A leading scholar of the Russian avantgarde reevaluates its most iconic artistKazimir Malewicz Malevich 18791935 is undoubtedly one of the most significant artists of the 20th century famed for his Suprematist works such as the socalled ampampquotBlack Squareampampquot and White on White. Incredibly his art only received its due in the West in the late 1950s three more decades passed before it could be accessible to the Russian public. In this critical study Andrei Nakov dissembles some foundational myths about the artists ethnic background such as his Polish origins hence the rendering of the artists name here as ampampquotMalewiczampampquot his affinity for the religious iconography of Russia and his place in modern European art.