Life Expression - Composition "X" by Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky, the revolutionary artist that is credited with creating the first true abstract painting, had an interesting group of paintings called "Compositions." Although the first three in this series were lost in war, we are able to understand the entire series by the studies left behind in various mediums for the start of the Compositions. The ten works entitled Compositions stretched over four decades of work by the artist and shown his amazing growth towards his goal of being able to express his emotional perceptions through the media of art.

Composition X is immediately different from the other nine- if not solely for the background. In his earlier work, Wassily Kandinsky admitted that he viewed black as being close to death. Later in his work, he began to think of it as a mere stillness or a void of life. Before it was used to define the minority of the canvas but in his last work it helps enhance the color and form of the shapes found swimming it. Wassily Kandinsky has been long moving towards the idea of using shapes as modified representations of simple life forms.

The painting has clear motion as the little life forms swim up and outward. A particularly large one grows like a hot air balloon moving into infinite space. We can assume that this must be space by the look of the lunar like sphere on the left, shining out in the darkness. This lunar shape also helps express Wassily Kandinsky’s new found fondness for positive-negative relationships, shinning the harshest against the black background. Ironically, while it shows his progress forward it also shows us a fondness and return to his past. The figures swimming, recall Russian folk-art paper cut-outs.

By choosing to use the black as the dominant color, Wassily Kandinsky seems to have come full circle. Black is no longer the “inner sound of nothingness” but rather a fair background to allow his thoughts to move freely. Composition X was his final major art statement, but it allowed his development to come full circle, uniting his origins with all the wonderful experience of his life. It went beyond the trends of his time as futurism, cubism and all the work of his other contemporaries, showing his passion for expressing his innermost emotions. In his last statement his becomes to the microscopic in nature, the basic shapes of life that hold no singular meaning and yet compose everything around in brilliant color and pattern.

You have to love what he had to offer, an unmatched talent. Today you will find many young artists creating some fabulous canvas art, hopefully they will go down in history as great artists as well.

Listen to the Loudest Composition - Wassily Kandinsky

Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky is the most complex of a series of ten paintings produced by the artist in the 1930s. Kandinsky’s years of art and personal education was the fuel for these series. He felt that the artist moves the world forward, testifying to reality and few today and helping the masses move forward with recognition later. The name Composition VII was meant to mimic the musical definition of the word- a deliberate piece in contrast to his earlier improvisations. Over the last few decades, Kandinsky had abandoned lines in an attempt to communicate with the soul similar to the way music did; he was particularly inspired by the work of Richard Wagner. The painting was considered to be Wassily Kandinsky’s most complex work- taking four solid days of painting to finish after creating over thirty drawings, watercolors and oil paintings in preparation for the piece. This was particularly noteworthy as this abstract art piece was produced during World War I when the shortage of even basic necessities made paintings a pure luxury.

Kandinsky’s abstract art series was focused on the idea of creation and distraction. In the center, a circular structure is seen- a form Kandinsky often referred to as being the most like a soul. Around this piece, swirls colors range from black (closure) to gold (new beginnings). The rhythm of the painting is certainly chaotic. Without much repetition in shape or color, the mind has to swirl around the painting hoping to find something to rest on. There are minor notes of rest; dark colors placed next to each other that create small islands of harmony but they are buffeted by opposing colors lapping. Orange clashes with green and the mixes of color are not even complete. The purples for examples are more in the style of pointillism- loose mixtures whose gradient is disturbing to us. But even the chaos is not consistent- they would allow us to rest. There is just enough repetition to prevent the painting from becoming pure chaos- an odd form of consistent order in its own way.

It’s not a simple piece. We cannot easily dissect it as a picture of an apple or human. Without something easily recognizable, it leaves us to only emotions to understand the piece. To me I will always see the birthing pains of creation. The rapid rise of attempted life that dies out just as instantly as it was born. But at the center is something stable- something unique. And although new, it stands in the center of creation, and it will survive. To me, it gives hope that chaos will find an order and that something will remain living in this order rather than cold, sterile order.

Wassily Kandinsky - Composition to the Founder

The Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky, is credited with creating the first abstract works. Kandinsky is unusual among artists as his painting studies began in his thirties after a life of studying law and economics. His entire life as an artist faced severe opposition from communism’s less than pleasant opinions on art, Nazis closing down the school he taught in, and working as an artist during the rationing of World War One. He spent his last years as a French citizen in Paris where he was able to create some of his most prominent art.

Wassily Kandinsky went through six different artistic periods. His youth’s paintings were inspired by regional folklore and his childhood love of colors and theorizing on the symbolism behind them. His earlier works were influenced by the impressionistic style of Monet and often featured broad brush strokes. He was particularly struck by Monet’s haystacks and the fact that the color had taken life beyond the subject, which was almost an afterthought.

After this, he turned down a promising law career and entered art school. He enjoyed the time greatly, considering the period to be one of the easiest in his life. He followed Monet’s example capturing landscapes in wide swaths of bright color. Fauvism had become apparent in these early works. The few examples of humans in his paintings rarely had a hint of the standard skin tone. Humans were mostly absent from his work during this time or when present became almost unimportant details.

After the creation of Blue Rider, a mostly unimportant piece in skill but rather of the direction Wassily Kandinsky would take, his paintings began to move away from lines. It was at this period he started to use musical terms to identify his works, seeking to express his art to the feelings of the soul. He began writing during this time, defending the tenants of abstract painting; he quickly found an audience in the English speaking world for both his written and painted works.

When he returned to Russia, he was able to paint little. During these years, he found the love of his life and experienced harsh rejection in his homeland. Wassily Kandinsky finally decided to leave Russia for Germany due to an invitation to come to the Bauhaus to teach. Here he was able to express his views to students and host workshops to augment his color theory. Geometrical elements began to flourish in his work during this time. This era was highly productive for him until the smearing from the Nazi party and the scariness of the World War ultimately prompted him to leave Germany for Paris.

In the last ten years of his life, Wassily Kandinsky created from his apartment. His geometric shapes eased into softer biomorphic forms, and he returned to the color palette from Slavic art. He also began to experiment with texture- using sand to give a rustic feeling to his paintings. During this time, he merged the thoughts of his earlier periods to create layered works that appealed to the observer’s soul.

Some of Wassily Kindinsky's Most Famous Paintings

 

Composition X was completed in Paris, France 1939

 

Painted in Alten, Germany 1925

Painted in Munich, Germany 1913

Riding the Sound of a Painting - Improvisation 28 by Wassily Kandinsky

It should be no surprised that pieces of art created in a short period of time will always fall back on the standard style and themes that the artist holds internally. Wassily Kandinsky always eluded to his respect of music by naming many of his paintings after the subject. His famous Composition line holds less than a dozen pieces in it, probably due to the fact that each piece in the line required hours of study and days to complete. In contrast, Kandinsky has dozens of Improvisations that were of a more personal, spiritual nature. In his writings, he admitted to a preference for the Revelation of Saint John when working on these pieces.

Improvisation 28 is one of the later ones that occurred while the pioneering artist was still in the border of Germany. It is shallower than his later works, in that the meaning can be more easily garnered by a few moments of looking rather than days of soul searching. One of the biggest notes in the painting is of course the humans present throughout it riding something. In his earlier works, he drew people on horseback something that was common in his native land’s stories. In this abstract painting, the riders are shown to progress in a story from the left side of the canvas to the right. On the left, we see mountains and an environment that is rife with chaos. Depressive colors and wiggling lines showed a world without order that the rider moves forward through symbols of great pain. Their boat sails- perhaps riding on a great deluge- past wriggling serpents and cannons.

But the abstract painting also offers a resolution. From the harsh waves of the left, we are brought to a state of rest. Houses are built upon a hill, and a figure sleeps peacefully on the bottom right corner. Lines become solider, less broken and the colors warmer. The couple that rode the waves now embrace under the warm red sun, and it seems they have lit candles - maybe in celebration or as a way to guide others to their place of rest. Although only one couple is shown journeying, the house they come to is bordered by another complete one and on in progress, suggesting that others will join them. 

Exceptional fine art like this painting from Kandinsky is obviously only attainable for a handful of privileged, however, today, the average consumer is able to obtain fabulous canvas art in many art galleries and online venues thanks to emerging and talented artists, that may one day become as famous as Kandinsky.