Object as Communication

Suprematism, 1915 by Kasimir Malevich, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Malevich is the Father of the Suprematist movement which led to Abstraction. He considered his ultimate goal to be communication through "non-object" representation, culminating in a final "white on white" painting. He considered the conveying the feeling of a work more important than portraying an object. After the Russian revolution in 1917, he became a teacher and was quite influential on the Bauhaus artists, architects, and designers.

Private Gifts Turned Public Treasures

Imperial Peter the Great Easter Egg by the Fabergé firm, 1903,

By the Russian jewler Peter Carl Faberge. This egg was made by his shop in 1903 for presentation from Tsar Nicholas III to Tsarina Alexandra in commemoration of 200th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter the Great. The royal tradition of  gifting elaborate Easter eggs began with Tsar Alexander III, and continued until the revolution in 1917.

Supreme Painting

Suprematist Composition, 1916 by Kazimir Malevich

During the closing ceremonies of the Olympics in Sochi last night, reference was made to Ukrainian artist Kazimir Malevich, but not much else was said about him. He is one of the most important artists of the 20th century, less famous than Picasso, but no less important. This is considered to be one of the most important pieces of 20th century art and in his treatise of 1916 Malevich explained that he wanted to concentrate on color and texture and to move beyond traditional representation.

Richness of Color

 Universe by Olga Suvorova

Another of the artists I have found on Pinterest series. Olga Suvorova (b. 1966) is a Russian artist whose beautifully detailed paintings call to mind the rich color and workmanship of the great Northern Renaissance artist Jan van Eyck and the Henry VIII court painter Hans Holbein. Suvorova's detail and imagination, combined with her use of color, create truly breath-taking paintings. 

The Theatre by Olga Suvorova