“The Knife Grinder,” an oil-on-canvas artwork by Kazimir Malevich, was created in 1912. This painting, which employs the Cubo-Futurism art movement, measures 79.53 by 79.53 centimeters. It is a genre painting currently housed at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
The artwork illustrates a dynamic and fragmented depiction of a knife grinder at work, using a finely tuned blend of cubist and futurist styles. The figure and the surrounding elements are broken down into geometric shapes and planes, reflecting the energetic and mechanical nature of the scene. The palette is muted yet varied, contributing to the complex and vigorous movement within the composition. The juxtaposition of sharp angles and intersecting lines embodies the essence of industrial movement and technological prowess, striking the viewer with the energy of early 20th-century modernism.