How much does the painting Black Square by Malevich cost? Great and incomprehensible: Why everyone admires the “Black Square”

A century-long joke: experts from the Tretyakov Gallery spoke in detail about the secrets of the famous “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich. The picture is already a hundred years old, but it is still impossible to say that it is well understood by the general public. Even art critics argue. The discussion is fueled by new facts that have become known to specialists. The name of the painting was originally completely different, and under the layers of paint there were two more paintings.

Sensational research details and unique footage. Employees of the Tretyakov Gallery filmed how they looked into the Black Square, reported. In X-rays, complexly interconnected geometric figures are clearly visible under the painting. This is a completely different picture. Yes, not one, but two, experts say. And both are colored.

The fact that the “Black Square” is not simple, and there is another image inside, was known already in the nineties of the last century, after the first studies. But the technology did not allow us to understand what exactly was there. Now a year centenary anniversary Experts resumed their work using digital equipment. It wasn't just paintings that were discovered.

“The most important thing: in addition to the two compositions, we found fingerprints, presumably of Malevich himself, because they are embedded right on the damp layer, these are mainly areas of a white field,” said Ekaterina Voronina, a researcher at the department of scientific examination of the Tretyakov Gallery.

We also found an inscription. True, Malevich’s handwriting is not easy. But the experts deciphered: “The battle of blacks in a dark cave.” Now they consider this to be an absentee dialogue between the artist and his predecessors. Back at the end of the nineteenth century, black rectangles “Night fight of blacks in the basement” by Paul Bilhold appeared, and then by Alphonse Allais.

One thing is clear - creative process Malevich had a difficult one. But the version that he simply sketched unsuccessful works with black paint in his heart is refuted by new research.

"This is a complex paint that consists of several substances. Among them, for example, burnt bone, black carbon-containing pigment and chalk. That is, he prepared this paint. It was not spontaneous - he squeezed it out, wrote it - but still he thought about how it was will look like this,” noted Ekaterina Voronina.

“This is a special combination of pigments that gives a special velvety effect that Malevich needed. Because he needed not just black color, but a deep black abyss,” added Zelfira Tregulova, general director of the Tretyakov Gallery.

This is not only one of the most mysterious paintings in the world, but also one of the most expensive. Whether “Black Square” will become even more expensive, because now there is not one painting, but three, is a question. But the fact that interest in him will not disappear is absolutely certain. An infrared image of the painting may also appear in the Tretyakov Gallery. However, the fact that this is not exactly a “Black Square” can be seen even with the naked eye.

Yulia Bogomanshina, Alexandra Sergomasova, Dmitry Sharakin, TV Center

It is known that Malevich created four or seven “Black Squares”.
Clearly aware of the process of creating a picture, it becomes clear that since the main creative problems The problems that the author encounters are decided on sensations; the artist cannot, for the purpose of self-control, rewrite an already created square. He is forced to try new options. While in the process of creative search, test those very sensations that cannot be measured by anything other than experiment and talent. One of the last conclusions that can be drawn to more deeply appreciate the dignity of this work you need to display all the squares together, in one exhibition display.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1913 1915 1919-1920 1923 1927 1929 1932 1935

“We know of several picturesque squares, but we cannot say definitively how many, since perhaps squares still unknown to us may emerge. They differ from the very first one, as a rule, in greater accuracy of execution, material, and, importantly, proportions. So far there is no study of these proportions, by which, in essence, sometimes it is only possible to establish which of the Squares known to us is captured in a particular photograph.”
It follows from this that the “Black Square” that the artist himself chose for demonstration is the most successful in relation to the implementation of creative ideas.
The square accompanied Malevich in his last way. Researchers of Malevich’s work note that the artist painted the following paintings:
- “Red Square” (in two copies);
- “White Square” (Suprematist composition);
- “White on white” - one;
- “Black Square” (several copies), - without catching that copies
There cannot be a “Black Square”.
Another one (unidentified) in Ukraine and one (unconfirmed, three-dimensional) from the St. Petersburg gallery owner, Sergei Kovalsky.

[b]1913 - availability indicated on back side Hermitage (location unknown;
[b] 1915 - (quadrangle), in 1920 exhibited at the personal exhibition "0.10" in catalog No. 39, 1918-1919. - Kandinsky Ave. NARKOMPROS, since 1929. State. Tretyakov Gallery, G T G;
[b] 1919-1920 - Black Square, State. Russian Museum, 1922 - ex. in Berlin, sold from exhibition (location unknown;
[b] 1923 - Black Square, 1926 - “Large exposition of the exhibition. in GINKHUK (authenticity is in question)?
[b] 1927 - Black square, copy of 1915, "Berlin Art Exhibition", in the architectural exhibition;
[b] 1929 - Black Square, pers. Exhibition at the State Tretyakov Gallery, 80x80, 2004 exhibited in Warsaw;
[b] 1932 - Black Square, exhibition “Artists of the RSFSR for the XV Years”, Located in the Hermitage, 53.5x53.5, 1995-1996 - Exhibited in the State Museum of Fine Arts. Previously belonged to INCOMBANK.
[b] 1935 - Black square, (at a funeral), which one is unknown?;
[b]ХХХХ - UNCONFIRMED - in Ukraine and [b]one from S. Kovalsky.
You can count!

The Black Suprematist Square is a masterpiece by Kazimir Malevich that had a huge influence on 20th century painting. Today the masterpiece belongs and is stored in the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow). An estimate of how much the painting Black Square by Malevich is worth gave the following results:

• Estimated value of Malevich's Black Square: $20 million(according to Sotheby's auction, which works with Russian paintings)

There are other data that influence the cost of the canvas, such in history are:

• Research in 2015;
• Other masterpieces.

Many factors can affect the price of a painting, such as the discovery of new details. In the case of the Black Square, after checking the masterpiece by the Sotheby's auction house, which deals exclusively with Russian painting. According to the representative of the organization, Retto Barmetler, the following was found under the canvas:

• Another color creation by Casimir;
• Left inscription.

This data was achieved thanks to X-ray scanning of images. The photographs show that through the cracks (remained after the paints dried) another color work is visible. It was not possible to determine what kind of sketch this is or what is depicted on it.

The signature deserved special attention, which also could not be fully deciphered. The three letters were not deciphered, but experts presented a theory according to which the entire phrase sounded like “Battle of blacks in a dark cave.” According to many, the portrait is a reference and a certain dialogue between Casimir and Alphonse Allais (France), who painted a completely black picture called “The Battle of Negroes in a Dark Cave in the Dead of Night.”

Myself auction house said that these finds will affect the cost of the masterpiece and will certainly arouse interest in it. In any case, the presence of a second canvas with the image will have a beneficial effect on how much Malevich’s Black Square costs.

Price of other paintings by Kazimir Malevich

The composition of interest is not the most expensive work of the master, although it is the most famous. Among the most expensive paintings by the artist are:

• Suprematist composition. It was written in 1916, but presented to the general public only in 1927 at an exhibition in Berlin. Subsequently, Casimir's heirs became its owners. The original was sold in 2008 at a New York auction from Sotheby’s, and the transaction amounted to $60 million. It was this that became his most expensive work ever sold;
• Mystical Suprematism. Its creation took more than two years of work from 1920 to 1922. Also passed complex history upon returning to the heirs of the Russian painter. It was similarly implemented in the USA in the center big apple behind $37.7 million, but already in 2015;
• Suprematism. Another painting that returned from Germany to the USA, where the master’s descendants lived, but painted in the 1919-1920s. Sold through the same auction, but auctions took place in London in 2015. The buyer who paid for it 3 $3.76 million, expected to remain unknown;
• Suprematist composition. Also one of the 37 cardboards by Kazimir Malevich remaining in Berlin, created in the 19-20s of the last century. During the capture of the country by the Nazis, she was secretly taken to America, where in the late 90s she was transferred to her rightful owners. Its auction took place in 2000 through the Phillips company, and even then it was possible to get $17 million.

All these works confirm the interest of private collectors and art lovers in the work of Kazimir Malevich, one of famous works which is the Black Suprematist square.

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich was born in 1878 into the family of a sugar manufacturer and a housewife in Kyiv. He had Polish roots, his family spoke Polish, but Malevich considered himself Ukrainian. The artist spent his childhood in the Ukrainian outback, and, as he himself wrote, folk culture influenced all of his work. He watched as village women painted stoves, dishes, and embroidered geometric patterns on shirts.

In the future, the artist many times in his works described childhood memories, which later influenced his choice of profession. The father took little Casimir with him to Kyiv. Looking at store windows, he saw a canvas on which a girl was peeling potatoes. Malevich was shocked by how realistically the peel was depicted. Or, seeing a painter painting a roof in green color, was amazed how she gradually became the same color as the trees.

At the age of 15, his mother gave him paints, and already at 16 he painted his first picture: a landscape with a boat, a river and the moon. The artist’s friend took the canvas to a store, where they bought it for 5 rubles - average salary worker in 2 days. Further fate paintings unknown.

Then a lot happened in Malevich’s life interesting events: work as a draftsman, failure entrance exams to the art academy, exhibitions, teaching at the university, disgrace Soviet power- but now we will talk about his main works.

"Cow and Violin", 1913

It was probably from this painting that Malevich declared war on traditional art. It was painted in 1913 in Moscow, when the artist was sorely short of money. So he dismantled the closet and painted 3 paintings on the shelves. They even had holes for fastenings on the side. Hence the unusual size of the canvas.

Malevich came up with an “alogism” - a new style painting, opposing itself to logic. Its essence was in combining the incongruous. The artist challenged academic art and all philistine logic. Art has always been created according to certain rules: in music there is a clear structure, poetry was tailored to traditional rhythms such as iambic and trochee, in painting pictures were painted as the masters bequeathed.

In the painting “The Cow and the Violin,” Kazimir Malevich brought together things from two opposite banks. Violin as an object classical art, also one of Picasso’s favorite subjects, and a cow, which the artist copied from a butcher shop sign. On the back he wrote “An illogical comparison of two forms - “a cow and a violin” - as a moment of struggle against logicism, naturalness, petty-bourgeois meaning and prejudices.” There he also put the date “1911” so that no one would have any doubts about who first came up with the alogism.

Subsequently, the artist developed this direction, for example in his work “Composition with Gioconda”. Here he depicted famous work Leonardo da Vinci crossed it out and pasted an advertisement for the sale of the apartment on top. His performance on the Kuznetsky Bridge, the gathering place of today's golden youth, is famous: he walked across it with a wooden spoon in the buttonhole of his jacket, which became a mandatory attribute in the clothes of many avant-garde artists of that time.

Kazimir Malevich became the founder of alogism, but did not develop it for long. Already in 1915 he came to his famous black square and Suprematism.

"Black Suprematist Square", 1915

Everything in this picture is mysterious - from origin to interpretation. Malevich's black square is not actually a square at all: none of the sides are parallel to each other or to the frame of the painting, it is simply a rectangle that resembles a square to the naked eye. For his work, the artist used a special solution of paints, which did not contain any black paints, so the title of the painting does not entirely correspond to reality.

It was written in 1915 for an exhibition, but Malevich himself put the date “1913” on the back. Perhaps this is due to the fact that in 1913 the opera “Victory over the Sun” was staged in which the artist painted the scenery. It was a production not accepted by the average person, consisting of slurred speech, avant-garde costumes and strange scenery. There, for the first time, a black square appeared as a background, blocking the sun.

So what is the meaning of this painting, what did the artist want to tell us? The complexity of an unambiguous interpretation was initially incorporated into the work by the author. Initially, many artists sought to depict the object of drawing as accurately and similarly as possible. Ancient man tried to show hunting in his rock art. Later, symbolism appeared, when, in addition to depicting reality, painters put some meaning into their works. By placing various objects in their paintings, artists sought to show their feelings or thoughts. For example, the image of a white lily implied purity, and a black dog Christian culture denoted unbelief and paganism.

During the years of Malevich’s life, cubism was very popular, where the artist does not try to realistically depict the shape of an object, but shows its content with the help of geometric shapes, lines. Casimir went even further: he destroyed the form itself, depicting the zero of all forms - a square.

He created a new direction - Suprematism. This, he believed, was the highest manifestation of painting. The black square became the first letter of the alphabet with which his masterpieces were created. The artist called Suprematism new religion, and the square is its icon. It was not for nothing that at the exhibition the painting hung at the top in the corner where Orthodox Christians hung icons, the so-called red corner.

In addition to the black square, the exhibition featured “Black Circle” and “Black Cross”. And if “Black Square” was the first letter of the alphabet of new art, then the circle and cross were the second and third. All three paintings constituted a triptych, one whole, building blocks with the help of which the paintings of Suprematism would be built.

At least 4 versions of the black square are known, which Malevich painted later for various exhibitions. The first and third versions are in the Tretyakov Gallery, the second in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. The fourth black square became known only in 1993, when the lender brought the painting as collateral to the bank. He never took the painting, and after the bank collapsed, Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin bought it for a symbolic million dollars and transferred it to the Hermitage.

In 2015, employees of the Tretyakov Gallery discovered complex geometric lines and patterns under the first black square. Experts say that under the square there are paintings, not one, but two. In addition, they also found the inscription: “Battle of blacks in a dark cave.” This is a reference to artists of the 19th century century to Paul Bilchod and Alphonse Allais, who already drew black rectangles and gave them similar names. So Malevich’s paintings still keep many secrets.

"Suprematist composition", 1916.
The main thing here is the blue rectangle located on top of the red beam. The tilt of Suprematist figures creates the effect of movement. This is the most expensive work of Russian art

The most amazing thing about this picture is its history. Malevich exhibited it at an exhibition in Berlin in 1927, but he urgently had to leave. He left his works in the custody of the architect Hugo Goering, but fate turned out to be such that Malevich never saw the paintings again. When the Nazis came to power, all his works were supposed to be destroyed as “degenerate art,” but a friend of the artist took more than 100 of his paintings out of the country. Later, the architect's heirs sold them to a Dutch museum, which then for many years organized the largest exhibitions of Malevich's paintings in Europe. Much later, the artist’s relatives sued the museum for their inheritance, and 17 years later some of the paintings were returned to their rightful owners.

In 2008 this picture was sold for $65 million and became at that time the most expensive canvas among paintings by Russian artists. In 2018, “Suprematist Composition” updated its record and was sold at auction for 85 million to an anonymous buyer.

"White on White", 1918

Developing the theme of pointlessness, Malevich created White square, or "White on White". If Suprematism stands above any other art, then the white square stands at the head of Suprematism itself. What could be more pointless than a white “nothing”, and even on a white background? That's right, nothing.

There is a legend that the artist, having painted a picture, lost sight of the square and decided to outline its borders and highlight the background more. This is how the work reached the viewer.

For the Suprematists, white was a symbol of space. Malevich considered whiteness to be the pinnacle of contemplation. In his opinion, a person seems to be immersed in a trance, dissolving in color. The artist himself was delighted with his work. He wrote that he broke the color barrier. After finishing work on the painting, Malevich was in a state of depression, because he could no longer create anything better.

The work was first shown at the exhibition “Objectless Creativity and Suprematism” in 1919 in Moscow. In 1927, she ended up at an exhibition in Berlin and never appeared in her homeland. Now in the Museum contemporary art in NYC. The canvas is one of the few paintings available to Western viewers. IN Soviet Russia the white square was strongly associated with the white movement. Perhaps this is why the painting is not as famous here as in the West. In the USA, the popularity of the white square is comparable only to the black square in Russia.

“Red Cavalry Gallops,” 1928–1932

The Soviet government was not very fond of Suprematism, or the entire work of the Russian avant-garde in general. The only painting by Malevich recognized by the Soviets is “Red Cavalry”. I think there is no need to say much why. Even on the back was the inscription “Red cavalry is galloping from the October capital to defend the Soviet border.” The artist put the date in the corner - “1918”, although the picture was clearly painted later.

There are 3 elements clearly expressed here - sky, horsemen and earth. But not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance; few critics interpret the painting as a tribute to the Red Army.

The horizon line runs exactly along the golden ratio - the standard of proportions: the earth relates to the sky in the same way as the sky to the whole. Such a division of the painting in those days was very rare; perhaps, Malevich’s work as a draftsman in his youth had an effect. By the way, golden ratio is also present in five-pointed star Whether this was a reference to Soviet power, one can only guess.

The numbers three, four and twelve often appear in the painting. On the canvas there are three groups of riders of four people each, which gives a total of 12. Each rider is, as it were, divided into 4 more people. The land is divided into 12 parts. Versions of interpretation are different, but most likely, Malevich encrypted a reference to Christianity here: 12 apostles, 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Holy Trinity... Although it could be anything: 12 zodiac signs, 12 months, 3 heroes. Perhaps the artist came up with these numbers by accident, but as you get to know Malevich’s work closer and closer, you don’t believe in such coincidences.

The painting “Black Suprematist Square,” which has been in the Tretyakov Gallery since 1929, hung upside down. Only 86 years later did art historians manage to figure this out. /website/

The controversial painting “Black Square” by Kazemir Malevich has been the subject of controversy among art critics for 100 years. Now she also finds herself at the center of a scandal.

Exploration and discovery

Museum staff examined the painting using X-rays and microscopic analysis and found that there were two other drawings under the image of the square.

So far, researchers cannot determine what is drawn in the first two paintings. It also remains unclear why the artist painted his images on top of each other. Art historians believe that he may not have had a canvas. According to another version, the artist created a black square based on the previous composition, gradually remaking it.

While studying the painting, scientists encountered another discovery. It turns out that there was an inscription on the painting. It turned out to be erased, but with the help of a microscope it was possible to see some of the letters. Art historians are also confident that the handwriting in the painting undoubtedly belongs to Malevich.

Experts have deciphered the inscription allegedly left by Malevich on the “Black Square” https://t.co/dJZELrFqnV

The inscription reads "Battle of the Negroes at Night." “Battle” is read perfectly, in the word “blacks” you can make out two letters in the middle, from “night” only “yu” is clearly readable.

What does controversial art lead to?

When deciphering the inscription, experts were in for another sensation - all this time the “Black Square” was hanging upside down. This is indicated by the location of the inscription.

The mysterious inscription is a reference to the famous painting Frenchman Alphonse Allais, which was called “The Battle of the Negroes in a Cave in the Dead of Night.” Also the Frenchman wrote absolutely white picture"Anemic maidens going to their first communion in a snowstorm" and the red "Apoplectic cardinals picking tomatoes on the shores of the Red Sea." Previously, art historians did not directly connect Malevich and Allais.

In total, Malevich wrote four “Black Squares” - the original and three repetitions. The original hangs in the honorary center of the Suprematist hall in the Tretyakov Gallery. At the same time, museum staff noted that the art of the 20th century is visited very poorly. About 4,500 people a day come to this building to look at a completely different artist - Valentin Serov.

The third “square” is also located in the Tretyakov Gallery. The second is exhibited in the Russian Museum, the fourth in the Hermitage. The success of this primitive and unoriginal work is shrouded in mystery. However, for 100 years now the painting has been popular and discussed and is estimated at $20 million.