The artwork titled “Head of a Peasant Girl,” created by Kazimir Malevich around the year 1913, is an oil on canvas piece measuring 72 by 75 centimeters. This painting belongs to the Cubism art movement and is part of Malevich’s 1st Peasant Cycle. It is a portrait genre work currently housed in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
“Head of a Peasant Girl” exemplifies the Cubist style through its intricate composition of fragmented and abstract geometric forms. The portrayal of the subject, a peasant girl, is rendered through a complex and multi-faceted array of angular shapes and planes, creating a dynamic and multi-dimensional effect. The subdued color palette of greens, browns, and ochres adds an earthy and organic quality to the composition. The interplay of light and shadow across the facets of the forms gives the artwork a sense of depth and movement, emphasizing the Cubist interest in deconstructing and reassembling reality into an abstract form. This portrait conveys a modernist approach to traditional subjects, highlighting Malevich’s innovative contributions to Cubism and early 20th-century art.