This book looks at the relationship between traditional icon painting and the art of the Russian avant garde. Although artists repudiated their heritage in line with the political and social climate, their work shows the unmistakable influence of iconic paintings. Important artists such as Malevich and Tatlin are considered and their oeuvres examined to identify the stylistic borrowing from icons. It includes a history of the avant-garde in Russia, the psychology between 1917 and the 1950s and the impact of the spirituality of Russian orthodoxy.