Editing Suprematism (section)

==Social context==
[[File:Автопортрет. Художник. 1933. ГРМ.png|thumb|Malevich, ''Self-Portrait'', 1933|left|199x199px]]
This development in artistic expression came about when Russia was in a revolutionary state, ideas were in ferment, and the old order was being swept away. As the new order became established, and [[Stalinism]] took hold from 1924 on, the state began limiting the freedom of artists. From the late 1920s the [[Russian avant-garde]] experienced direct and harsh criticism from the authorities and in 1934 the doctrine of [[Socialist Realism]] became official policy, and prohibited abstraction and divergence of artistic expression. Malevich nevertheless retained his main conception. In his [[self-portrait]] of 1933 he represented himself in a traditional way—the only way permitted by Stalinist cultural policy—but signed the picture with a tiny black-over-white square.