Wassily Kandinsky
Image from:http://www.wassily-kandinsky.org/Composition-VIII.jsp
Wassily Kandinsky is a Russian artist and theorist. He was a part of the expressionist movement in the early 1900s. All of his works are known as non-objective abstractions where the subjects and forms are unrecognizable to anything we know in our lives. His artwork only relied on the color and form and their relationships and contradictions. His complete abstraction allowed his art to speak profoundly of his inner experiences. I wanted to share Kandinsky because I do simply find his work aesthetically pleasing. There is great compositional balance in each piece, and I can see the connection to music. Whether your eye dances randomly across the page or you take in each piece systematically there is a sense of movement whether it is abrupt or flowing, a story of feeling is told.
This website goes into detail of what really inspired Kandinsky in his work such as expression of feeling and music. A biography describes Kandinsky’s childhood, when he was first exposed to the expressionist movement, up to his death and how he influenced other abstract artists such and Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.
This article explains the relationship Kandinsky saw between music and painting/color. He drew inspiration from this relationship in every piece of his work. This article also goes into depth about the connection Kandinsky saw between color and the spiritual self. Overall it is emphasized that Kandinsky took a very theoretical approach to painting.
Image from: http://totallyhistory.com/composition-vii/
This website gives some background behind one of Kandinsky’s most famous works, Composition VII. They explained the planning and work behind the painting which gives some insight to Kandinsky’s artistic process. The website explains how to forms and colors have an apocalyptic feel and express the theme of Judgment Day.