The seminal work of non-figuration is the stage set made in 1913 by Malevich in St. Petersburg for the Russian Futurist opera Victory over the Sun. He soon emerges as the leader of this new art whose emblem is in 1915 his black square on white background, towering, dense, symmetrical and balanced.
The new language is a construction of colored quadrangles on a white background which expresses purity and infinity and anticipates Mondrian. They overlap or coincide without a perspective effect and without transparency, often in a globally rising or falling movement that offers the confidence into the progress.
Some of these constructions retain titles such as Automobile and Lady or Aircraft in flight that do not score an incentive to a figurative reading but rather a recognition by the artist of his Futurist inspiration. Three years later, the boldness of the White square on white background opens the way to modern abstract art calling for the variations in texture instead of form or color.
On June 24 in London, Sotheby's sells Suprematism - 18th Construction, oil on canvas 53 x 53 cm painted in 1915, lot 18 estimated £ 20M.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's.