Cezanne and Cubism at the Vitebsk State Free Art Studios

Abstract

This article looks at the way in which the work of Paul Cezanne and the theory and practice of Cub-ism were integral to the pedagogical system that Kazimir Malevich developed while working at the State Free Art Studios in Vitebsk 1920–1922. The article focuses, in particular, on the role of the Cub-ism workshop, which was run by Vera Ermolaeva, who had studied in Paris. In the initial stages, students studied Cezanne’s approach to painting, before progressing to Cubism. Thanks to the work of Malevich and his colleagues, several students mastered the first stage of the artist’s pedagogi-cal system.