Description
In the vast chronology of the art of the twentieth century, "soldier" of 1913, work of the renowned Kazimir Malevich, occupies a crucial place in the transition from traditional techniques to the boldest avant -garde that would characterize the utopias and aesthetic ruptures. This painting, although less known than its most emblematic suprematist works, reveals the concerns and the tireless experimental spirit of Malevich in the years prior to its definitive adoption of geometric abstraction.
At first glance, "soldier" claims a peculiar amalgam of styles; A fusion between Cubism and Futurism, movements that Malevich explored with fervor at this stage of his career. The use of human figures decomposed in flat and overlapping geometric forms is observed, remembering the Cubist cuts and fragmentations of Picasso and Braque. However, the dynamism of forms and the feeling of movement, typical of futurism, bring to mind the work of artists such as Umberto Boccioni. This confluence is clearly manifested in the composition and use of the pictorial space.
The soldier, undisputed protagonist of the work, is segmented in a series of geometric volumes and chromatic planes. This geometric construction gives the figure an almost robotic and mechanical appearance, aligning with the futuristic vision of man-maquinaria, while serving as a premonition of the dehumanization that would bring the great war that was coming. Strong lines and defined contours give the figure an imposing presence, although fragmented. The use of red, yellow and blue primary colors along with a palette of ocher and gray, activates the perception of the viewer and emphasizes the different parts of the soldier's body, thus giving it a rhythmic and structured quality.
The background of the paint, although less complex, is not at all insignificant: the green and brown tones suggest a natural or country context, perhaps a battlefield, although abstract in its representation. This background choice also serves to highlight even more the main figure, whose dynamism and chromatic boldness seem emerging from a calmer and more controlled environment.
The "soldier" analysis in the context of Malevich's work must take into account the great transition that his art experienced shortly after. In 1915, only two years after the creation of this work, Malevich would present his manifesto of suprematism with the exhibition "0.10" in Petrograd that the "black square on white background" would mark a definitive turning point. "Soldier" can be seen, then, as a crucial step on the road to this simplification and towards the autonomy of abstract art. It is a manifestation of an artist in full search for a new language, a visual metaphor of the complexities and tensions of the time.
Kazimir Malevich, with its unmatched ability to travel between styles and techniques, offers us in "soldier" a visual testimony of their formal and conceptual research. It is a work that not only serves as a window to the artistic evolution of its creator, but also encapsulates the concerns and hopes of a generation on the edge of a historical transformation. His power lies in his ability to combine the experimental with the evocative, in his intention to represent a figure as loaded with meaning as that of the soldier in times of imminent social and political change.
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