Kazimir Malevich (1878–1935) came to his personal revelation of Suprematism via Impressionism, Cubism and Cubo-Futurism. His heritage (more than a hundred pictures and some twenty drawings) is better represented in the Russian Museum than anywhere else in the world. The pictures of his Impressionist and Symbolist periods, the Cubo-Futuristic Portrait of Ivan Kliun (1911) and Aviator (1914), his Suprematic compositions of 1915 and 1916 and his series of peasant men and women of 1928–32, uniting figurative art with Suprematism, are the pride of the Russian Museum.
Just as complete and unique is the collection of works by Pavel Filonov (1883–1941). Almost two hundred paintings and more than two hundred of his drawings and watercolours were presented to the Russian Museum by his sister, Yevdokia Glebova. Filonov developed his own personal technique, to which he gave the name “analytical”. It can be traced from his early compositions (Shrovetide 1913(4?) and The German War 1915), which reveal Filonov’s bright individuality alongside noticeable links with folklore, right through to his mature works. Filonov arranged his pictures like plants growing in nature. His compositions were often similar to mosaics or pictures in a kaleidoscope. Yet beyond the form — original and aesthetically attractive — lay profound, philosophical meditations on man and the surrounding world.
