Marpha and Van'ka 1929

Kazimir Malevich painted "Marpha and Van'ka" using oil on canvas, and it's a piece that really makes you consider how he saw the world. The colors, they're not quite real, are they? More like feelings turned into hues. Look at how the figures are built from these simple shapes, almost like a child's blocks. But don't let that fool you; there's a depth here. The surface is smooth, the paint thin, but those blocks of color create a real emotional weight. Take the large figure in the foreground, the way the black and white meet, it’s not a hard line, more of a gradient, like a shadow passing. That gives it volume, a sense of being. It reminds me of Léger, but with a Russian soul. It's like Malevich is saying, we're all just shapes, but those shapes hold everything.