Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian painter and theorist (died 1935)

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich was a Russian avant-garde artist and art theorist, whose pioneering work and writing influenced the development of abstract art in the 20th century. He was born in Kiev, modern-day Ukraine, to an ethnic Polish family. His concept of Suprematism sought to develop a form of expression that moved as far as possible from the world of natural forms (objectivity) and subject matter in order to access "the supremacy of pure feeling" and spirituality. Active primarily in Russia, Malevich was a founder of the UNOVIS artist collective. His work has been variously associated with the Russian avant-garde and the Ukrainian avant-garde, and he is a central figure in the history of modern art in Central and Eastern Europe more broadly.