Cubism & Early Abstraction · 1879–1935 · Ukrainian

Kazimir Malevich

Malevich's Black Square (1915) was meant as a zero point for painting, color and subject stripped away. He went on to float pure colored shapes on white grounds in his Suprematist compositions.

Across 4 works, the colors are mostly white (52%), red (15%) and black (14%). On average the canvases are light, moderately saturated and warm. Signature colors, used far more here than across the collection: vivid red, white, silver, scarlet red and cool white.

Color print

The swatches covering most of these canvases, averaged over every work, dark to light.

• MG 206 silver 18.9% of canvas
• MG 013 vivid red 11.6% of canvas
• MG 205 white 11.5% of canvas
• MG 201 parchment 10.6% of canvas
• MG 171 bone 9.8% of canvas
• MG 223 soot 7.1% of canvas
• MG 204 cool white 4.5% of canvas
• MG 017 scarlet red 4.5% of canvas
• MG 222 charcoal 4.4% of canvas
• MG 200 ivory 4.0% of canvas
• MG 221 blue black 3.9% of canvas
• MG 203 pale muted golden cream 3.9% of canvas
• MG 202 pale muted golden cream 2.7% of canvas
• MG 108 very dark blue 2.7% of canvas

Measurements

Lightness

0.72

Contrast

0.50

Vividness

0.045

Warmth

+0.84

Complexity

104 cells

Hue range

0.21

Focus

0.08

Works

• Black Square (1915), 1915
• Red Square, 1915
• Suprematist Composition, 1916
• Suprematist Composition: White on White, 1918