Suprematism

Suprematism is one of the earliest and most radical developments in abstract art. It was developed by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich around 1915. The very name of the movement implied the supremacy of this new art form in relation to the past. Malevich envisioned his art movemement as purely aesthetic, disassociated from political or social meaning; it sought a new freedom of expression in total abstraction.

Suprematism is focused on purity of shape and was concerned with using the elementary geometric forms. Malevich was interested in identifying the essential elements of art. The movement uses simple forms of shape and colour to create abstract art forms.

This is an excellent example of suprematism in book cover design. It uses the simple shape of the square in the black outline and the smaller red square sharply contrasted to the bold black number 2 and the small diagonal lettering. The white, black and red colour scheme are indicative of the colours used by Malevich in his early supremative works.

SOURCES:
MOMA, SUPREMATISM, https://www.moma.org/collection/details.php?theme_id=10202
ART ENCYCLOPEDIA, SUPREMATISM, http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/suprematism.htm

IMAGE:
http://www.wikiart.org/en/el-lissitzky/book-cover-for-suprematic-tale-about-two-squares-1920