A “Direct Perception of Life”. How the Russian Avant-Garde Utilised the Icon Tradition to Form a Powerful Modern Aesthetic

This paper will examine how the Russian avant-garde utilised the profound symbolism, metaphysical significance and the formal aesthetic tradition of Orthodox iconography, in combination with other symbolic art forms, as a means of creating an archetypal expression, which would allow their canvases to resound with universal spiritualism, and thus have the power to facilitate Jungian psychological healing. It will look at case studies by Natalia Goncharova, Kazimir Malevich and Mikhail Larionov in order to illustrate how these artists used elements of the icon tradition in order to achieve their ultimate ameliorative telos. Firstly, it will examine Goncharova’s Neo-primitive depiction of St Panteleimon (1911), and how it juxtaposed formal and symbolic conventions of iconology with mystical “primitive” aesthetic renderings to create a canvas capable of psychic healing. Secondly, it will illustrate how the ultimate intermediary and heroic capacity of the icon-object inspired the nihilistic geometricism of Malevich’s The Black Square (1915). Finally, it will consider how the formal conventions and transcendent symbolism of the Russian Orthodox icon inspired the radical modernity of Larionov’s innovative, Rayist canvas Red and Blue Rayism (1912-1913). Through these case studies this paper will aim to demonstrate the profound influence of the Orthodox icon tradition on the artists Goncharova, Malevich and Larionov as they formulated their radical avant-garde modernity.