The Russian Revolution was winding down, and a new government emerged from within the rubble. The injustices that the people vocalized were temporarily quelled, and Russia put down their weapons of civil destruction to welcome the government’s new Stalinist regime. While the change in power placated Russia’s public, artists quickly realized that Russia’s acceptance of modern abstraction died with Lenin and Trotsky.

Stalin’s regime rejected modern art, condemning them as a type of “bourgeois” art that did nothing to represent contemporary society. As a result, many works of art were confiscated, and painters now had to follow a set of guidelines through which to paint their future works.

Kazimir Malevich, founder of the Suprematist movement, gained international recognition before he returned to Russia. While his return to St. Petersburg offered the artist a nostalgic feeling of comfort, the artist was quickly derided for his suprematist paintings, which often consisted of geometric shapes and fundamental colors.  Critics complained of the drab-ness of his paintings, arguing that a black square did nothing to represent the injustices of society or knowledge gained from his travels.

The Stalinist government confiscated Malevich’s works, offering the artist only a blank canvas and small black book of “artistic guidelines” that they recommended him to follow. As a result, Malevich’s Self Portrait of 1933 followed all of Russia’s guidelines.  To the perusing eye, the audience would catch no hint of the artist’s rebellion.  The Russian government accepted the painting and displayed it at their next convention.

It was not until the Stalinist regime collapsed, however, that the government noticed the small-superimposed image of a black and white box located at the bottom right corner of the portrait. Malevich had autographed his portrait, the same portrait that Stalin had previously deemed “acceptable” and “respectable in all forms,” with the embodiment of anti-Stalinism. The black and white box was a  Suprematist logo.