Natasa Dzinkic Absolute

The crisis in the picture reached a logical conclusion or climax in Russia in 1914 when Kasimir Malevich painted a black square. This was for him an absolute statement of pure painting.

In 1921, Alexander Rodchenko painted three monochromes in the primary colours, he saw them as demonstrations of pure paint. For him, they represented a full stop to painting’s history.

Marcel Duchamp: ‘I wanted to get away from the physical aspect of painting. I was much more interested in recreating ideas [of] painting. For me the title was very important. I wanted to put painting once again at the service of the mind. It is interesting – considering how painting has been so often seen as the butt of conceptual art’s mockery.’