Kasimir Malevich

1878-1935

European Artist

Malevich was born near Kiev, Ukraine. He studied at the Moscow Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in 1903. During the early years of his career, he experimented with various Modernist styles and participated in avant-garde exhibitions, such as those of the Moscow Artists' Association. In 1919, he began to explore the three-dimensional applications of Suprematism in architectural models. Malevich began teaching at the Vitebsk Popular Art School in 1919; he soon became its director. In 1927, Malevich traveled with an exhibition of his paintings to Warsaw and also went to Berlin, where his work was shown at the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung. Because of his connections with German artists, he was arrested in 1930 and many of his manuscripts were destroyed. In his final period, he painted in a representational style. Malevich died in Leningrad.