Malevich's Boy with a Knapsack: a large nearly upright black square above a smaller tilted red square on a tall pale canvas Buy Art Prints Now
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by
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 2, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000

Introduction

On a tall white canvas, a large black square sits above a smaller red square that leans at an angle. This is Kazimir Malevich's Painterly Realism of a Boy with a Knapsack—Color Masses in the Fourth Dimension, painted in 1915 and now at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Nothing identifies a figure or a bag in the ordinary pictorial sense. The long title and the spare image pull in different directions: one names a familiar subject, while the other asks us to look at paint, colour, size and position. [1], [2]

MoMA identifies the oil painting as 816.1935, measuring 71.1 × 44.5 centimetres. Malevich showed it in the 0.10 exhibition at Petrograd at the end of 1915; a later Guggenheim catalogue reproduces the original exhibition entry as number 41. It is often reproduced under the shorter name Black Square and Red Square. That is an alternate label for this two-shape MoMA canvas, not a sign that the original one-form Black Square and the Russian Museum's separate Red Square have somehow become one object. [1], [2], [3]

At a Glance

  • ArtistKazimir Malevich (1879–1935)
  • MoMA titlePainterly Realism of a Boy with a Knapsack - Color Masses in the Fourth Dimension
  • Other recorded titlesBlack Square and Red Square; older MoMA catalogue wording Suprematist Composition: Red Square and Black Square
  • Date1915
  • MediumOil on canvas
  • Dimensions71.1 × 44.5 cm, according to MoMA
  • CollectionMuseum of Modern Art, New York; object 816.1935
  • 0.10 exhibitionPetrograd, 1915–16; catalogue no. 41 in the historic list reproduced by Drutt
  • Later custodyMalevich, Hugo Häring, Alexander Dorner/Hannover, then MoMA; institutional acquisition confirmed with the heirs in 1999

Contents

  1. Two squares and a field of white
  2. The title and the fourth dimension
  3. At 0.10: a painting among many new experiments
  4. Orientation, reproduction and later readings
  5. Berlin, Hannover and MoMA

Where this work sits in Malevich’s career

Watch: Kazimir Malevich

Three short films place Black Square, the 1915 exhibition and Malevich’s later work in context.

Two squares and a field of white

The black form looks almost stable. Its top and bottom edges run close to horizontal, and its sides close to vertical. Yet “almost” matters. The reproduced surface and boundaries are not computer-perfect. Against the tall support, the square occupies a relatively compact upper-middle area, leaving pale space above and to either side. It is large enough to dominate without filling the whole canvas. [1], [4]

The red square below is smaller, set off to the right and tilted. Its upper edge rises toward the right, so its corners behave differently from the black form's. The red does not touch the black. White separates them, and the interval is wide enough to keep each distinct while letting the eye compare them. The lower square's strong colour and rotation make it visually insistent despite its smaller area. These are observations from the exact-work image, not a recovered code that assigns each square a human role. [4]

The two elements do not form a conventional stacked figure. They differ in size, position, colour and angle, but they have no drawn face, limbs, strap or surrounding scene. A viewer can imagine the black mass as “boy” and red as “knapsack,” or reverse the roles, as an exercise invited by MoMA's children's label. The label asks a question; it does not establish a definitive figure hidden in the canvas. The adult object text instead treats Malevich's painterly realism as attention to painting's own elements. [1]

The pale field is doing work of its own. Above the black form it creates breathing room; between the squares it measures the separation; below the red it restores a broad quiet space before the bottom edge. Remove that field mentally and the squares become adjacent shapes in a tight graphic crop. Keep it, and their scale and distance become the subject. The canvas's vertical proportion is important: a square outer support would create a different balance. [1], [4]

The full-size reproduction shows faint differences in the white and subtle visible texture within the coloured passages. A screen cannot tell us exactly how the original oil paint feels in a gallery or distinguish every restoration from original brushwork. It does show that the colour zones are painted surfaces, not clean digital fills. MoMA explicitly counts brushwork among the elements Malevich considered central to his new realism. [1], [4]

The painting becomes a study in unequal forces. The large black square is visually heavy but nearly upright; the smaller red square is vivid and rotated. Neither literally moves, yet the contrast makes the lower shape seem less settled. This is an interpretation of how shape and colour interact, not a fact that a scientific instrument could measure in the paint. Viewers may experience the black as an anchor and red as an interruption, or see the red as the centre of energy that keeps the black from taking over. [1], [4], [5]

Compare the portrait-shaped MoMA work with the first Tretyakov Black Square. The latter places one dark quadrilateral on a nearly square field and has its own material history. In Boy with a Knapsack, the second coloured shape and taller support produce a different conversation. The red is not a minor detail added to the original Black Square. It belongs to a separate oil painting with its own accession and recorded journey. [1], [3], [4]

The comparison with Red Square also needs care. The Russian Museum's 1915 canvas uses one red quadrilateral within a square format and carries a different painterly-realism subtitle. Here the red form is only one part of a two-form, vertical composition. A search result headed “Malevich Red Square” can retrieve either work or a later variant; the museum and object number settle which is being discussed. [1], [3], [6]

The title and the fourth dimension

The phrase Boy with a Knapsack sounds like the title of a portrait or genre scene. The 0.10 catalogue, as reproduced in Matthew Drutt's 2003 Guggenheim volume, calls number 41 Painterly Realism of a Boy with a Satchel—Painterly Masses in the Fourth Dimension. “Satchel” and “Knapsack” are English renderings of related wording in different catalogues; the historic line is useful evidence that the apparently figurative title was present at the movement's first public presentation, not simply invented by a later museum. [2]

MoMA explains “new painterly realism” as a realism of colour, line and brushwork rather than an illusion of recognizable things. The black and red planes are actually there as paint. Their relation is the picture. That is a very different claim from saying a boy has been abstracted until only a large black torso and red bag remain. Brandon Taylor's Oxford study allows the more nuanced thought that an evocation of a boy may have been a starting point, while the finished work becomes a painterly construction. He offers that as an interpretation, not as a map proving which square is which. [1], [5]

“Color Masses in the Fourth Dimension” adds another paradox. The canvas is flat and the coloured forms do not model ordinary volume with shadows or perspective. Early twentieth-century artists nevertheless explored “fourth dimension” language as a way to discuss space beyond immediate sensory appearance. Malevich uses that ambitious phrase while giving us only the limited materials of painting: a rectangular support, two planes, colour and white intervals. The title asks the viewer to consider a kind of space that cannot be verified by finding a painted doorway into a fourth physical axis. [1], [2], [7]

The title's two halves are therefore connected. A familiar human subject is named and then denied its usual outline. A dimension beyond ordinary sight is named and then approached with visible paint. This tension helps explain why the painting's minimal form should not be mistaken for an absence of ideas. Its small number of components makes each choice conspicuous. Changing the red form's size, colour, tilt or distance from black would materially change the work's effect. [1], [4], [5]

Malevich made other 1915 pictures with similarly provocative names. The Chicago Painterly Realism of a Football Player is far busier, with violet, yellow, blue, red, green and black forms. The historic 0.10 list gives it number 40, directly before the boy-with-satchel entry. Their shared title pattern does not make them duplicates. It shows the range of arrangements Malevich could place under the idea of colour masses in a fourth dimension: one with numerous parts and one with only two major forms. [2], [8]

At 0.10: a painting among many new experiments

In December 1915 Malevich presented a group of nonobjective paintings at the Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings, usually called 0.10, in Petrograd. MoMA's object page places Boy with a Knapsack in this context. The primary exhibition list reproduced in the 2003 Guggenheim book identifies its original entry as 41, immediately following Football Player at 40. That is direct catalogue evidence for the named work's participation, rather than a general assumption that all his 1915 abstractions were on the walls. [1], [2]

The exhibition introduced Suprematism as a departure from pictures based on recognizable objects. MoMA's label describes basic planes stretching, rotating and overlapping on light fields. This particular canvas tests how little can be retained while still making an active composition. One almost upright black form and one smaller turned red form are enough for a comparison of weight, angle and interval. [1], [4]

The famous archival view of Malevich's 0.10 room is often used to tell the story of Black Square. This painting has a different documentary anchor in the catalogue list. A room photograph and catalogue answer different questions: the first shows a partial installation from one viewpoint; the second lists named entries. It would be careless to assert an exact place on a wall from catalogue no. 41 alone. The number confirms the entry, not the hanging coordinate. [1], [2], [3]

The older name Black Square and Red Square is easy to understand visually. It is also easy to misuse. The first Tretyakov Black Square is a distinct, nearly square painting; the Russian Museum Red Square is another distinct object. This MoMA canvas places black and red together in a tall format. Its historic 0.10 title directs us toward Malevich's painterly-realism vocabulary, while its descriptive nickname helps quickly identify what we see. A good catalogue account can retain both without conflating three canvases. [1], [2], [3], [6]

MoMA has reproduced this work under more than one title. A mid-twentieth-century master checklist uses Suprematist Composition: Red Square and Black Square and an uncertain older date range. The museum's present object record uses Painterly Realism of a Boy with a Knapsack - Color Masses in the Fourth Dimension and 1915. The shared 816.1935 / older 35.816 collection identifier links the records to one physical work. The shift is cataloguing history, not evidence that one of the squares was repainted or that the museum owns a second identical canvas under another name. [1], [9]

Orientation, reproduction and later readings

The present image places black above red. Even that apparently simple orientation has a history. Brandon Taylor's 2011 Oxford study reports that Alfred H. Barr Jr.'s 1936 MoMA exhibition Cubism and Abstract Art described the work under the red-and-black title but hung and reproduced it inverted. Taylor points to Barr's catalogue page 124. The large 1936 catalogue was not directly inspected for this article, so the inversion is reported as Taylor's documented account, rather than independently verified here from the original page. [5]

The account matters because a reversed image can produce a new formal reading. Put red above and black below, and the large dark form becomes a base rather than an upper weight. This does not prove Malevich intended both directions equally, nor does it make a later inversion the original orientation. It shows why image orientation should be checked against the current MoMA record and early exhibition evidence instead of accepted simply because a reproduction appears in a respected catalogue. [1], [4], [5]

Taylor also discusses faktura, the material character of an artwork, when reading this painting. The painted surface can be lost in a black-and-white photograph or reduced web thumbnail. A reader comparing the source image with a stark vector-like red-and-black redraw may notice the original's less uniform colour and subtle pale field. This is one reason the page uses a full-canvas reproduction rather than a simplified icon. It keeps the support, intervals and available surface evidence together. [4], [5]

MoMA's 2025 children's label playfully asks which square might be the boy and which the backpack. That is a useful looking exercise precisely because it remains a question. The museum's fuller historical label stresses a visual vocabulary of planes and paint. These two educational approaches serve different audiences; neither requires the article to settle a fixed anthropomorphic decoding. The composition can be considered both a provocative title and a set of relations among visible forms. [1]

As the work has entered many later displays, the red-and-black pair has become a compact image of Suprematism. MoMA's online installation history identifies the painting in gallery views spanning the 1936 exhibition through recent presentations. Those records establish ongoing public display and reinterpretation; they do not mean the work always hangs in the same room. The museum's current display indication can change and should be checked on its live object page before a visit. [1]

Berlin, Hannover and MoMA

MoMA's provenance research follows the canvas from Malevich to western Europe. It remained with him until 1927, when he took work to Berlin for the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung. He returned to the Soviet Union and left paintings and drawings with architect Hugo Häring. In 1930 Häring placed the group in the care of Alexander Dorner, director of the Provinzialmuseum in Hannover. The museum says Dorner exhibited works there, then stored them after the Nazis came to power in 1933. [1]

Alfred H. Barr Jr. acted for MoMA in 1935, arranging the purchase of some works from Dorner and loans of others. MoMA's detailed provenance text then describes an extended loan period and subsequent acquisition into the collection, with the acquisition confirmed by agreement with Malevich's heirs in 1999. Its short credit line calls this a “1935 Acquisition confirmed in 1999.” These institutional formulations compress a complex group history in different ways. The article does not assert that this exact canvas was simply bought outright on one unqualified day in 1935. [1]

The number 816.1935 preserves MoMA's early association with the painting and is valuable for exact identification. It should not be used alone to resolve every legal and custodial step described in the museum's longer account. MoMA labels that provenance research a work in progress. That is a reason to cite it carefully, not to discard the detailed sequence it makes available. [1]

Some catalogue figures differ slightly from the present museum record. Commons' file infobox gives a width of 45.5 centimetres, while MoMA's object page gives 44.5 centimetres. For the page's main facts, the current owner record controls. The image file still helps show the exact composition because it names MoMA 816.1935 and depicts the black-above-red work, but its metadata is not a substitute for museum measurements or display status. [1], [4]

Documented Malevich collection records

Explore 665 catalogued source objects from museums and archives, including 87 exact links to local artwork pages. Records include works, print impressions, book components and archival items; they are not a deduplicated or complete oeuvre. Medium labels are grouped into broad English categories. Titles link to local artwork pages where available.

665 records

Artwork titleDateMedium
"Front line soldier" (Ratnik 1-go razriada)Δεκαετία 1920Photograph
[Le Cheval blanc][circa 1930 - 1931]Painting
[Sensation du danger][1930 - 1931]Painting
A Game in Hell, Petrograd, 1913 (2nd expanded edition)1913Book
A Game in Hell: A Poem (Igra v adu: Poema)1914Book
A Peasant Woman Goes for Water1913Print
A pork-butcher came around to Lodz and we said "Good day." From Lodz to neighboring Radom he passed, and left behind one sorry ass. (Podoshel kolbasnik k Lodzi / my skazali : 'Pan dobrodzi!' Nu, a s Lodz'iu riadom Radom / i ushel s podbitym zadom.)c. 1914Print
Alogisme 1. Portret Moskovskoy Damy (Alogisme 1. Portret van een Moskouse dame)1914Drawing
Alogisme 2. Vis, zaag, lepel, telegraafpaal1914Drawing
Alogisme 22. Malorossiyanin (Alogisme 22. Een kleine Rus)1915Drawing
Alogisme 23. Sobol, koshka (Alogisme 23. Sabel, kat)1915Drawing
Alogisme 29. Derevnya1915Drawing
Alogisme 3. Chastichnoe zatmenie (Alogisme 3. Gedeeltelijke eclips)1914Drawing
Alogisme 4. Apteka (Alogisme 4. Apotheek)1914Drawing
Alpha1923 / 1978Sculpture or object
An Austrian was going to Radzivily1914Print
An Austrian was going to Radzivily1914Print
Analytical Chart1924–27Drawing
Analytical Chart1924–27Drawing
Analytical Chart1924–27Drawing
Analytical Chart1924–27Drawing
Analytical Chart1924–27Drawing
Announcement for Malevich's lecture in Orenburg1917-1920Print
Apple Tree in Blossomc. 1930Painting
Architecton Alpha1920Sculpture or object
Architecton Gota1923 (?)Sculpture or object
Architectonische constructie1917 (versie ca. 1925)Drawing
Architectons and FigurinesSpäte 1920er JahreSculpture or object
Architecturaal-kosmische compositie1920 (latere versie (1927?))Drawing
Architectural constructionca. 1917Drawing
Aritmetica1913Drawing
Aritmetica1913Drawing
Arkhitekton Zeta1926Photograph
At Harvesting (Marfa and Vanka)1928-1929Painting
Aveniriensvers 1931 - 1932Drawing
Aviator1914Painting
Aviator v Pobede nad solntsem (Vliegenier in Overwinning op de zon)1913 (versie ca. 1929)Drawing
Baadsters op de rug gezien1910Painting
Back cover from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Back cover from Vzorval' (Explodity)1913Book
Bader1911Drawing
Betende Bäuerin1933Drawing
Biddende figuurmotief ca 1922, versie voor 1927Drawing
Birkenhainum 1905 - 06Painting
Black Circlec. 1923Painting
Black Crossc. 1923Painting
Black quadrilateral1915Painting
Black Squarec. 1923Painting
Black Square and Circle1920-1921Drawing
Black Square and White Cylindrical Form1915Drawing
Black Square, Second State1915/20Drawing
BlacksmithStudy. 1933Painting
Blestifze (Pencils)1917–1918Drawing
Boer met baardca 1930Drawing
Boerenvrouw in het veldca. 1929-1930Drawing
Boerenvrouw met emmers1912Painting
Book of Selected Poems (Kniga izbrannykh Stikhotvorenii)1930Book
Boy (Vanka)1928–1929Painting
Boy wuth knapsack / Mal'chyk s rantsem1915Print
Brooch1920Sculpture or object
Brooch1920Sculpture or object
Bubnovy Valet 21. Boerenvrouw met kind1911-1912 (latere versie)Drawing
Bubnovy Valet 40. Portret (van M.F. Larionov?)1910Drawing
Bubnovy Valet 41. Na uglu stoit apteka, lyubov sushit tseloveka (De drogist is op de hoek, van liefde droogt een man uit)1910-1911 (versie ca. 1930)Drawing
Bubnovy Valet 42. Portret moei rodstvennitsy (Bubnovy Valet 42. Portret van mijn familielid)1911Drawing
Bubnovy Valet 43. Kop van een boer1912 (latere versie)Drawing
Bubnovy Valet 44. Dansend paar1912Drawing
Bubnovy Valet 57. Lopende man1911Drawing
Bubnovy valet 8. Kop van een boer1912Drawing
Budetliyansky silach (Futuristische sterke man)1913 (versie 1915)Drawing
Bêtaavant 1926 / 1978Sculpture or object
Car and LadyPhotograph
Carpenter1928–1929Painting
Carré noir[1923 - 1930]Sculpture or object
Chelovek v ochkakh (Man met bril)ca 1929Drawing
Compositie 1 z (Supremus nr. 67)1916 (versie jaren 1920)Drawing
Compositie 10 t (Suprematisme: constructief moment)1917Drawing
Compositie 11 t (Supremus nr.18: constructievorming afhankelijk van de beweging naar een bol )1916Drawing
Compositie 13 t (Supremus nr 38)1915-1916Drawing
Compositie 13 t (Supremus nr 38)1915-1916 (gedrukt 1920, annotaties jaren 1920)Print
Compositie 14 t Oshchushchenie elektrichestva (Compositie 14 t Gevoel van electriciteit)1915Drawing
Compositie 15 k (Suprematisme)1916 (versie begin jaren 1920)Drawing
Compositie 15 q (Supremus nr. 118)1918Drawing
Compositie 16 t (Suprematisme: groot zwart trapezium en vierkant tussen rechthoeken en lijnen)1915Drawing
Compositie 2 i (Suprematisme: gecombineerd gevoel: cirkel en vierkant)1916 (latere versie)Drawing
Compositie 2 t (Verlengd vierkant met elementen overdwars)1915 (versie ca. 1920)Drawing
Compositie 2 z Obshchushchenie magnita (Compositie 2 z Gevoel van een magneet)1916 (hernomen in 1919, versie jaren 1920)Drawing
Compositie 3 t1916Drawing
Compositie 4 l Suprematisme van de geest1919Drawing
Compositie 4 t (Suprematisme: cirkel tussen rechthoeken en driehoeken)1916Drawing
Compositie 4 z (Supremus nr. 84)1916 (latere versie)Drawing
Compositie 5 l Suprematisme van de geest1919Drawing
Compositie 6 d (Tekening verwant aan ‘Huis in aanbouw’)1915Drawing
Compositie 6 t Obshchushchenie vremeni (Compositie 6 t Gevoel van tijd)1916Drawing
Compositie 9 b. Fevralizm kak emotionizm (Compositie 9 b. Februarisme als emotionisme)1915Drawing
Compositie 9 h (Suprematisme: kruis en drie rechthoeken)1916 (versie 1920)Drawing
Compositie 9 k (Suprematisme: zeven rechthoeken)1915Drawing
Compositie 9 t (Suprematisme: vier ruimtelijke elementen tegen een zwart trapezium)1915Drawing
Composition 1 e (Suprematisme: vierkant op diagonaal vlak)1915Drawing
Composition 1 t[1916 / vers 1920]Drawing
Composition 14 f[1918]Drawing
Composition 15 t1916Drawing
Composition 2 a[1917 - 1918]Drawing
Composition 3 z[1919 / avant 1930]Drawing
Composition 5 x[été 1915]Drawing
Composition 5 x[été 1915]Drawing
Composition alogique[1915]Drawing
Composition with La Gioconda (Partial Eclipse)1914Painting
Compositions 11 Rcirca 1915–16Drawing
Construction 5 h1916Drawing
Costume study for the Budetlyan Athlete in Victory over the Sun1913Drawing
Cow and Violin1913Painting
Cow and Violin from On New Systems in Art (O Novykh Sistemakh Visk Usstve)1911–19Print
Croix [noire][1915]Painting
Croix noire[vers 1923 - 1926]Sculpture or object
Dame1915Drawing
Dame an der Straßenbahnhaltestelle1913Drawing
Dame bij reclamezuil1914Painting
De gardist1913-1914Other
De houthakker (recto) / Boerenvrouwen in kerk (verso)1912Painting
De likdoornsnijder1911Drawing
De likdoornsnijder1911Drawing
De provincie1910Painting
De tuinman1911Painting
De vloerboeners1911Drawing
Der Häftling1930Drawing
Der Tod eines Menschen, gleichzeitig im Flugzeug und der Eisenbahnum 1913Print
Desk and Room (legacy site: Bureau and Room)1913Painting
Dessin de Lissitzky d'après "Supremus n° 58, composition dynamique jaune et noire", 1916, de Malevitch[1924]Drawing
Deux plans de villes[1916 / avant 1930]Drawing
Deux plans en extension[1916 - 1919]Drawing
Diagrammaround 1917/1918Drawing
Die Hochzeit1903Other
Die Waschfrau1911Painting
Dorpca. 1906Other
Dorpje1908Drawing
Drei Köpfeafter 1930Drawing
Drie boerenvrouwen1917-1919 of eind jaren 1920Drawing
Drie figuren in een landschapca. 1928-1930Drawing
Drie naakte vrouwen en een kind, peren plukkend1909Drawing
Drie staande vrouwen1930Drawing
Drie vrouwenfigurenca 1905-1906Drawing
Druckstock für Holzschnitt1920Print
Dynamic Construction1923Photograph
Dynamic Figure from On New Systems in Art (O Novykh Sistemakh V Iskusstve)1911Print
Dynamic Suprematism1915/16Painting
Dynamisch suprematisme1917-1918Drawing
Een Engelsman in Moskou1914Painting
Een paar onder bomenca 1929Drawing
Elegant gezelschap in een parkca 1908Drawing
Elementarer Suprematismus1917Drawing
Eléments d'architectone[après 1924]Drawing
Eléments non identifiés[1923 - 1935]Sculpture or object
Engelsman in Moskou1913-1914Drawing
Entwurf für das Gemälde 'Die roten Häuser'1910Drawing
Entwurf für die Bemalung der Pfeiler aus der Serie von Entwürfen für die Ausgestaltung des Roten Theaters in Leningrad1931Drawing
Entwurf für eine Deckenmalerei im Roten Theater in Leningrad1931Drawing
Eskiz k portretu Roslavtsa. Pesn golubym oblakam (Schets voor portret van de componist Roslavets. Lied van de blauwe wolken)1907-1908Drawing
Etude de paysanfin 1911Drawing
Etyud suprematis 52 sistema A 41916-1917 (versie 1920-1927)Drawing
Explodity (Vzorval')1913Book
Explodity (Vzorval')1913Book
Explodity (Vzorval)1913Book
Female Figure1928–1929Painting
Female portraitca. 1910-1911Painting
Female Torso1928–1929Painting
Female Torso1928-1929Painting
Figur mit ausgebreiteten Armen, ein Kreuz bildend1933Drawing
Figuren in Schwarz und Weiß1928/1930Drawing
Flower Seller1930Painting
Folio 1 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 15 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 17 verso from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 18 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 19 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 19 from Vzorval' (Explodity)1913Book
Folio 20 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 23 from Vzorval' (Explodity)1913Book
Folio 25 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 27 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 27 from Vzorval' (Explodity)1913Book
Folio 29 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 31 from Vzorval' (Explodity)1913Book
Folio 32 verso from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 34 verso from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 37 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 4 verso from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 7 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Folio 9 from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Footballer / Futbolist1915Print
Four Squares1915Painting
Fragmenten van een tekst over het suprematisme1927Other
From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism (Ot kubizma i futurizma k suprematizmu)1916Book
Front cover from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Fruit plukken / Overvloed1909Painting
Fuhrleute1909-1910Drawing
Full portrait of Malevich1931Photograph
Futuristische draak1913Print
Futurizm: dvizhenie cheloveka po lestnitse (Futurisme: beweging van een man op een trap)1919Drawing
Gebet IIum 1913Print
Gesellschaft in Zylindern1907Drawing
Girl in the Countryside1928–1929Painting
Girls in a Field1928-1929Painting
Gliad', pogliad' uzh blizko Visly. Nemtsev puchit, znachit kislo.1914/1918?Print
Glyad, poglyad, uzh blizko Visly1914Print
Golgathaaround 1911Drawing
Gota1923 / 1978Sculpture or object
Gota 2-a1923 / 1978Sculpture or object
Grafik ...ca. 1923Other
Grafik dvizheniya tvorcheskikh edinits v beskonechnostica. 1923Other
Grammatica1913Drawing
HarvestingStudy for a painting. 1928–1929Painting
Head of a PeasantEarly 1930sPainting
Head of a Peasant1928-1929Painting
Head of a Peasant1928–1929Painting
Hiëratisch suprematistisch kruis (groot kruis in zwart over rood op wit)1920-1921Painting
Houses of the Future Leningrad: Pilot's House1924Drawing
Huis, man, ladder1930-1931Drawing
Huit dessins suprématistes[1917 / avant 1930]Drawing
Huizen op het plattelandca. 1906Other
Häuser und Kreuze (Golgatha)1930Drawing
I yu mane torca. 1915Drawing
Igra v adu1914Other
Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1914Book
Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1914Book
Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1914Book
Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
II1913Drawing
Illustration for the book by Aleksei Kruchenykh and Velimir Khlebnikov "Igra v Adu»" (2nd edition, Moscow 1914)1914Print
Ils vont à l'église1928 - 1932Drawing
Into Wagons of the French, German Corpses Were Tightly Wrenched; Their English Brothers Carried Kegs Stuffed with Germans Who Lost Their Legsc. 1914Print
Izbornik stikhov s poslesloviem rechiaria. 1907–1914 gg. (A Selection of Poems with an Afterword by the Wordsmith: 1907–1914)1914Book
Jnitsa1913Drawing
K.Malevich, M.Matiushin, A.Kruchenykh, St.Petersburg, December 19131913Photograph
K.Malevich, M.Matiushin, A.Kruchenykh, St.Petersburg, December 19131913Photograph
K.Malevich, M.Matiushin, A.Kruchenykh, St.Petersburg, December 19131913Photograph
Kabarett1930Drawing
Kazimir Malevich lying seriously ill in his bed, shortly before he died1935Photograph
Kettle with lid1923Sculpture or object
Komposition mit einer Figurafter 1930Drawing
Konstruktionaround 1915Drawing
Kop van een boer, kruis, en landschap1928-1929Drawing
Kop van een boerenmeisje1912Painting
Kop van een boerenvrouw1913Drawing
Kopf1930Drawing
Kopfaround 1930Drawing
Kostüm für das Stück 'Maskenball'1913Drawing
Krestyanka (Boerenvrouw)1913Print
Krestyanka idet po vodu (Boerin haalt water)1913Print
Kubisme 25. Avtoportret (Kubisme 25. Zelfportret)1913Drawing
Kubisme 6. Wandklok1913Drawing
Kubisme 9. Molitva (Kubisme 9. Gebed)1913Drawing
Kubistische compositieca 1925Drawing
Kubistische figuur staand op de rug gezien1912-1913 (versie ca. 1925)Drawing
Kubofuturistische compositie met piano1913-1914Painting
Kubosuprematismus1916/1920Drawing
Kuppel des Volkshauses in Leningrad1931Drawing
Lamp - Musical InstrumentsΔεκαετία 1920Photograph
Lamp / Muziekinstrumenten1913Painting
Landscape1911Painting
Landscapec. 1906Painting
Landscape with a White House1928–1929 in Gasper-Hulvat 2012; Christie’s groups work with early-1930s landscapesPainting
Landscape with a Yellow House (Winter Landscape)c. 1906Painting
Landscape with Five Houses1928–1929Painting
Landscape with housec. 1905-1906Painting
Landschaftaround 1933/34Other
Landschaft (Der Winter) (Landscape (Winter))after 1927Painting
Lauf1917Drawing
Let's Grumble (Vozropshchem)1913Book
Liggende naakte vrouw met twee spelende kinderen1908Drawing
Lopende man met zaag onder de armca. 1928-1929Drawing
Maaiende vrouw1913Drawing
Maaiende vrouw1913Drawing
Maaiende vrouw1913Drawing
Maaiende vrouw1912-1913Drawing
Magnetic constructionDrawing
Magnetisch architectonische compositieca. 1920 (versie 1925-1926)Drawing
Magnetischer Suprematismus1916Drawing
Male Portrait1933–1934Painting
Malevich archief1913-1927Other
Malevich with his students (UNOVIS)Μάιος 1922Photograph
Man met zak1910-1911Painting
Manifesto handbill for the 0.10 exhibition1915Book
Mann in suprematistischer Landschaftum 1930 - 31Painting
Mann mit Pferd1933Drawing
Manuscript with drawings, Page 27, 1 July 19161916Other
Maternity. Woman in Birth1908Drawing
Moederschap / Overvloed1910Painting
Morning in the Village after Snowstorm1912Painting
Muziekinstrument1913Drawing
Muziekinstrumenten1913-1914Drawing
Mystic Suprematism (Black Cross on Red Oval)1920–22Painting
Mysticus1930Drawing
Mystiek suprematisme (rood kruis op zwarte cirkel)1920-1922Other
Naakt met geheven handen1908Drawing
Nachtwandeling1909-1910Drawing
Nu i tresk-zhe, nu i grom-zhe byl ot niemtsev podlie Lomzhi.1914/1918?Print
O Novykh Sistemakh V Iskusstve (On New Systems in Art)1919. (Prints executed 1910-1919).Book
O novykh sistemakh v iskusstve. Statika i skorost'1919Other
O novykh systemakh v iskusstve. Statika i skorost' ( On New Systems in Art: Statics and Speed )1919Book
O novykh systemakh v iskusstve: Statika i skorost’ (On New Systems in Art: Statics and Speed), Vitebsk1919Book
Ohne Titelaround 1904-1908Drawing
Ohne Titel1916Drawing
Ohne Titelaround 1931Drawing
Ohne Titel1916Drawing
Ohne Titelaround 1916Drawing
Ohne Titel (Untitled)1917–1930Drawing
Omslag van A. Kruchenykh en V. Khlebnikov, Igra v adu (Een spel in de hel)1913-1914Print
Omslag van Sezd Komitetov Derevenskoi Bednoty (Congres van Comités van Armoede op het Platteland)1918Print
Omslag van Troe (Het drietal)1913Print
Omslagontwerp voor Internatsional iskusstva (Internationale van de kunst)1918Print
Omslagontwerp voor N.N. Punin, Pervy tsikl lektsii (Eerste cyclus van lezingen)1920Drawing
Omslagontwerp voor Troe (Het drietal)1913Drawing
Ontwerp voor een architecton type 'Alfa'ca 1925-1926Drawing
Ontwerp voor een architecton type Alfa1925-1929Drawing
Ontwerp voor een monumentca. 1932-1933Drawing
Ontwerp voor een monumentca. 1932-1933Drawing
Ontwerp voor een monumentca. 1932-1933Drawing
Oogstende vrouwen/Het binnenhalen van de rogge II1912Other
Op de boulevard1910Painting
Opdoemende kruisvorm1917-1918Drawing
Ornements suprématistes1927 / 1978Sculpture or object
Ot kubizma i futurizma k suprematizmu. Novyi zhivopisnyi realizm (From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism: New Painterly Realism)1916Book
Ot kubizma k suprematizmu. Novy zhivopisny realizm1916Other
Ot Sezanna do Suprematizma. Kritichesky ocherk1920Book
Ot Sezanna do Suprematizma. Kritichesky ocherk.1920Other
Paard en koets in beweging1913Drawing
Painterly Realism of a Boy with a Knapsack - Color Masses in the Fourth Dimension1915Painting
Painterly Realism of a Football Player—Color Masses in the 4th DimensionSummer/fall 1915Painting
Patriotic poster against the Germans1914Print
Patriotic Poster Against the Germans1914Print
Patriotic Poster Against the Germans1914Print
Patriotic Poster Against the GermansPrint
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcard with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Patriotic propaganda postcards with verse by Vladimir Mayakovsky1914Book
Paysanne[1912 / 1932]Drawing
Paysanne et deux enfants[1911 / avant 1930]Drawing
PeasantBetween 1930–1932Painting
Peasant bringing Water1912 (Thema), 1920er Jahre (Ausführung)Drawing
Peasant in a Field1928–1929Painting
Peasant WomanEarly 1930sPainting
Peasantsc. 1930Painting
Peasantscirca 1928 (NGA); 1928–1929 (Gasper-Hulvat)Painting
Perfected Portrait of Ivan Kliun1913Painting
Peruyi Tsikl Lektsii1920Book
Pervyi tsikl lektsii chitannykh na kratkosrochnykh kursakh dlia uchitelei risovaniia (First Series of Lectures, Given at a Short-Term Course for Teachers of Drawing)1920Book
Plan d'éléments d'architectone[après 1924]Drawing
Planetaire constructie (magnetische kruisvorm)1916-1917 (ontwikkeld 1920-1922, latere versie (voor 1927))Drawing
Planetary-Architectural Suprematism1919-1920Drawing
Plate (folio 17) from Vzorval' (Explodity)1913Book
Plate (folio 21) from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)1913–14, published 1914Book
Plate (folio 22) from Vzorval' (Explodity)1913Book
Po utru iz Lvova vyshli1914Print
Pobeda nad solntsem. Opera (Victory over the Sun: An Opera)1913Book
Podoshel kolbasnik k Lodzi1914Drawing
Pokhoronnoe byuro (Begrafeniskantoor)1914-1915Drawing
PorosiataSaint Petersburg: 1913Book
Porosiata (Piglets)1913Book
Portrait of a Youth1933Painting
Portrait of M. V. Matyushin1913 in gallery-magazine object record; 1913–14 in Tretyakov education pagePainting
Portrait of the Artist’s Wife1933Painting
Portret M.V. Matyushina (Portret van M.V. Matyushin)1913Drawing
Portret stroitelya usovershenstvovan (Verbeterd portret van een bouwer)1913Drawing
Portret van de vader van de kunstenaarca 1902-1903Painting
Portret van een jonge vrouw (waarschijnlijk Sofia Rafalovitch)1908-1909Drawing
Portret van een man (Aleksei Morgunov?)1912Other
Portret van M.V. Matyushin1913Drawing
Prayer1913Drawing
Prayer1913Print
PrayerStudy for a fresco painting. 1907Painting
Prayer (plate, folio 19) from Vzorval' (Explodity)1913–14, published 1914Book
Primitiv (Schuhmacher)1910Drawing
Prografachnik1916Drawing
Projekt einer kosmischen Anlagearound 1917Drawing
Quadrat und Oval1915/1916Drawing
Quadrat und Viereck1914-1915Drawing
Red Cavalryc. 1932Painting
Red House1932Painting
Red SquareUndatedDrawing
Red Square. Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions1915Painting
Reicher Mannaround 1910Drawing
Relaxing (Society in Top Hats)1908Drawing
Reservist of the First Divisionfall-winter 1914Painting
Roar!: Gauntlets of 1908-1914 (Riav!: Perchatki 1908-1914)1914Book
Rotes Quadrat auf Schwarzaround 1922Other
Samovar1913Painting
Schema I: Construction of Axes of a Model; Schema II: Cubist Structure (Construction); Schema III: Cubist Constructed Drawing from On New Systems in Art (O Novykh Sistemakh Visk Usstve)1919Print
Schets vooor de opera Voyna (Oorlog): Topor molodets ne brekhal (de jongeman Topor heeft niet gelogen)1918Drawing
Schets voor de opera Voyna (Oorlog): Bas, day stakan (Bas, geef me een glas)1918Drawing
Schets voor de opera Voyna (Oorlog): gekruisigde tegen een lichte achtergrond1918Drawing
Schets voor de opera Voyna (Oorlog): gekruisigde tegen een zwarte achtergrond1918Drawing
Schets voor de opera Voyna (Oorlog): interieur met figuur en hangend kruisbeeld1918Drawing
Schets voor de opera Voyna (Oorlog): Odin tikho (een stille)1918Drawing
Schets voor een architectonische structuur1920-1921 (versie 1923-1924)Drawing
SchetsboekomslagDrawing
Schneider, Allogismus, Aushangaround 1915Drawing
Schnitter1909-1910Drawing
Schnitterinnen1909-1910Drawing
Schnitterinnen (Reapers)1909–1910Drawing
Schwarzes Viereck1914-1915Drawing
Scène uit Anathema1909-1910Print
Segodnyashnye sooruzheniya1920 (versie 1923-1924)Drawing
Segodnyashnye sooruzheniya1923-1924 / 2010Other
Selected Verse, 1907–1914 (Izbornik stikhov, 1907-1914)1915Book
Self-PortraitStudy for a fresco painting. 1907Painting
Self-Portrait1910–1911Drawing
Self-Portrait (Artist)1933Painting
Shel avstriec v Radzivily1914Print
Sieg über die Sonne 1913-19731973Print
Sieg über die Sonne 1913-19731973 / 2010Other
Simultaneous Death in an Airplane and at the Railway(1913)Print
Simultaneous Death of a Man in an Airplane and on the Railroad (plate, folio 15) from Vzorval' (Explodity)1913–14, published 1914Book
Sketch for "Vertical Suprematist Construction»"UndatedDrawing
Sketch for a Stage Curtain for the Opera Victory over the Sun1928Drawing
Sketch for Agit-Trainπερ. 1918Drawing
Slovo Kak Takavoe (The Word as Such)1913Book
Slovo kak takovoe (The Word as Such)1913Book
Smert cheloveka odnovremmeno na aeroplane i zhel. doroge (De gelijktijdige dood van een man in een vliegtuig en op de spoorlijn)1913Print
Sportsmen1928–1932Painting
Square and Cone1915Drawing
Staande boer1928-1929Drawing
Staande boer met emmer1930-1932Drawing
Staande boer met zeis bij het hooien1928-1929Drawing
Staande duivel1913-1914Print
Staande figuur1927Drawing
Staande mannenfiguur1930-1931Drawing
Staande vrouw en man Kop en schouders Vijf figuren met twee suprematistische elementen1918 (latere versie)Drawing
Staande vrouw met de armen over elkaarca 1930Drawing
Standing Figure1913Drawing
Standing Womancirca 1930Drawing
Stikhi V. Maiakovskogo. Vypyt (The Poetry of V. Mayakovsky. [Vypyt])1914Book
Still Lifec. 1910Drawing
Stroyuschiysya dom [House under construction]1915–16 (museum); reverse inscription 1914 distinguished from execution datePainting
Studie für das Gemälde 'Die Rote Kavallerie'1930Drawing
Studie nach Picasso. Entwurf für das Bauhausbuch 'Die Gegenstandslose Welt'1926/1927Drawing
Studie nach Picasso. Entwurf für das Bauhausbuch 'Die Gegenstandslose Welt'1926/1927Drawing
Study for the rear curtain for Victory over the Sun1913Drawing
Study for the rear curtain for Victory over the Sun1913Drawing
Summer Landscape (Zomerlandschap)circa 1929Painting
Suprematicheskoe postroenie N 118 (Suprematistische constructie nr. 118)1917-1918 (versie 1920)Drawing
Suprematisch kruis (klein kruis in zwart over rood op wit)1920-1927Other
Suprematism1915Drawing
Suprematism1915Painting
Suprematism1915–1916Painting
Suprematism (Supremus No. 56)1915-16Painting
Suprematism (Supremus No. 58)1916Painting
Suprematism, 18th Construction1915 (artist's reverse inscription reads 1914)Painting
Suprematisme1917-1918Drawing
Suprematisme van de geest1919Other
Suprematisme. Oplossende constructie, vorm 781918 (latere versie (1927))Drawing
Suprematisme: Compositie 5 c1915-1917Drawing
Suprematisme: drie overlappende rechthoeken1916-1917 (latere versie)Drawing
Suprematisme: drie snijdende vlakken, vervagend1917-1918Drawing
Suprematisme: elementen in wisselwerking, vervagend1917-1918Drawing
Suprematisme: formatie van rechthoeken1916 (latere versie)Drawing
Suprematisme: formatie van rechthoeken en vierkanten van verschillende grootte1916 (latere versie)Drawing
Suprematisme: formatie van rechthoeken van verschillende grootte1916 (latere versie)Drawing
Suprematisme: gevoelens van angst1917-1919Drawing
Suprematisme: in tweeën1917-1919Drawing
Suprematisme: krommingen en bogen1917-1918Drawing
Suprematisme: magnetische rechthoeken in stervorm Vier kaderlijnen1917-1919Drawing
Suprematisme: magnetische staven1917Drawing
Suprematisme: ovaal en rechthoek Twee staande vrouwen in een landschap Man met hoed (zogenaamd portret van Larionov?) Boer Vier figuren1916-1917 (latere versie)Drawing
Suprematisme: Ovaal, boog en rechthoeken1917Drawing
Suprematisme: twee snijdende vlakken, vervagend1917-1918Drawing
Suprematisme: twee snijdende vlakken, vervagend Suprematisme: drie snijdende vlakken, vervagend1917-1918Drawing
Suprematisme: zwart vierkant en witte rechthoek met rode strepen1917-1919Drawing
Suprematismus1912-1913Drawing
Suprematist Composition1915Drawing
Suprematist compositionc. 1916Drawing
Suprematist Composition1916Photograph
Suprematist Composition1916Painting
Suprematist Composition with Plane in Projection1915Painting
Suprematist Composition: Airplane Flying1915 (dated on reverse 1914)Painting
Suprematist Composition: White on White1918Painting
Suprematist Diagonal Construction 791917Drawing
Suprematist Drawing(c. 1916-17)Drawing
Suprematist Drawing(c. 1916-17)Drawing
Suprematist Element: Circle(1923)Drawing
Suprematist Elements: Squares1923Drawing
Suprematist interior decoration1920-1921Drawing
Suprematist Painting1916-17Painting
Suprematistisch schilderij (met zwart trapezium en rood vierkant)1915Other
Suprematistische compositie1915 (versie 1920-1927)Drawing
Suprematistische compositie (met acht rode rechthoeken)1915Painting
Suprematistische compositie (met blauwe driehoek en zwarte rechthoek)1915Painting
Suprematistische compositie (met gele, oranje en groene rechthoek)1915-1916Other
Suprematistische Elemente im Raum1914-1915Drawing
Suprematistische Komposition1915-1916Drawing
Suprematistische Komposition1915/1916Drawing
Suprematistische Komposition (Suprematist Composition)1915Painting
Suprematistische schets1915-1920Drawing
Suprematistische Zeichnung (Plan eines Erdflugplatzes)1927Drawing
Suprematistisches Architektonaround 1926Sculpture or object
Suprematizm. 34 risunka1920Print
Suprematizm. 34 risunka (Suprematism: 34 Drawings)1920Book
Supremus No. 181916–1917Drawing
Supremus nr 511916 (versie 1920-1927)Drawing
Supremus Nr. 381916Other
Supremus nr. 501915Other
Supremus nr. 581916 (versie begin jaren 1920)Drawing
Sushchestvuet énergiya v sushchestve kotca. 1923Other
Sämann1910/1912Drawing
Tenhemelopneming van een heilige1907-1908Drawing
The Triumph of Heaven1907Painting
The UNOVIS way (Put' Unovisa)Ιανουάριος 1921Print
The Word As Such (Slovo kak takovoe)1913Book
Third State of Beingdesigned in 1915, made in the 1920sDrawing
Three Female FiguresEarly 1930sPainting
Threesome (Troe)1913Book
Thèmes pour des monuments architecturaux dans des parcs et sur des places1927 / 1978Sculpture or object
Tizianaround 1930Drawing
Tochil’schik Printsip Mel’kaniia (The Knife Grinder or Principle of Glittering)1912–13Painting
Toekomstige planits voor Leningrad. Het huis van de vliegenier1924Drawing
Toekomstige planits, huizen voor aardbewoners1920-1921 (versie 1923-1924)Drawing
Toneelontwerp voor akte 1, scène 4 van Overwinning op de zon1913Drawing
Toneelontwerp voor Overwinning op de zon1913 (versie 1915)Drawing
Torse féminin[1908 / avant 1930]Drawing
Torso (Figure with a Pink Face)1928–1929Painting
Torso (Prototype of a New Image)1928–1929Painting
Torso in a Yellow Shirt (Complicated Premonition)c. 1932Painting
Transrationele compositie: geluiden1913Drawing
Treescirca 1904Painting
Triple PortraitStudy for Socialist City (unexecuted). 1933Painting
Troe (The Three)1913Book
Troe (The Three)1913Book
Trois croixvers 1930 - 1932Drawing
Trois dessins : tête de femme, buste et visage[1908 / avant 1930]Drawing
Troye1913Other
Tvorchestvo ne mozhet byt' svobodnoca. 1923Other
Tvorchestvo ne mozhet byt' svobodnoca. 1923Other
Twee duivels die een vrouw doormidden zagen1913-1914Print
Twee mannen in beweging1917-1918 of ca. 1930Drawing
Twee naakte vrouwen peren plukkend1909Painting
Twee vrouwen en een man tegen een lage horizon1930Drawing
Two figures with a stretcherca. 1930-1931Drawing
Two Male FiguresEarly 1930sPainting
Tête noirevers 1930Drawing
Universal Landscape1913Print
UNOVIS Questionnaire1920Print
Untitled1920Drawing
Untitledc. 1920Print
UntitledαχρονολόγητοPrint
UntitledUndatedDrawing
UntitledUndatedDrawing
Untitled1913?Drawing
Untitled (Suprematist Composition)circa 1919–1926Drawing
Untitled (Suprematist Composition)circa 1919–1926Drawing
Untitled (Suprematist Cross)1920, printed 1973Print
Untitled, Illustration for the book by Aleksei Kruchenykh and Velimir Khlebnikov "Igra v Adu»" (2nd edition, Moscow 1914)1913Print
Verdwijnend geel vlak1917-1918Painting
Verdwijnende constructie (diagonale balk met drie bogen in wit)ca. 1917Other
Verdwijnende witte vlakken1917-1918Other
Verklarende kaarten over de theorie van het additionele of toegevoegde element in de schilderkunst1927Drawing
Verticale constructie, suprematisme1919-1920 (versie 1920-1925)Drawing
Vier figuren in een landschapca. 1928-1930Drawing
Vijf geketende figuren op de rug gezien, geflankeerd door twee bewakers1910-1911Drawing
Vil'gel'mova Karusel' (Wilhelm's Carousel)1914Print
Vloerboeners1911Drawing
Voorstudie voor het omslag van het programma van het Congres van Comités van Armoede op het Platteland1918Drawing
Voorstudie voor het omslag van het programma van het Congres van Comités van Armoede op het Platteland1918Drawing
Voorstudie voor het omslag van Sezd Komitetov Derevenskoi Bednoty (Congres van Comités van Armoede op het Platteland)1918Drawing
Voorstudie voor het omslag van Sezd Komitetov Derevenskoi Bednoty (Congres van Comités van Armoede op het Platteland)1918Drawing
Voyna (Oorlog)1914Drawing
Vozropshchem (Let's Grumble)1913Book
Vrouw bij tramhalte1913-1914Other
Vrouw in lange jurk met kind1930Drawing
Vrouw met de armen over elkaar1931-1932Drawing
Vrouw met krant op schoot1904Other
Vrouw omgeven door vruchten1909Painting
Vrouwelijke figuur met uitgespreide armen1930?Drawing
Vrouwenfiguur1909Drawing
Vrouwenfiguur met gespreide armen1930-1931Drawing
Vrouwenfiguur, vis, cirkel, kruisca. 1928-1930Drawing
Vsemirny peyzazh (Universeel landschap)1913Drawing
Vzorval1913Book
Vzorval' (Explodity)1913Book
Vzorval' (Explodity)1913Book
Vzorval' (Explodity)1913–14, published 1914Book
Wachthuisje, drie kruisenca 1930-1931Drawing
What a Rattle1914Print
Wilhelm Carousel1914Print
Windmillsca. 1909-1910Painting
Wit suprematistisch kruis1920-1921Painting
Woman Reaper (front cover) from Slovo Kak Takavoe (The Word as Such)1913Book
Woman with Pails: Dynamic Arrangement1912-13 (dated on reverse 1912)Painting
Woman Worker1933Painting
Women BathersCirca 1930Painting
Women Reapers (The Reapers)1928–1929; 1905 inscription separately documented by Gasper-Hulvat 2012Painting
Wraparound cover for the program S'ezd komitetov derevenskoi bednoty (Congress of Committees of Peasant Poverty)1918Book
Wäscherin1909-1910Drawing
Ya apostol novykh ponyaty b iskusstve (Ik, de apostel van nieuwe begrippen in de kunst1916Drawing
Zelfportret in twee dimensies1915Painting
Zeta1923 / 1978Sculpture or object
Zhnitsa (Maaiende vrouw)1913Drawing
Zittend naakt op de rug gezien1907-1908Drawing
Zwei Schwesternaround 1904-1906Drawing
«Живо заняли мы Галич...».1914Print
«Ну и треск же, ну и гром же...»1914Print
«Подошел колбасник к Лодзи...»1914Print
Весна – цветущий сад1928–1929Painting
Вильгельмова карусель1914Print
Голова крестьянинаКонец 1920-хDrawing
Девочка под деревом. Этюд1932–1933Painting
Девушка с гребнем в волосах1932–1933Painting
Девушка с красным древком1932–1933Painting
Деревня. Три рисунка1928-1929Drawing
Динамический супрематизм1920Drawing
Динамический супрематизм. Аэроплан летит1920Print
Доктор Мабузо. Образец киноплаката1925–1926Painting
Ескіз розпису конференц-залу ВУАН в Києві (Sketch for the painting of the conference hall of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv)1930Drawing
Женщина с граблями1930-1931Painting
Композиция с двумя прямоугольниками1920Drawing
Крестьянка1928-1929Drawing
Кубофутуризм. Динамическое ощущение натурщика. Авторская реплика композиций 1911 и 1919 годаВторая половина 1920-хDrawing
Кубофутуристический пейзаж1913Drawing
Лубок. «Вильгельмова карусель»1914Print
Лубок. «Глядь, поглядь, уж близко Висла»1914Print
Лубок. «Подошел колбасник к Лодзи»1914Print
Лубок. «Шел австриец в Радзивиллы»1914Print
На сенокосе1928-1929Painting
Пейзаж под Киевом1930Painting
Плащаница1908Drawing
Портрет А.А. ЛепорскойОколо 1933Painting
Портрет В.А. Павлова1933Painting
Портрет жены1934Painting
Портрет Н. Н. Пунина1933Painting
Портрет ударника (Краснознаменец Жарновский)1932Painting
Почтовая карточка «По утру из Львова вышли...»1914Print
Почтовая карточка. «Ах ты, милый город Люблин...»1914Print
Почтовая карточка. «Выезжали мы за Млаву...»1914Print
Почтовая карточка. «Выезжали мы из Ковны...»1914Print
Почтовая карточка. «Глядь, по глядь, уж близко Висла...»1914Print
Почтовая карточка. «Как заехали за Лык..»1914Print
Почтовая карточка. «Не ходи австриец плутом...»1914Print
Почтовая карточка. «Ну и треск, да ну и гром же...»1914Print
Почтовая карточка. «Скоро, скоро будем в Краков...»1914Print
Почтовая карточка. «Шел австриец в Радзивилы...»1914Print
Почтовые карточки1914Print
Принцип росписи стены1919Drawing
Сестры1930Painting
Смерть конного генерала1914Drawing
Станция без остановки. Кунцево1913-1914Painting
Супрематизм1920Drawing
Супрематизм1919Drawing
Супрематизм. Композиция с кругом1917-1918Drawing
Супрематическая композиция1917-1918Drawing
Три супрематических композицииНачало 1920-хDrawing
Туалетная шкатулка1913-1914Painting
Чашка (получашка)1923Sculpture or object
Чашка (получашка) «Супрематизм»1923Sculpture or object
Черный квадрат1929Painting
Черный квадрат (Black Square)1913 / circa 1932 in formal field; circa 1930–32 in museum essayPainting
Черный супрематический квадрат1915Painting
‘aF’ forma obema (‘aF’ vorm van volume)1915, versie 1924 of 1926Drawing

Frequently asked questions

Which square is the boy and which is the knapsack?

MoMA's children's label poses this as a viewing question, while its main label describes a nonobjective arrangement of planes. There is no documented, fixed assignment of the two shapes to the boy and bag in the cited records. [1]

Is this Malevich's original Black Square?

No. The MoMA painting is a tall canvas with both black and red forms, object 816.1935. The 1915 Tretyakov Black Square is a separate near-square canvas with one dark form. [1], [3]

Was Boy with a Knapsack in the 0.10 exhibition?

Yes. The historic list reproduced in the 2003 Guggenheim catalogue names it as number 41 under a “Boy with a Satchel” English rendering. [2]

Why does the title mention the fourth dimension?

It invokes Malevich's ambition for painting to move beyond ordinary object depiction and perspective. It does not point to a literal fourth axis that can be located among the two visible squares. [1], [2], [7]

Why do some sources call it Black Square and Red Square?

That shorter name describes the two visible forms. MoMA's current full title is the painterly-realism one; an older MoMA catalogue also used Suprematist Composition: Red Square and Black Square. The common object identifier links the titles to this same canvas. [1], [4], [9]

Where is it?

It belongs to the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Check MoMA's current object record for its latest on-view status and gallery location. [1]

Discussion

What happens to your reading when the title suggests a boy but the picture offers only two coloured forms?

Which matters more to your first impression: the black square's size or the red square's tilt and colour?

Reader Insights

Close Looking

Compare the white interval above, between and below the two forms.

Context

Why does MoMA object 816.1935 distinguish this painting from two separate square canvases?

Open Question

How might an inverted reproduction change the formal balance without changing the object?

Join the Conversation

Share a close observation about the two squares, painted field or documented title history.

References

  1. MoMA, Painterly Realism of a Boy with a Knapsack - Color Masses in the Fourth Dimension, 816.1935: authoritative title, date, dimensions, collection credit, gallery labels, installation history and provenance research. View source.
  2. Matthew Drutt, ed., Kazimir Malevich: Suprematism, Guggenheim, 2003: directly inspected reproduction of the 0.10 exhibition list, entry 41, and index reference to the painting on p. 128. View source.
  3. Tretyakov Gallery, first Black Square: separate 1915 one-form canvas for exact-object comparison. View source.
  4. Wikimedia Commons, Black Square and Red Square (Malevich, 1915).jpg: exact MoMA 816.1935 image for close-looking observations; public-domain marked faithful reproduction, with one metadata measurement conflicting with MoMA. View source.
  5. Brandon Taylor, After Constructivism, Oxford DPhil thesis, 2011: directly inspected discussion of painterly construction and Taylor's report of Barr's 1936 inverted display/reproduction, p. 18 (PDF p. 22). View source.
  6. Russian Museum, Red Square. Painterly Realism of a Peasant Woman in Two Dimensions, Жб-1643: separate 1915 red-form canvas for exact-object comparison. View source.
  7. Linda Dalrymple Henderson, “Abstraction, the Ether, and the Fourth Dimension: Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevich in Context”: scholarly context for Malevich's fourth-dimension titles; no literal scientific diagram is claimed. View source.
  8. Art Institute of Chicago, Painterly Realism of a Football Player—Color Masses in the 4th Dimension, 2011.1: distinct 1915 canvas and adjacent 0.10 catalogue subject. View source.
  9. MoMA, Cubism and Abstract Art 1936 exhibition and later collection checklist; MoMA older master checklist: historical short title and catalogue context; current MoMA object record controls the displayed date and title. View source.
  10. Splash image: Kazimir Malevich, Painterly Realism of a Boy with a Knapsack - Color Masses in the Fourth Dimension, 1915. Oil on canvas, 71.1 × 44.5 cm. Museum of Modern Art, New York (816.1935). The image file's shorter Black Square and Red Square title names this same two-form MoMA painting, not the separate one-form canvases. Image: Wikimedia Commons, public-domain marked faithful reproduction, resized for this page.