suprematism
Belief in dominance
Suprematism is an abstract art movement founded by Kazimir Malevich around 1915, emphasizing pure geometric forms—squares, circles, rectangles—in limited colors against white backgrounds.
The movement sought to free art from representational imagery, pursuing what Malevich called "the supremacy of pure artistic feeling." His *Black Square* became its iconic work. (Capitalized Suprematism is the standard form.)
Not depicting reality
- transcendenceSurpassing usual limits
- purityUncontaminated quality
- nonobjectiveLacking depicted subject matter
- spiritualityConnection to the sacred
infinity · essence · absolute · cosmic · metaphysical · fourth dimension · universal · antimaterialism
Aesthetic of reduction
- reductionMaking something smaller
- monochromeSingle-color rendering
- white spaceUnprinted page regions
- voidWithout legal effect
emptiness · purity · austerity · sparse · elemental · flatness · floating · weightlessness
Rhombus with right angles
- circleCurved closed shape
- crossPass from side to side
- triangleThree-sided plane figure
- rectangleFour-sided, all right angles
quadrilateral · line · plane · diagonal
Active knowledge-building theory
- futurismStudy of tomorrow's possibilities
- cubismGeometric, fragmented visual style
- BauhausInfluential modernist design school
- abstract artVisual work avoiding depiction
nonrepresentational
Not depicting reality
- transcendenceSurpassing usual limits
- purityUncontaminated quality
- nonobjectiveLacking depicted subject matter
spirituality · infinity · essence · absolute · cosmic · metaphysical · fourth dimension · universal · antimaterialism
minimalism
Aesthetic of reduction
- reductionMaking something smaller
- monochromeSingle-color rendering
- white spaceUnprinted page regions
void · emptiness · purity · austerity · sparse · elemental · flatness · floating · weightlessness · dynamic tension
square
Rhombus with right angles
rectangle · quadrilateral · line · plane · diagonal
constructivism
Active knowledge-building theory
- futurismStudy of tomorrow's possibilities
- cubismGeometric, fragmented visual style
- BauhausInfluential modernist design school
abstract art · modernism · revolutionary art · Soviet art · formalism
Red Square
Moscow's central plaza
- art stylesimpressionism, surrealism, cubism, realism, pop art
- Modern Artcubism, Cubism, Fauvism, dadaism, Dadaism
- Soviet UnionKremlin, Lenin, Stalin, KGB, Sputnik
- abstract artabstract art, abstract expressionism, abstraction, expressionism, abstract composition
- Geometric Abstractiongeometric art, geometric shapes, geometric pattern, constructivism, hard-edge painting
- Russian ArtKandinsky, Chagall, Hermitage, Russian icons, icon painting
suprematismrealism
Accepting things as they are
naturalism · photorealism · figurative art · social realism · trompe-l'oeil
suprematismsocial realism
Unidealized portrayal of workers' lives
propaganda art · political art · didacticism · materialism · egalitarianism
suprematismbaroque
Excessively ornate or elaborate
rococo · maximalism · art nouveau · mannerism