Nikolai Khardzhiev: Protecting and Preserving Malevich’s Legacy

Abstract This article looks at the relationship between the scholar and collector Nikolai Khardzhiev and the artist Kazimir Malevich, tracing the origins and the development of the friendship between the two men. The text also examines the various ways in which Khardzhiev protected and preserved the artist’s legacy, not only by collecting and interpreting his paintings, drawings, and manuscripts, but also by pointing out the mistakes and misunderstandings that surrounded Malevich and his work, especially in the literature about the artist produced in the West.