Not long ago an article about Malevich and his black square
painting was published in a Dutch newspaper. The writer declared that that
painting was probably the most essential painting ever made.
This is a pitiful mistake that has been around for many years.
What is painting? Painting is making a surface dirty. One
can do it with black, white or many different colors. Here we can still save poor
Malevich.
But what is the essence of painting? This question can lead to finding out if the black square is still up for that honorable title.
Painting for the painter is not just making a surface dirty;
essential is to translate an idea or image into a representation on a flat
surface. That is one. Here Malevich’ black square can still be a contender.
But painting has to do with the act of painting too and with a
spectator and what he makes out of not only the idea, but also what he makes out of the way it is painted (otherwise, you can describe it a lot better). Here seen from far and with the
light out, Malevich’ black square might still be in the race. But seen in
bright daylight, it falls of the throne.
Essential in painting is that through that painterly interpretation, the painter as well as the spectator see that idea or image through a ‘pair of
uncommon glasses’. It shows the represented from a different perspective.
Here Malevich goes flat on his face. Painterly wise nothing
is happening. See blog 18-5-2015 about illustrating an idea.
It is like talking about fire and matches. For a fire
matches are of use, but matches are not the fire itself (and this is the
problem with a lot of contemporary art).
Long live guys like Rembrandt, Velazquez, Goya, Bacon,
Turner, Manet, Monet, Picasso, Pissarro, Matisse and all those others for
having created fireworks and not talked to us about their matches!
