MOSCOW â€" The burial site of the Russian avant-garde artist and theorist Kazimir Malevich, in a field near Moscow, has been covered in concrete by a real estate developer to make way for luxury housing, says an enthusiast who spent years looking for the site.
Aleksandr Matveev told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper in an interview published on August 26 that the Moscow regional culture ministry had done an about-face on plans to commemorate the artist. Last winter, a commission that included culture ministry officials visited the site and confirmed his findings on the grave, Mr. Matveev said.
“Developers have already talked to the bureaucrats who are making the decisions,†said Mr. Matveev, who heads an organization called Nemchinovka and Malevich, named after the nearby village where Malevich once lived. “They’ve already put concrete blocks on the site of the grave,†Mr. Matveev said.
Malevich, who died in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1935, his health destroyed by time in prison, had asked to be buried under an oak tree on the outskirts of Nemchinovka, a place to which he felt a special bond.
“The landscape of this place was certainly very stimulating for his well-being and for his mind,† said Andrei Nakov, a Paris-based art historian who is the author of a four-volume monograph, “Malevich: Painting the Absolute.â€
Nikolai Suetin, a friend of Malevich’s and a fellow artist, designed a white cube with a black square to mark the burial site. The memorial was destroyed during World War II.
The development company responsible for the housing complex, called Romashkovo, says there is nothing to the dispute. On Thursday, a statement was posted on the development’s Web site saying that Malevich would be honored, and that he served as inspiration for the complex, but insisting that the urn with his ashes was removed decades ago.
“Although the artist’s grave has been irrevocably lost, the residents of Romashkovo and Nemchinovka have not forgotten about the importance of these places in the history of Russian art,†the statement said. It added, “In designing the facades, the creators of the Romashkovo housing complex were inspired by Malevich’s famous paintings. They have succeeded in conveying the brevity of his sharp lines with the freedom of space and combined them with dashes of color that are pleasing to the eye.†According to the statement, Malevich will be commemorated with a monument on the grounds.
Mr. Matveev said that the developer and regional officials have cut the world off from Malevich. The Romashkovo development is in a gated community, and although the regional culture ministry said this week that there would be free access, Mr. Matveev said it’s still closed to visitors. Another nearby monument to Malevich put up in 1988 is now also on the grounds of a gated community.
At the moment, Russia is in the midst of officially promoting the artist. Malevich’s works, along with those of Wassily Kandinsky, have inspired the design for the logo of the G-20 meeting opening in St. Petersburg next week.
