Suprematism was an artistic movement that originated in Russia in 1913 and lasted until the late 1920s. It was founded by Kazimir Malevich, who also coined the term Suprematism to refer to an abstract art based on “the supremacy of pure artistic feeling” rather than on visual depiction of objects. Suprematism focused on the application of elementary geometric forms, such as circles, squares, rectangles, and crosses, painted in a limited range of colors, usually black, white, red, blue, and yellow. Suprematists also explored the idea of non-Euclidean geometry, that is, a geometry that defied logic by giving the illusion of fixed geometric forms floating or moving in space. The movement’s simplification of form and color was intended to create a new visual language that expressed the essence of human feelings and perceptions.

Suprematism was influenced by several intellectual and cultural developments in the early 20th century, such as Cubism, Futurism, Russian avant-garde poetry and philosophy, and P. D. Ouspensky’s theory of the fourth dimension. Suprematists also shared a revolutionary spirit with the political and social changes that occurred in Russia during and after the 1917 October Revolution. Suprematists believed that their art could contribute to the transformation of human consciousness and society by liberating the artist and the viewer from the constraints of material reality and conventional aesthetics.

Suprematism was first announced by Malevich in his 1915 exhibition The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0.10 in St. Petersburg, where he exhibited 36 works in a similar style, including his famous Black Square. This painting, which consisted of a black square on a white background, represented the “zero degree” of art, the point at which art could be reduced to its most fundamental form. Malevich considered this painting as a symbol of a new artistic era and a new worldview. He later developed his Suprematist system by introducing other geometric forms and colors, such as Black Circle, Black Cross, White on White, and Suprematist Composition.

Other prominent Suprematist artists include Aleksandra Ekster, Liubov Popova, Olga Rozanova, Ivan Kliun, Ivan Puni, Nadezhda Udaltsova, Nina Genke-Meller, Ksenia Boguslavskaya, El Lissitzky, and others. They experimented with different techniques and media, such as collage, sculpture, architecture, design, and typography. They also created dynamic compositions that suggested movement and rhythm. Some of them later joined or influenced other artistic movements, such as Constructivism, Bauhaus, and De Stijl.

Suprematism had a significant impact on the development of abstract art and modern art in general. It inspired many artists around the world who sought to create a universal and pure art that transcended the boundaries of time, space, and culture. Some of the artistic movements that were influenced by Suprematism are Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Op Art , Conceptual Art , Neo-Geo , and others.