Peasant 1932

Kazimir Malevich made ‘Peasant’ using oil paint. The brushstrokes here are so visible. It's like he’s building up the surface, one stroke at a time. The colours are simple: red, yellow, blue. But put them together and, bam!, there’s energy. It’s clear Malevich is deep into the process here. Look how the red of the shirt pops right out against that deep, moody blue background. The paint is thick, almost sculptural, like he’s carving the figure out of the canvas itself. The face, or the lack of it, really gets me. It’s this white void with a stark black beard – unsettling, but also kind of funny. This feels like a cousin to Picasso’s earlier, more figurative work, but with a Russian folk twist. It asks: what does it mean to represent someone, or something? And does it even matter if we know for sure?