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WASSILY KANDINSKY by Amit Varma
Wassily Kandinsky (or, in complete Russian,
Vasily Vasilyevich Kandinsky), was born in Moscow on December
4th, 1866 and has been hailed as one of the fathers
of abstract art. Kandinsky’s parents took much interest in music
and so their influence led him to learn to play the piano and
cello at an early age. And for this reason music has heavily
influenced his paintings, especially the titles of his paintings
"Improvisations", "Impressions", and "Compositions." His parents
divorced when he was 5 and he lived with his father and aunt
in Odessa (Ukraine), first painting in oils at age 13.
At the age of 20, he attended the University of Moscow
where he studied law and economics and then later taught at
the Moscow Faculty of Law. Several years later, he attended
a French Impressionist exhibition where Monet’s "Haystacks
at Giverny" sparked Kandinsky’s interest in the impressionist
art form. At the age of 30, Kandinsky went Munich to study sketching
and anatomy, which provided for his foundation in art. He began
writing criticism and color theory in 1904, and separated from
his wife to enter exhibitions and travel throughout Europe and
Africa with his lover, the talented art student Gabriele Münter.
Years later, his abstract art form surpassed that of
the impressionist and he became known as the father of "abstract"
art. When commenting on his art work, Kandinsky said " ...I
applied streaks and blobs of colors onto the canvas with a palette
knife and I made them sing with all the intensity I could...
"
From 1903 onward, Kandinsky’s art was exhibited
throughout Europe but caused much controversy among the public
and art critics. Kandinsky heavily influenced some of the 20th
century art movements and became co-founder of the Blue Rider
or Der Blaue Reiter. The Blue Rider movement was mostly
made up of German artists and was the main point in German Expressionism
but it also opened the doors for free spirit and originality
in painting. Kandinsky’s Improvisations became the first
"abstract" pictures and allowed for the Blue Rider
movement to begin. His first work in this mode was completed
in 1910, the year in which he wrote an important theoretical
study, Concerning the Spiritual in Art. In this work
he examines the psychological effects of color with analogies
between music and art. In 1914 Kandinsky returned to Russia
where he stayed until 1921. In 1922 he came back to Germany
to teach and work at the Bauhaus in Dessau until 1933.
At the Bauhaus, Kandinsky had his most productive and
prolific time but in 1933, when the German Nazis came to power,
all modern art was considered as degenerated art and the Bauhaus
was closed. Kandinsky's works were removed from German museums
and confiscated. Kandinsky then moved to Neuiily near Paris
where he remained and continued painting until his death in
December 1944. Overall Kandinsky developed his own style that
was expressive and colorful and he helped develop the expressionist
form of painting.
Kandinsky developed his idea of the correspondence
between a work of art and the viewer, and called it "Klang"
(sound or resonance). His famous quote accurately describes
his appreciation for both music and art…"Color is the power
which directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the
eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with the strings.
The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another,
to cause vibrations in the soul." During Kandinsky’s period
of artistic development, he divided his paintings into three
main categories: "Impressions" (which still show some representational
elements), "Improvisations" (which convey spontaneous emotional
reactions), and "Compositions" (which are his ultimate works
of art, and he created them after much preparation thus throughout
his life he completed only 10 "Compositions").
The "Compositions" are by far the
most famous pieces by Kandinsky as they were his ultimate pieces
of artwork. His first three compositions were destroyed during
the beginning of World War II, yet the others remain and are
considered his best work.
Composition IV
"Composition
IV is depicted with various parts of swirling colors and
soaring lines. The painting is divided abruptly in the center
by two thick, black vertical lines. On the left, a violent motion
is expressed through the profusion of sharp, jagged and entangled
lines. On the right, all is calm, with sweeping forms and color
harmonies (Harden)."
Composition VII
However, Composition VII is arguably
his most famous art piece as it finally gave rise to Kandinsky
and his truly abstract art form. The creation of this composition
included over thirty preparatory drawings, watercolors and oil
studies. These document the deliberate creative process used
by Kandinsky in his compositions. However, once Kandinsky had
completed the preparatory work, he did the actual painting of
Composition VII in less than four days. Art scholars, through
Kandinsky's writings and study of the less abstract preparatory
works, have determined that Composition VII combines the themes
of The Resurrection, The Last Judgment, The Deluge and The Garden
of Love in an operatic outburst of pure painting (Harden).
Black And Violet, 1923
Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle)
Improvisation 31 is another one of Kandinsky’s
more famous pieces was painted in 1913 and is currently showcased
in Washington DC at the National Gallery of Art.
Farbstudie Quadrate Mit Konzentrischen Ringen
(or Squares with Concentric Rings)
Kandinsky’s unrelenting quest for new forms
has carried him to the very extremes of geometric abstraction
and has provided us with an unparalleled collection of abstract
art. Kandinsky is truly the father of non-representational painting.
WORKS CITED
http://www.glyphs.com/art/kandinsky/ (Mark
Harden, Senior Art Editor’s website)
http://www.oir.ucf.edu/wm/paint/auth/kandinsky/
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/tl/20th/abstract.html
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