Description of the painting by Kazimir Malevich “Portrait of Matyushin”

Description of the painting by Kazimir Malevich Portrait of Matyushin

In 1913, the famous artist K. S. Malevich painted an unusual picture “Portrait of Matyushin” in the style of a new at that time artistic direction – cubofuturism. Unlike most of his followers, Malevich did not use only monochrome colors in his work. He painted it with oil, applying a rich color palette and depicting realistic elements in different parts of the picture, perfectly conveying the dynamics of the composition and combining the incompatible.

With all the abstract picture, an attentive person will be able to see on the canvas the forehead and dark hair, evenly parted, some details of clothing. It is thanks to these “passages” that it is possible to understand that we have a portrait, and not a set of geometric figures painted in different colors.

The first thing that the viewer falls on is the long horizontal strip of many white rectangles, which passes through the center of the canvas. As you know, Matyushin was not only a great artist, but also a composer, and Malevich decided to focus his musical talent in his work. Of course, the white squares are the piano keys. The artist also hints at the originality of the music system of Matyushin with the help of the absence of the usual black keys.

Malevich perfectly conveyed the dynamics of the abstract image. Large figures seem to break up into many smaller ones, and they, in turn, also undergo disintegration. The painting “Portrait of Matyushin”, without a doubt, is one of the best works of art made in the combination of styles of cubism and futurism.


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Description of the painting by Kazimir Malevich “Portrait of Matyushin”