in motion. In this way Malevich asserted that the dynamic of color is timeless.