Front cover from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell)

The Front cover from Igra v adu (A Game in Hell) by Kazimir Malevich is a pivotal work of the Russian avant-garde, dating to 1913 and published in 1914. This piece is one of 28 lithographs, serving as the outer shell of an illustrated book that features lithographed manuscript text. Originating in the Russian culture during the highly experimental years of 1913–14, this piece demonstrates the radical fusion of visual art and literary expression championed by the Cubo-Futurists.

The use of lithography enabled the swift dissemination of such provocative imagery across the burgeoning artistic circles. Malevich was deeply involved in the Futurist movement at this time, translating the fragmented perspectives and energetic lines of European Cubism into a distinctly Russian vernacular. The cover design exemplifies the artist’s developmental phase immediately prior to his establishment of Suprematism, displaying geometric simplification combined with a dynamic structural energy.

As an Illustrated Book, the work highlights the holistic, multimedia approach of the period, where visual elements and unique lithographed manuscript text were treated equally. This integration lent a sense of immediate, handmade urgency typical of the avant-garde manifestos being produced at the time. Malevich’s design work utilized prints to challenge established aesthetic norms, making the published book an artifact of artistic rebellion.

This important example of early 20th-century printmaking is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The piece, classified firmly within the 1913–14 period, stands as a rare and significant survival of a radical literary-artistic enterprise. The influence of Malevich’s early abstract designs continues to shape modern art history, and high-quality prints and reproductions of the work are frequently studied in historical surveys of Russian Futurism.