Andrew Lambirth

Malevich: Are Tate visitors ready for this master of modernism?

We will not see the like of this vast and impressive exhibition again during our lifetimes – but it's far from an easy, populist show

‘The Scyther (Mower)’, 1912, by Kazimir Malevich [nizhny novgorod state art museum] 
issue 26 July 2014

Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935) is one of the founding fathers of Modernism, and as such entirely deserves the in-depth treatment with which this massive new Tate show honours him. But it should be recognised from the start that this is a difficult exhibition, making serious intellectual and emotional demands on visitors, as art enters the realm of pure thought, utterly divorced from the comforting world of appearances.

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