Nina Genke-Meller
Nina Genke-Meller (1893–1954) — a famous Russian-Ukranian avant-garde artist-was at the origins of Suprematism.
She was a member of the Supremus association of artists, which was headed by the founder of Suprematism, Kazimir Malevich. There she worked with prominent artists and attracted them to go to poor villages, where they educated the peasants and their children about painting, art theory, and taught them to draw. At the same time, she began to form her unique handwriting: large and simple shapes, clustered on the canvas. Nina was the first of the Suprematists to start experimenting with fabric. Many of her works were made as connected pieces of fabric. This expanded the possibilities and boundaries of Suprematism — since it was based on the predominance of color over everything else, the use of different materials was a new tool for artists. Here she also held several exhibitions, which were very successful, and many art connoisseurs especially distinguished her work. But in connection with the Great Revolution of 1917, her work in this area ended and her activities related to the Soviet and revolutionary agitation began. She supervised the decoration of streets, propaganda steamers, propaganda trains and, most importantly, the drawing of posters. Here her talent revealed itself. But this did not last long. Over time, agitation was no longer needed and the Soviet government needed other people. So she began to work as the chief artist of the futuristic publishing house “Gulfstream”. In 1924, she lost her child. This tragedy was very hard for her, so she changed her field of activity and began painting porcelain dishes. And already in 1926 she started working in the theatre with her husband. From that moment on she stopped painting, her work stagnated and she lived in the shadow of her husband (Heinrich Meller) for the rest of her life. Her knowledge of fabrics and her ability to work with them came in handy in the theatre — she was the chief set and costume designer. She worked in this theatre in Kharkov, Ukraine, until 1944, and then she quited and began working in the Administartion of Architecture, where she also continued to apply the Suprematist style, but no longer on canvas or fabrics, but in the details of buildings. Nina died in 1956, poor and totally forgotten.
