Watercolor and India ink on paper Russia, 1922 Ilya Gregorovich Chashnik (1902-1929) – Russian Suprematist artist Framed Dimensions: 16 1/8 x 16 5/8 in. (41 x 42.2 cm.) Frame dimensions: 27 x 27 ½ in. (68.6 x 69.6 cm.) Good condition Estimate $10,000-$20,000 Provenance Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York O’Hara Gallery, New York. Exhibited Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York: “Ilya Gregorovich Chashnik – Watercolors, Drawings, Reliefs,” 2 November 1979-15 March 1980 (cat. number 37, reproduced in color, p. 50). Ilya Chashnik’s ‘Floating Suprematist Square’ showcases the artist’s exploration of the Suprematist aesthetic that favors the vital, fundamental form. Rectangles upon rectangles exist within a composition of minimal colors of red, black, gray and white. The artist employs rigid, geometric patterns, resulting in a flat plane framed by wide, smooth bands of dark color. This watercolor exemplifies the artist’s deviation from figurative and representational painting by reducing form and color to its basic essence. With provenance from Leonard Hutton Galleries, one of the foremost galleries to exhibit Russian avant-garde works in New York City. Ilya Gregorovich Chashnik (Russian, 1902-1929) Known as a one of the foremost Suprematist artists, Ilya Chashnik was a founding member of the UNOVIS School that influenced the avant-garde in Russia and beyond. Chashnik moved to Moscow in 1919 where he briefly studied under Marc Chagall and EL Lissitzky. Later, Chashnik joined Kazimir Malevich, the mastermind of Supremacism, to espouse the barest essentials of art as basic geometric forms such as lines, circles, squares and rectangles. Chashnik had developed his own distinctive style within the Suprematist idiom, involving floating geometric shapes with crossing planes and taking the color black as the predominant element. Died at the age of 27, Chashnik was a painter, a graphic designer, and a teacher. Condition Minor creasing, a few minute tears at sheet edge, some toning Otherwise appears in good age-related condition, unexamined out of frame. Shipping costs excl. statutory VAT and plus 2,5% (+VAT) shipping insurance. Starting Price : 10000