In March 1915 the first futuristic exhibition of paintings “Tram B” was held in Petrograd. Artists wore red wooden spoons on the lapels of their jackets as badges. The spoon first appeared on February 19, 1914. It was used as the emblem of Februaryism of artists who sought to violate all norms of the “reasonable” dress code in clothes.
Malevich presented sixteen cubo-futuristic abstruse works then. There were “The Lady at the Poster Pillar”, “An Englishman in Moscow” (both 1914, Stedelic Museum, Amsterdam), “Aviator” (1914, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg), “Portrait of M. Matyushin”(1913, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). “Composition with Mona Lisa” (1915, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg) of the Februaryist period was of particular importance for the artist’s work as a whole. It was a step towards Suprematism, it was a bridge between Cubo-Futurism and Suprematism on the way to non-objectivity. The work contained letters, phrases, sound associations between which illustrations were placed, and geometric shapes of different scales of local color formed contrasts.
At the same time, in May 1915 Malevich re-made sketches for a brochure for a futuristic opera. They were done at the request of Matyushin. During the period of work on sketches, the artist experiences a “partial eclipse”. In a letter to Matyushin, speaking about one of the sketches, Malevich writes: “This drawing will be of great importance in painting. What was done unconsciously now bears extraordinary results10
Примечания
1
Aleksandra S. Shaktskikh, compl., “Kazimir Malevich. Chyorny kvadrat” [Kazimir Malevich. The Black Square]. St. Petersburg, Azbuka Publ., 2001, p. 151.
2
Aleksandra S. Shaktskikh, “Kazimir Malevich” [Kazimir Malevich]. Moscow, SLOVO Publ., 1996, p. 4.
3
Mariya Glushkova, ed., “Krasny Malevich: stat’i iz gazety “Anarhiya” [Red Malevich. Articles from the “Anarchy” newspaper]. Мoscow, Common place Publ., 2016, pp. 55–56.
4
Aleksandra S. Shaktskikh, “Kazimir Malevich” [Kazimir Malevich]. Moscow, SLOVO Publ., 1996, p. 21.
5
Ibid, p. 26.
6
Glushkova M., ed., “Krasny Malevich: stat’i iz gazety “Anarhiya” [Red Malevich. Articles from the “Anarchy” newspaper]. Мoscow, Common place Publ., 2016, pp. 85–86.
7
Glushkova M., ed. Krasnyj Malevich: stat’i iz gazety “Anarhiya” [Red Malevich. Articles from the “Anarchy” newspaper]. Мoscow, Common place Publ., 2016, pp. 51.
8
Aleksandra S. Shaktskikh, “Kazimir Malevich” [Kazimir Malevich]. Moscow, SLOVO Publ., 1996, p. 16.
9
Ibid, p. 32.
10
Aleksandra S. Shaktskikh, “Kazimir Malevich” [Kazimir Malevich]. Moscow, SLOVO Publ., 1996, p. 46.