Head of a Peasant

We present today's work of Kazimir Malevich thanks to the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg, where until January 14, 2019, you can visit the exhibition Unexpected Malevich. From the Archive of A. A. Leporskaya, Donated to the Russian Museum. Enjoy! :)

Like the images of peasants in which the artist clothes his own thoughts and feelings, the theme of peasant labor permeates Malevich’s entire oeuvre. As the master himself wrote in his autobiography: ”I was fascinated by the life of the peasantry.” Transformed by the dying rays of the setting sun, this scene of everyday peasant life was entrenched in the artist’s memory from childhood. The motif is constantly repeated in his works and constitutes an original epigraph to his oeuvre. Malevich discerned aspects of the eternal in everyday motifs. The composition of the picture is much influenced by the traditions of the Russian fresco painting.