Black square blacks in a dark room. The battle of blacks in a deep cave on a dark night
Interesting article. I will quote it in full with my comments. There is a link and photos. And here is a link to Wikipedia for persuasiveness ...
The battle of the blacks deep cave dark night
Before you is a picture that has a name "Battle of the Negroes in a Deep Cave on a Dark Night"(1893). It was created twenty years before the birth of Malevich's "masterpiece" (1915). The author is a Frenchman from the coast la Manche, a very eccentric person, the same writer-humorist and artist Alphonse Allais (Alphonse Alle).
Alphonse Allais also unexpectedly anticipated in almost seventy years the well-known minimalist piece of music"4'33"" by John Cage, which is four and a half "minutes of silence" - Alle called the work even more conceptually "Funeral March for the Burial of the Deaf" ( Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Death Man.
As you can see, this Alphonse Allais was a comedian in life, and not in position. And he made his "masterpieces" for fun. Some names are worth something. And later plagiarists copied them in all seriousness.
He died in one of the rooms of the Hotel Britannia (Fr. Britannia), which is on the ryu, not far from the cafe "Austen-Fox" (fr. Austin-Fox), where Alphonse Allais spent a lot of free time. The day before, the doctor had strictly ordered him not to get up in bed for six months, only then recovery seemed possible. Otherwise, death. " funny people those doctors! They seriously think that death is worse than six months in bed!”
As soon as the doctor disappeared behind the door, Alphonse Allais quickly got ready and spent the evening in a restaurant, and to a friend who accompanied him back to the hotel, he told his last anecdote: “Keep in mind, tomorrow I will already be a corpse! You will find it witty, but I will no longer laugh with you. Now you will be left laughing - without me. So tomorrow I'll be dead!"
In full accordance with its latest funny joke, he died the next day, October 28, 1905. As the widow of a man who died after a consultation said top three doctors in Paris “But what could he do alone, sick, against three healthy ones?”
By the way, he other colored squares created earlier Malevich. But the latter, for some reason, sells better at the corresponding auctions. Is he more “hyped” or something ... Or maybe they just don’t know? This question splits into two:
1. Why was Malevich promoted and not Alphonse Allais?
2. And why did they promote these “masterpieces” at all?
Why wasn't Alphonse Allais promoted? Apparently, because he had one, but a big drawback: he was not Jewish. Who will create world fame goy? Forbidden! (Religion). And about the reason why it was necessary to promote at least someone about this, I wrote in the article: « About the evil Jews and their role in the global economic crisis » :
"Was held whole line experiments to determine the limits of media influence on mass consciousness. There were no limits. For the purity of the experiment, it seemed that completely absurd and impossible tasks were taken. For example, to convince the world that the ridiculous muff, and even with speaking surname Malevich, and even from barbarian Russia, who painted over canvases with a wide brush of monochromatic paint, is a genius of all times and peoples. And his “works” are imperishable values of the highest category. (And this genius also drew monochrome circles and triangles. But they did not receive the status of masterpieces, perhaps because it was difficult for them to buy a suitable frame). The experiment was a success. Black and red squares are still worth huge
No envy, I am an artist and painting, (living writing) I distinguish from the work of a house painter. Here is the opinion of a Jew on this matter.
Gordon Quixote.
I will try, as far as it is in my weak powers, to explain this paradox - may art historians forgive me!
Examples of artisans, ordinary gray mediocrity, who would have smoked the sky for a measured time and disappeared without a trace, if it weren’t for the insight that prompted them to an act of exceptional impudence - for their time, of course - is on everyone’s lips. Malevich with his unfortunate painted over canvas (quite, by the way, a template for this representative geniuses. For some reason, everyone forgot about the blue and yellow squares, about the red triangle, and so on. He had a lot of such masterpieces. Indeed, after all - a talent!!) Picasso with two eyes on a schematic profile, Chagall's small-town daub - who would he be, don't guess to hang the inhabitants of the Pale of Settlement in the air?
That is, the whole point is in the act - and to explain it, the most stupid, the most arrogant, the most senseless, is the business of others, those who will bask in the light of fame. And it's funny that they practically forgot the harmless madman, the chairman of Zemshar, Velimir Khlebnikov, with his abstruse muttering and verbiage. As if it had never happened, but everyone heard about this pack - Malevich, Chagall.
Khlebnikov was endured by the same terrible wave of collapse - but he did not have enough aggression to declare himself loudly. There was not enough saliva to properly spit in the face of society - even building a new world.
At first I thought that this game - to completely destroy the old, to smash all the accumulated intellectual values into ashes - the guys played sincerely. Well, yes, well, yes + Khlebnikov really considered himself chairman globe. There is evidence for this. Yes, and Malevich was a frank, large-scale, violent destroyer. Whole and everything.
But at the same time, in letters to his associates, he strictly adhered to the tradition - he called them exclusively on you. That's right, with capital letter. And the punctuation marks were exactly where they should be, and the syllable was impeccable. You can destroy everything - especially painting - everything, except for the attitude towards the personality of a genius. Don't touch this one. Don't hold up.
That is - there was no crazy, fanatical burning, like Khlebnikov (who, by the way, did not last long.) There was a sober calculation. There were many conversations. There were students with youthful agility ready to destroy the old, no matter how good it was, and create a new one, no matter how primitive and stupid it was. There were many experiments - with a plane, with color, since then everything was allowed. For the time being, as you know, and time. But there was no main thing - there was no secret of art. That inexplicable influence that makes you re-read lines that are simple at first glance many times; the one that suddenly squeezes the throat in front of the picture and does not let go, striking, as if by shock - what is so special about it? What happened? Why do I want to come back again and again?
There is no doubt that the experiments of the twenties have the right to life. Someone must really discover unknown horizons in a canvas painted over with mourning. Why not? But do not confuse God's gift with scrambled eggs. No need to confuse art in its very high sense- and Malevich. Call him a suprematist, a modernist, an avant-garde, a sumo wrestler, an Adventist - whatever you like. Select a separate direction for him - and let the dead man rule there, undivided. Even I might be interested in his tricks - if he does not call himself an artist. And it will modestly - or vice versa, proudly - stand aside from painting.
Perhaps I am a dull, stupid, primitive tradesman with a limited intellect. I agree if the level of development is determined by the ability obediently admire mediocrity , skillfully wedged into the ranks of the great.
Sometimes an amusing thought comes - this black square was not kicked only by the lazy of those who are not included in the circles of painters and art historians. And in the same way, those who enter them consider it their sacred duty to bow and mark themselves - ah, ah, high class !! How great he is! I took and painted over a rag, how great! Why didn't we think of it? Would be now in the annals in his place.
It's understandable why people don't like the black square. And blue, and green, and red. "That's how I can do it too.+ You go to Murka!!"
There are works of art that divide history into "before" and "after". Among them, without a doubt, is the famous, scandalous "Black Square" by Kazimir Malevich. Already 100 years have passed since the creation of the canvas, and disputes and heated discussions around it still do not stop. It is curious that the author himself was also tormented by questions. Here are his words: "I could neither sleep nor eat, and I tried to understand what I had done - but I could not." And here is the answer Tretyakov Gallery.
The Tretyakov Gallery published the latest research data. It turned out that a color image is hidden under the "Black Square". And not one, but two. This discovery was made just over a month ago.
“It was known that under the image of the “Black Square” there was some underlying image. We found out that there are not one such images, but two. And they proved that the original image is a cubo-futuristic composition, and the one under the "Black Square", the color of which you see in craquelure, is a proto-Suprematist composition," she said. Researcher Department of Scientific Expertise of the Tretyakov Gallery Ekaterina Voronina.
IN x-rays on the "Black Square" the outlines of another painting by Kazimir Malevich are clearly visible. Under the microscope, it is clearly visible how another paint layer shines through the craquelure, that is, the cracks of the Black Square. The authors of the study - employees of the Tretyakov Gallery Ekaterina Voronina, Irina Rustamova and Irina Vakar - spoke about their other discovery. They deciphered the inscription on the "Black Square", which they consider to be the author's. More precisely, they almost deciphered it: three letters are missing. In a word that starts with "n" and ends with "ov". The whole phrase, according to museum workers, sounds like "The battle of blacks in a dark cave." Thus, the picture of Malevich can be considered something like a correspondence dialogue between the artist and the author of the canvas, written in 1882 French writer and the eccentric Alphonse Allais. His painting is called "Battle of Negroes in a dark cave in the dead of night."
“Malevich has a complex, confusing handwriting and some letters are spelled the same: “n”, “p”, and even “i” in some texts are very close in spelling. We are working on the second word. But the fact that the first word is "Battle", you can all see, making sure of this in the exposition, ”commented Ekaterina Voronina.
It was evident that few of those present expected to hear something like this. The international conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Black Square brought together guests from different countries.
“Our family is very glad that the memory of a very important artist alive for the world, and not only here in Moscow,” admitted Kazimir Malevich’s great-niece Ivona Malevich.
Art historians have yet to comprehend the discovery made. And the artists have already done it. An exhibition dedicated to the "Black Square" has opened within the walls of the Academy of Arts. The authors are the most eminent contemporary artists.
“It seemed to us that it would be appropriate in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Black Square to draw a line under its pressure, pressure, charm and the magnetism that it possesses, and finally free ourselves to move on. In short, we wanted to get rid of his influence,” explained Ivan Kolesnikov, curator of the exhibition.
“The Battle of the Negroes in a Dark Cave in the Dead Night” is a painting by Alphonse Allais, which is absolutely similar to Malevich’s “Black Square” and was painted 30 years before it. However, according to Russian experts, the picture is comic and cannot be compared with Malevich's masterpiece, since he is the manifesto of Suprematism. What this picture definitely cannot compare with the "Black Square" is the price.
Alphonse Alle
An eccentric writer and journalist, Alphonse Allais was born in Honfleur in 1854. He is considered the founder of conceptualism and minimalism in almost all major areas of art: in music, painting and even literature. Most of all, he became famous for his absurdist antics and black humor.
The painting "Battles of Negroes in a dark cave in the dead of night"
His play Magnum's Revenge was 50 years ahead of the introduction of minimalism in the theatre. And in 1882-1884 he began to paint pictures that belong to the so-called monochrome painting. Such paintings were rectangles of white, green, red and had names like "The first communion of pale girls in the snowy season."
However, the first picture in the form of a black quadrangle does not belong to him, but to his close friend Billot. Billo became the author of the painting "Battle of the Negroes in the Dungeon", which he painted in 1882. The painting marked the beginning of a series of humorous monochrome canvases, which in subsequent years included paintings by Allais and Billot, and, according to some experts, the same Black Square.
John Cage's minimalist work "4"33", which is four and a half minutes of silence, is also not the first of its kind. Here the primacy belongs to Alla and his "Funeral March to the Death of the Great Deaf".
Alle was a comedian not by position, but by life and got a lot of pleasure from it. Alla's whole life was accompanied by a joke, and it ended with a joke. On the last evening before his death, the doctor ordered him to stay in bed for another six months, otherwise Alphonse would not have lived for a long time, but he did not follow the doctor's recommendations.
He invited his friends to a restaurant and spent the last evening there. Alphonse claimed that better death than six months in bed. He told a friend who accompanied him that he would not live to see tomorrow and that it would be a kind of joke that he would no longer laugh at. He actually died the next day.
Battle of blacks in a deep cave
Since of the predecessors of Malevich's painting, this painting has most famous, it is she who is most often compared with the "Square". Some experts tend to consider "Black Square" plagiarism. Some are a continuation of a series of jokes, but the bulk of domestic experts, including Malevich's nephew, categorically insist that Alla's painting has nothing to do with Malevich at all. But is it really so?
A recent discovery showed that under the main layer of the first "Black Square" by Malevich there are also two additional ones, different from the square, colored, but also abstract. In addition, the inscription “Negro battle in a dark cave” was found on the painting, which, apparently, refers the masterpiece to a series of comic paintings. But the date of the inscription is not indicated, although it still looks more like it was made by the author, just, perhaps, a little later than the picture was painted. Most contemporaries immediately began to resent. In their opinion, such a circumstance can undeservedly reduce the price of the picture.
In addition, before Malevich, as it turns out, there were not only these two paintings with black figures in the form of a rectangle, but also Robert Fludd’s painting “The Great Darkness”, dating from the 17th century, and “Twilight Russia” by Gustave Doré. Sweeping away their "masterpiece", it is stated that Malevich's square is unique precisely because of the effect it produced, and not because of its originality or artistic features. There is another opinion that explains such a high popularity of the square by elementary promotion.
The painting occupies its own niche in world art. And although it does not have such a high value as Malevich's masterpiece, it has the right to fair assessment. Alphonse Allais certainly cannot be blamed for plagiarism.
