A Peasant Woman Goes for Water 1913

Kazimir Malevich drew "A Peasant Woman Goes for Water" using pencil on a small sheet of paper. It's all angles here; the peasant woman is like a series of cones, triangles and trapezoids. I imagine Malevich, pencil in hand, squinting to see the underlying geometry of the body. He's not trying to copy what he sees, but to invent her anew. It’s like he’s saying that the essence of a woman walking, her gesture, the very act of carrying water, can be captured in these shards of charcoal. The lines are tentative, smudged, as if he’s feeling his way through a problem. Thinking of the futurists, I wonder if this work suggests movement, the act of walking itself? Maybe he’s speaking to other artists, too, saying, “Look, we can break down reality and build it back up again."