Picture of a battle of blacks in a dark cave. The story of "Battles of blacks in a dark cave in the dead of night"
There are works of art that divide history into “before” and “after.” Among them, without a doubt, is the famous, scandalous “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich. Already 100 years have passed since the creation of the canvas, and controversy and heated discussions around it have not stopped to this day. It is curious that the author himself was tormented by questions. Here are his words: “I could neither sleep nor eat, and tried to understand what I had done - but I could not.” And here is the answer Tretyakov Gallery.
The Tretyakov Gallery has published the latest research data. It turned out that a color image was hidden under the “Black Square”. And not one, but two. This discovery was made a little over a month ago.
“It was known that under the image of the “Black Square” there was some underlying image. We found out that there are not one, but two such images. And they proved that the original image is a cubo-futurist composition, and that lying under the “Black Square”, the color of which you see in the craquelure, is a proto-Suprematist composition,” said Ekaterina Voronina, a researcher at the department of scientific examination of the Tretyakov Gallery.
In X-rays on the “Black Square” the outlines of another painting by Kazimir Malevich are clearly visible. Under a microscope you can clearly see how another layer of paint shines through the craquelure, that is, the cracks of the “Black Square”. The authors of the study - employees of the Tretyakov Gallery Ekaterina Voronina, Irina Rustamova and Irina Vakar - also spoke about their other discovery. They deciphered the inscription on the “Black Square”, which they consider to be the author’s. More precisely, they almost deciphered it: three letters are missing. In a word starting with "n" and ending with "ov". The whole phrase, according to museum workers, sounds like “The battle of blacks in a dark cave.” Thus, Malevich’s painting can be considered something like a correspondence dialogue between the artist and the author of the painting, painted in 1882 French writer and the eccentric Alphonse Allais. His painting is called “Battle of Negroes in a Dark Cave in the Dead of Night.”
“Malevich has a complex, intricate handwriting and some letters are written the same way: “n”, “p”, and even “i” in some texts are very close in spelling. We are working on the second word. But you can all see that the first word is “Battle” by making sure of this in the exhibition,” commented Ekaterina Voronina.
It was clear that few of those present expected to hear something like that. On international conference, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the “Black Square”, guests from different countries gathered.
“Our family is very happy that the memory of a very important artist alive for the world, and not only here in Moscow,” admitted Kazimir Malevich’s grandniece Ivona Malevich.
Art historians have yet to comprehend the discovery. But artists have already done this. An exhibition dedicated to the “Black Square” opened within the walls of the Academy of Arts. The authors are the most famous contemporary artists.
“It seemed to us that it would be appropriate in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Black Square to draw a line under its pressure, pressure, charm and the magnetism that it possesses, and finally free ourselves to move on. In short, we wanted to get rid of his influence,” explained exhibition curator Ivan Kolesnikov.
“The Battle of Negroes in a Dark Cave in the Dead of Night” is a painting by Alphonse Allais, which is absolutely similar to Malevich’s “Black Square” and was painted 30 years before him. However, according to Russian experts, the picture is comic and cannot be compared with Malevich’s masterpiece, since he is a manifesto of Suprematism. Where this picture definitely cannot compare with “Black Square” is in price.
Alphonse Allais
An eccentric writer and journalist, Alphonse Allais was born in Honfleur in 1854. He is considered the founder of conceptualism and minimalism in almost all major areas of art: music, painting and even literature. He became most famous for his absurdist antics and dark humor.
Painting "Battles of blacks in a dark cave in the dead of night"
His play Magnum's Revenge predated the introduction of minimalism in the theater by 50 years. And in 1882-1884 he began to paint pictures that belong to the so-called monochrome painting. Such paintings were rectangles of white, green, red and had names like “The First Communion of Pale Girls in the Snowy Season.”
However, the first painting in the form of a black quadrangle belongs not to him, but to his close friend Billot. Billot became the author of the painting “Battle of the Negroes in the Dungeon,” which he painted in 1882. The painting marked the beginning of a series of comic monochrome paintings, which in subsequent years included paintings by Allais and Billot, and, according to some experts, the same “Black Square”.
John Cage's minimalist work "4"33", which is four and a half minutes of silence, is also not the first of its kind. Here the primacy belongs to Alla and his "Funeral March to the Death of the Great Deaf."
Alla was a comedian not by position, but by life and got a lot of pleasure from it. Alla's whole life was accompanied by a joke, and it ended with a joke. On the last evening before his death, the doctor ordered him to stay in bed for another six months, otherwise Alphonse would not have lived long, but he did not follow the doctor’s recommendations.
He invited his friends to a restaurant and spent his last evening there. Alphonse argued that death was better than six months in bed. He told the friend who accompanied him that he would not live to see tomorrow and it would be a kind of joke that he would no longer laugh at. The next day he actually died.
Battle of blacks in a deep cave
Since this painting is the most famous of the predecessors of Malevich’s painting, it is the one that is most often compared with “The Square”. Some experts are inclined to consider “Black Square” plagiarism. Some are a continuation of a series of jokes, but the majority of domestic experts, including Malevich’s nephew, categorically insist that Alla’s painting has nothing to do with Malevich at all. But is this really so?
A recent discovery has shown that under the main layer of Malevich’s first “Black Square” there are also two additional ones, different from the square, colored, but also abstract. In addition, the inscription “Battle of Negroes in a Dark Cave” was found on the painting, which apparently classifies the masterpiece as a series of comic paintings. But the date of the inscription is not indicated, although it still looks more like it was made by the author, just perhaps a little later than the picture was painted. Most contemporaries immediately began to be indignant. In their opinion, this circumstance may unfairly reduce the price of the painting.
In addition, before Malevich, as it turns out, there were not only these two paintings with black figures in the form of a rectangle, but also Robert Fludd’s painting “The Great Darkness”, dating from the 17th century, and “Twilight Russia” by Gustave Doré. Dismissing their “masterpiece”, it is stated that Malevich’s square is unique precisely because of the effect it produced, and not for its originality or artistic features. There is another opinion that explains such a high popularity of the square by elementary promotion.
The painting occupies its niche in world art. And although it does not have as high a value as Malevich’s masterpiece, it has the right to a fair assessment. Alphonse Allais certainly cannot be accused of plagiarism.
Interesting article. I will quote it in full with my comments. There is a link and photos there. But for convincing sake, here is a link to Wikipedia...
Battle of blacks in a deep cave on a dark night
In front of you is a picture that has the title "Battle of blacks in a deep cave on a dark night"(1893). It was created twenty years before the birth of Malevich’s “masterpiece” (1915). The author is a Frenchman from the coast la Manche, a very eccentric person, a fellow humorist writer and artist Alphonse Allais (Alphonse Allais).
Also, Alphonse Allais, almost seventy years later, unexpectedly anticipated the famous minimalist musical piece “4’33” by John Cage, which is four and a half “minutes of silence” - Allais’s work was called even more conceptually “Funeral March for the Funeral of the Deaf” ( Funeral March for the Observations of a Deaf Man).
As we see, this Alphonse Allais was a humorist by life, and not by position. And he made his “masterpieces” for fun. The names alone are worth it. And later plagiarists copied them in all seriousness.
He died in one of the rooms of the Britannia Hotel (Fr. Britannia), which is on the rue, not far from the Osten-Fox cafe (fr. Austin-Fox), where Alphonse Allais spent a lot of his free time. The day before, the doctor had strictly prescribed that he should not get out of bed for six months, only then would recovery be possible. Otherwise - death. “Funny people, these doctors! They seriously think that death is worse than six months in bed!
As soon as the doctor disappeared through the door, Alphonse Allais quickly got ready and spent the evening in a restaurant, and to the friend who accompanied him back to the hotel, he told his last anecdote: “Keep in mind, tomorrow I will already be a corpse! You will find it witty, but I will no longer laugh with you. Now you will be left laughing - without me. So tomorrow I'll be dead!
In full accordance with his last funny joke, he died the next day, October 28, 1905. As the widow of a man who died after a consultation of the three best doctors in Paris said: “But what could he do alone, sick, against three healthy ones?”
By the way, he and other colored squares created earlier Malevich. But for some reason the latter sells better at relevant auctions. Is he more “promoted” or something... Or maybe they just don’t know? This question breaks down into two:
1. Why was Malevich promoted and not Alphonse Allais?
2. And why were these “masterpieces” promoted at all?
Why wasn’t Alphonse Allais promoted? Apparently because he had one, but big drawback: he was not Jewish. And who will create world fame Goyu? Forbidden, sir! (Religion). And about the reason why it was necessary to promote at least someone about this, I wrote in the article: « About the evil Jews and their role in the global economic crisis » :
"Was held whole line experiments to determine the limits of media influence on mass consciousness. There were no limits. For the purity of the experiment, seemingly completely absurd and impossible tasks were undertaken. For example, to convince the world that he’s a ridiculous asshole, and with a telling surname Malevich, and also from barbaric Russia, who painted canvases with a wide brush with monochromatic paint, is a genius of all times and peoples. And his “works” are imperishable values of the highest level. (This genius also painted monochrome circles and triangles. But they did not receive the status of masterpieces, perhaps because it was difficult to buy a suitable frame for them). The experiment was a success. Black and red squares are still huge
In front of you is a picture that has the title "Battle of blacks in a deep cave on a dark night"(1893). It was created twenty years before the birth of Malevich’s “masterpiece” (1915). The author is a Frenchman from the banks of la Manche, a very eccentric person, a fellow humorist writer and artist Alphonse Allais.
By the way, he also created other colored squares before Malevich. But the latter, for some reason, sells better at relevant auctions. Is he more “promoted”... Or maybe they just don’t know? 
Also, Alphonse Allais, almost seventy years later, unexpectedly anticipated the famous minimalist musical piece “4’33” by John Cage, which is four and a half “minutes of silence” - Allais’ work was called even more conceptually “Funeral March for the Funeral of the Deaf” ( Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Deaf Man).
He died in one of the rooms of the Britannia Hotel, on Rue Amsterdam, not far from the Austin-Fox cafe, where Alphonse Allais spent a lot of his free time. The day before, the doctor had strictly prescribed him to stay in bed for six months, only then would recovery be possible. Otherwise - death. “Funny people, these doctors! They seriously think that death is worse than six months in bed! As soon as the doctor disappeared through the door, Alphonse Allais quickly got ready and spent the evening in a restaurant, and to the friend who accompanied him back to the hotel, he told his last anecdote:
“Keep in mind, tomorrow I will already be a corpse! You will find it witty, but I will no longer laugh with you. Now you will be left laughing - without me. So tomorrow I'll be dead! In full accordance with his last funny joke, he died the next day, October 28, 1905.
As the widow of a man who died after a consultation of the three best doctors in Paris said: “But what could he do alone, sick, against three healthy ones?”
No envy, I am an artist and I distinguish painting (live writing) from the work of a painter. Here is a Jew's opinion on this matter.
Gordon-Quixote.
I will try, to the best of my weak ability, to explain this paradox - may art critics forgive me!
Examples of artisans, ordinary gray mediocrities who would have smoked the sky for a measured period of time and disappeared without a trace, if not for the insight that prompted them to an act of exceptional impudence - for their time, of course - is on everyone's lips. Malevich with this unfortunate painted over canvas of his (quite, by the way, a template for this representative geniuses. For some reason, everyone forgot about the blue and yellow squares, the red triangle, and so on. He had a lot of such masterpieces. Indeed, he's a talent!!) Picasso with two eyes in a sketchy profile, Chagall's small-town daub - who would he have been if he hadn't thought of hanging the inhabitants of the Pale of Settlement in the air?
That is, it’s all about the action - and to explain it, the stupidest, the most arrogant, the most senseless, is the job of others, those who will bask in the light of fame. Moreover, it’s funny that they practically forgot the harmless madman, the chairman of Zemshar, Velimir Khlebnikov, with his abstruse mumbling and verbiage. It’s as if it didn’t happen+ but everyone has heard about this pack - Malevich, Chagall.
Khlebnikov suffered the same terrible wave of collapse - but he did not have enough aggression to loudly declare himself. There was not enough saliva to spit well in the face of society - even one building a new world.
At first I thought that the guys-artists played this game sincerely - to completely destroy the old, to smash into ashes all the accumulated intellectual values. Well, yes, well, yes + Khlebnikov actually considered himself chairman Globe. There is evidence of this. And Malevich was an outspoken, large-scale, frantic destroyer. Everything and everything.
But at the same time, in letters to his comrades, he strictly adhered to tradition - he called them exclusively "You". That's right, with capital letters. And the punctuation marks were exactly where they needed to be, and the syllable was impeccable. You can destroy everything - especially painting - everything except the attitude towards the personality of a genius. Don't touch this one. Don't hesitate.
That is, there was no crazy, fanatical burning, like Khlebnikov’s (who, by the way, did not last long.) There was a sober calculation. There was a lot of talk. There were students who, with youthful agility, were ready to destroy the old, no matter how good it was, and create the new, no matter how primitive and stupid it was. There were many experiments - with planes, with color, fortunately everything was allowed then. For the time being, as we know, and time. But there was no main thing - there was no secret of art. That inexplicable effect that makes you re-read seemingly simple lines many times; the one that suddenly squeezes your throat in front of the picture and doesn’t allow you to move away, striking you like a shock - what’s wrong with it? What happened? Why do I want to come back again and again?
There is no doubt that the experiments of the twenties have the right to life. Someone must really be discovering unknown horizons in a canvas painted over with mourning. Why not? But don’t confuse God’s gift with scrambled eggs. There is no need to confuse art in its highest sense - and Malevich. Call him a suprematist, modernist, avant-garde, sumo, Adventist - whatever you like. Select a separate direction for him - and let the dead man reign there undivided. Even I might be interested in his tricks - if he doesn't call himself an artist. And it will be modest - or, on the contrary, proud - to stand aside from painting.
Perhaps I am a stupid, stupid, primitive bourgeois with limited intelligence. I agree if the level of development is determined by the ability obediently admire mediocrity , skillfully wedged into the ranks of the greats.
Sometimes an interesting thought comes to mind: only the lazy of those who are not included in the circles of painters and art critics did not kick this black square. And also those who enter them consider it their sacred duty to bow and check in - ah, ah, high class!! How great he is! I took the rag and painted it over, how cool! Well, why didn't we guess? We would be in the annals now if we were in his place.
It's clear why people don't like the black square. And blue, and green, and red. “That’s what I can do too+. Give it to Murka!!”
