Untitled

Boris Rybchenkov probably painted this abstract composition while posted as a Red Army soldier-artist in Smolensk, Russia during the civil war (1917–1923). This composition is highly influenced by Suprematism, an art movement based on simple geometric forms, founded in 1915 by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935). Ranging from single shapes to complex relations between shapes, this kind of Suprematist painting expresses sensations of movement and stasis in infinite space, using a new vocabulary of color and form. Rybchenkov uses forms that appear to be suspended in movement toward, or away from, a curving blue form. Instead of the usual white background of Suprematist paintings, Rybchenkov painted this one on a brown ground. The painting resembles a propaganda poster that the artist designed around the same time.