en. RSS. Kazimir Malevich (Kyiv, 1879 - Leningrad, 1935) was a painter and art theorist known as the founder of Suprematism, an artistic movement focused on geometric abstraction and the supremacy of form and pure colour in art. Malevich is a key figure in 20th-century avant-garde art, greatly influencing modern abstraction. Malevich believed that abstract painting could express a deeper, spiritual reality, beyond the visible. He wanted to free art from its dependence on the representational, seeking a 'direct experience' through geometry and colour.