Vasily Kandinsky: His Life, Philosophy, and Art

Vasily (Wassily) Kandinsky (1866-1944) was a Russian painter, teacher, and art theorist who was one of the first artists to explore nonrepresentational art and, in 1910, created the first totally abstract work in modern art, a watercolor entitled Composition I or Abstraction. He is known as the originator of abstract art and the father of abstract expressionism.

As a child in an upper class family in Moscow, Kandinsky displayed a gift for the arts and music, and was given private lessons in drawing, cello, and piano. However he ended up pursuing the study of law and economics at the University of Moscow and lectured there before devoting himself fully to art at the age of thirty when he enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany. which he attended from 1896-1900.

Theorist and Teacher

Painting was a spiritual activity for Kandinsky. In 1912 he published the book, Concerning the Spiritual in Art. He believed that art should not be merely representational but should strive to express spirituality and the depth of human emotion through abstraction, much like music does. He created a series of ten paintings titled Composition that allude to the relationship between painting and music.

In his book, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky writes, “Color directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposively, to cause vibrations in the soul.”

Stages of Artistic Development

Kandinsky’s early paintings were representational and naturalistic, but his work changed after being exposed to the Post-Impressionists and Fauves in 1909 after a trip to Paris. They became more colorful and less representational, leading to his first totally abstract piece, Composition I, a colorful painting destroyed during World War II, known now only through a black and white photograph.

In 1911 Kandinsky formed, along with Franz Marc and other German expressionists, The Blue Rider group. During this time he created both abstract and figurative works, using organic, curvilinear shapes and curvy lines. Although the work of the artists in the group was different from one another, they all believed in the spirituality of art and the symbolic connection between sound and color. The group disbanded in 1914 due to World War I but had a profound influence on German Expressionism. It was during this period, in 1912, that Kandinsky wrote Concerning the Spiritual in Art.

Following World War I, Kandinsky’s paintings became more geometric. He started used circles, straight lines, measured arcs, and other geometric shapes to create his art. The paintings are not static, though, for the forms do not sit on a flat plane, but seem to recede and advance in boundless space.

Kandinsky thought that a painting should have the same emotional impact on the viewer as does a piece of music. In his abstract work Kandinsky invented a language of abstract form to replace the forms of nature. He used color, shape, and line to evoke feeling and resonate with the human soul. 

Following are examples of Kandinsky’s paintings in chronological sequence.

Sources

Kandinsky Gallery, Guggenheim Museum, https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/kandinsky-gallery

Kandinsky: The Path to Abstraction, The Tate, ​http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/kandinsky-path-abstraction

Wassily Kandinsky: Russian Painter, The Art Story, http://www.theartstory.org/artist-kandinsky-wassily.htm#influences_header​

Updated by Lisa Marder 11/12/17