As we stopped for lyk 1914

Kazimir Malevich made "As we stopped for lyk" with what looks like printmaking or maybe gouache – the colors are so flat and bold, like a poster. It’s all about simple shapes, a dude on a horse, spear in hand, and this whole surreal landscape behind him. The materiality here is interesting because you don't see brushstrokes, everything's super defined, almost hard-edged. Look at the way the red of the rider's coat contrasts with the blue sky. It's a very deliberate choice, creating this tension between the foreground and background. And those little red flowers scattered around? They’re not just decorative; they pop against the white, making you look at the flatness of the picture plane. Malevich was a real revolutionary. His contemporary would probably be someone like Hannah Höch, also playing with form and representation in a totally new way. It’s like they were both saying: art can be anything, and mean everything. Or nothing at all.