CULTURE

russian museum hopes to bring malevich to the masses

by Galina Stolyarova

For The St. Petersburg Times a suprematist cup

This artist is a legend, but a legend unexplored by the masses.

Though Soviet censorship restrictions are long gone, and his artistry is availiable for all to see, Kazimir Malevich - one of the key figures of 20th century visual art - still remains no more and no less than the author of "Black Square" to many Russians. And it wouldn't be true to say all of them would like to know more.

It is an open secret that Russian audiences - in the majority - still tend to favor 19th century art, with contemporary trends remaining alien. Stereotypes and shortsightedness in perceiving Russian art are yet to be overcome. But this is exactly what the State Russian Museum is trying to do, with two new exhibitions focusing on Malevich and his followers.

"Before Malevich, Russia dictated the fashion in music and literature, but with this artist's genius, the country also heralded new ways in visual art," said Vla dimir Gusev, director of the State Russian Museum.

The curators of "Malevich at the Russian Museum," which opened Thurs day in the museum's Benois Wing, deliberately decided to rely entirely on the museum's own resources, as it boasts the world's greatest collection of Malevich art. Arranged chronologically, the exhibition traces Malevich's development from his early light-blue tone oil paintings visibly inspired by impressionism to futuristic pieces to his famous suprematist works.

A particular hall juxtaposes "Black Square" (1924 version) with "Black Circle" and "Black Cross," created for an exhibition in Venice during the same period. Crowning the exhibition are post-suprematist paintings, and more specifically works comprising the so-called "second peasant cycle" heralding a tense and tragic note.

"In Malevich's Circle," hosted at the Marble Palace, introduces the audiences to Russian followers of Malevich, with 600 works put together not only from the Russian Museum but also from the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and a number of private collections.

"Russia has long been a country with closed borders, and so until the mid-80's the avant-garde was not just unknown to general [Russian] audiences, it was simply forbidden," said Yevgenia Petrova, deputy director of the Russian museum.

Names [so famous in Western countries] like Mark Chagall, Vassily Kan din sky, Kazimir Malevich and other avant-garde elite didn't mean anything to the Russian public until the perestroika era.

"The Artists in Kazimir Malevich's circle remain relatively unknown to the majority of Russians," Petrova said.

Now the times are over when Moscow bureaucrats decide which exhibitions to organize and which artists to suppress, and Gusev admits he faces the difficult task of breaking stereotypes which have been inculcated both in Russia and abroad. "Museum curators, art historians and critics were deprived of power, without much chance to influence decision-making in their own field and let new, original ideas find their way to viewers."

The fate of Malevich's works is particularly dramatic as the Russian Museum, which received the lion's share of its current selection of the artist's works from his family after he died in 1935, became a virtual tomb for his paintings and drawings when Malevich was declared ideologically alien to Soviet culture. Museum officials were forced to hide avant-garde art every time they were expecting a inspection visit from the Communist Party culture bosses.

Owner of the world's largest collection of Malevich, with over 100 paintings and about 40 graphic works, the Russian Museum has reservations as to whether the collection can grow further. "A suprematist work by Malevich was sold for $19 million at a recent auction," Petrova said. "Needless to say, we can't afford a purchase of this kind."

But the museum's finances aside, viewing these two magnificent projects can hardly leave even the most nagging critic wanting any more.

"Malevich at The Russian Museum" can be seen until mid-February. "In Malevich's Circle" is open until March. See listings for details

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