Torso 1929

Kazimir Malevich made this oil on canvas painting, Torso, at an unknown date. Look at the way the paint has been applied, almost scrubbed onto the canvas, building up these planes of muted tones – greens and blues, yellows and whites. I wonder what it was like for Malevich to create this figure, this presence, from a minimal vocabulary of shape and color? He sets up such interesting tensions with the white form which seems to float against the ground, the yellow which pulls forward, and that assertive red circle at the top. It's a curious play between abstraction and figuration, like he's distilling the very essence of form. There is a real conversation going on here, an exchange of ideas and approaches to painting. And in a way, we continue that conversation each time we look and respond. Painting is a site of possibility and wonder. It’s also a way of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world.