Tag: Avant-garde


  • Kazimir Malevich’s Nationality

    Kazimir Malevich’s nationality is a subject of ongoing debate, reflecting the complex historical context of his birthplace and the cultural influences he experienced. Here’s a breakdown of his background and how it might have influenced his work: Background and Nationality Influence on His Works Malevich’s cultural background and the geopolitical context of his time likely…

  • Kandinsky Before Abstraction: The Rider and the Landscape

    Tracing the Path to a Visual Language of the Soul Before Wassily Kandinsky stripped away the figure, before the symphonies of line and color, there was a rider — mid-gallop, merging with the landscape. Painted in 1909, Picture with a Riding Archer and Landscape is not yet abstract, but abstraction is already whispering through its…

  • Understanding Suprematism: Malevich’s Radical Vision

    A short analysis: Why a Black Square Changed the Course of Art History In 1915, Kazimir Malevich exhibited a black square on a white canvas and declared: “I have transformed myself in the zero of form.” It was more than provocation — it was the birth of Suprematism, a movement that shattered centuries of representational…

  • How to Verify the Provenance of Russian Art

    Due Diligence in a Market Rich with History—and Complexity The Russian art market is one of the most intriguing—and most carefully scrutinized—in the world. With masterpieces from artists like Malevich, Kandinsky, and Kljun commanding millions, provenance is not just a formality: it’s a necessity. So, how do seasoned collectors verify that a work is the…

  • Leningrad School of Painting

    On our websites you will find many paintings you may recognize as works of art inspired by The Leningrad School of Painting (Russian: Ленинградская школа живописи).  This refers to a group of Soviet painters, who from 1930 to 1950 founded in Leningrad the Reformed Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, unified by the Leningrad Union of Soviet artists. The history of…

  • Why is Wassily Kandinsky “The Rider” (1909) an important work?

    Why is Wassily Kandinsky “The Rider” (1909) an important work? Around 1910, Kandinsky’s artistic style began to shift significantly towards abstraction. In 1910, he completed his first truly abstract watercolor, marking a pivotal moment in his career. This period also saw the publication of his influential book “Concerning the Spiritual in Art” in 1910, where…

  • Russian Painters

    Moskow School of Painting The traditional Russian painting is one of the world’s most important schools of thought. Through generations, artists and artists’ ideas of teachers have been passed on to students. To this day, Russia produces outstanding works in technical perfection and with love for the subject. This generally acknowledged high quality of traditional Russian…