Vanity Box 1913

Kazimir Malevich made this painting, Vanity Box, with oil on canvas, but the exact date is unknown. What strikes me is how Malevich’s approach to painting feels like a form of visual archaeology; digging beneath the surface of things to reveal their underlying structure. The textures are so present. You can almost feel the roughness of the canvas and the layers of paint, thick in some areas, almost transparent in others. Look closely and you’ll see how Malevich used a range of tools. Notice that white spiral near the center. It's almost like he was teasing us with a glimpse into another dimension. It anchors the whole composition, leading your eye on a playful dance around the canvas. Malevich, like Picasso, and Braque, was interested in fragmentation, but his work also looks forward to the pure abstraction of someone like Agnes Martin, who wasn’t afraid to strip everything away in the pursuit of something essential. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what that might be.