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Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter and art theorist who flourished mainly between 1911 and 1944, when he died. A pioneer of ‘abstract art’, Kandinsky was one of the first in the genre which saw a move away from the older impressionist and cubist fashions of the period. Indeed Kandinsky’s work has been referred to as the birth of abstract art for its devotion to expressing the ‘inner feelings of the soul’ and its manifestation of the spiritual or theoretical side to art.
Kandinsky claimed to have been fascinated and stimulated by colour from an early age and his work demonstrates clearly the symbolism and psychology that he thought lay behind colour. The spiritual theory lying behind his art was influenced by the theory of ‘theosophy’ which views creation as a geometrical progression, from a single point, of a series of shapes. Kandinsky’s trend towards abstraction emerged fully at art school in Munich, where colour was seen to express subject matter in his works, not to describe the reality of things. For Kandinsky’s early works, composition lacked frivolity, and colour use thrived independently from form. His most famous painting from the early years of the 1900s was ‘Der Blaue Reiter’ or ‘The Blue Rider’, which is identified more as a series of colours than of various forms displaying specific detail.
The years of 1911-1914 saw Kandinsky establish himself as a clear art theorist, exploring the idea of prophecy in art by creating paintings which illustrated the idea of an apocalypse or an impending cataclysm dividing society. This was of course significant in the build up to the First World War. Kandinsky’s art in this period depicted hidden imagery of symbols for death, rebirth and destruction perhaps influenced by Biblical ideas, Russian folk tales or common myths. His paintings of this period were heavily expressive and colourful and profoundly embodied the idea of freedom and the inner feelings of the soul. Kandinsky often used musical terms like ‘composition’ and ‘improvisation’ to describe his works since music is abstract by nature and allows no boundaries and this is what he wanted to portray in his art. It was also in this pre-war period that Kandinsky formed the ‘Blue Rider group’ with like-minded individuals passionate about spiritualisation in art.
1922-1933 saw developments in marks of form in Kandinsky’s work after he spent time teaching art in Moscow between 1918 and 1921. Geometric elements, points and lines featured more prominently in his work. Freedom continued to be expressed by rich colour sections in Kandinksy’s works. ‘Yellow-red-blue’(1925) probably best exemplifies this with its several distinct forms or coloured masses. Pieces like these best demonstrate his concept of inner beauty and expression hidden behind simple forms, allowing for the true identification of the relationships Kandinsky wanted to highlight between forms and colours, the significance of positioning and the harmony between the different elements. It was of great importance for Kandinsky that the communication between the artist and the viewer was available to the senses as well as the mind. This is why he spoke of colours as having audible tones and frequencies like chords or signifying important themes and concepts like closure and new beginning.
In the last period of his life Kandinsky isolated himself to Paris where his art took on more elaborate forms. Biomorphic forms lacking in clear cut geometric outlines started to appear. It has been argued that these new works expressed the artist’s inner life in a synthetic way with yet more enriching elements being used in his paintings. Yet while some characteristics were obvious in these later compositions, others remained discreet, revealed only to those who deepened their connection with the work. The later paintings especially were seen to evoke spiritual resonance between the viewer and the artist. Kandinsky viewed the artist as a prophet ushering in the new discoveries of tomorrow and wanted his work to resonate with the souls of the observers.
For me, Kandinsky is fundamentally important to the development of art as we know it today. His works are beautifully constructed and contain wonderful symbolic content which we as observers are able to connect with and enjoy. I would urge anyone not familiar with his work to have a look because it is truly unique and a joy to behold!
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