Kazimir Malevich, White on White, 1918, oil on canvas, 31.25” x 31.25”In the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York City. 1935 Acquisition con�rmed in 1999 by agreement with the Estate of Kazimir Malevich and made possible with funds from the Mrs. John Hay Whitney Bequest (by exchange).

With his White on White series, Malevich pushed the limits of abstraction to an unprecedented degree. Reducing pictorial means to their bare minimum, he not only dispensed with the illusion of depth and volume but also rid painting of its seemingly last essential attribute, color. What remains is a geometric �gure, barely di�erentiated from a slightly warmer white ground and given the illusion of movement by its skewed and o�-center position. With its richly textured surface and delicate brushwork, White on White emphasizes painting’s material aspects, and its simplicity suggests a radical reinvention of the medium.

Publication excerpt from The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 85