UNOVIS
VITEBSK 1919
UNOVIS was a short-lived but influential group of artists, founded and led by Kazimir Malevich at the Vitebsk Art School in 1919. Initially formed by students and known as MOLPOSNOVIS, the group formed to explore and develop new theories and concepts in art. Under the leadership of Malevich they renamed to UNOVIS, chiefly focusing on his ideas on Suprematism and producing a number of projects and publications whose influence on the avant-garde in Russia and abroad was immediate and far-reaching. In early 1920, Marc Chagall selected Malevich to succeed him as director. Malevich accepted and radically reorganized not only UNOVIS but the entire school‘s curriculum. He transformed UNOVIS into a highly structured organization, forming the UNOVIS Council. Meanwhile, the group‘s theories and styles were rapidly evolving at the hands of Malevich and his star students and colleagues, including notable Russian artists El Lissitzky, Lazar Khidekel, Nikolai Suetin, Ilia Chashnik, Vera Ermolaeva, Anna Kagan, and Lev Yudin (ru), amongst others. The group‘s objective was now to introduce Suprematist designs and