Wassily Kandinsky and his many styles

Wassily Kandinsky is the artist responsible for painting the first strictly abstract works. Born in Moscow on December 16, 1866, Kandinsky grew up in Odessa before enrolling at Moscow University. He chose to study economics and law and was very successful in these fields. He was even offered a professorship at Dorpat University, but he started painting when he turned 30.

Anatomy, drawing from life and sketch were his three pictorial studies. When he began to paint, he chose to move to Munich, where he studied at Anton Azbe’s private school before moving on to the Academy of Fine Arts. He returned to Moscow in 1914. Wassily Kandinsky was not happy with the official theories of art in Moscow, so he decided to return to Germany in 1921, where he taught art and architecture. When the Bauhaus art school closed in 1933, Kandinsky emigrated to France and became a citizen in 1939. He lived there until his death five years later.

Wassily Kandinsky always loved art. In later years, he would remember being stimulated and fascinated by color as a child. This love of color psychology and symbolism continued as he grew up and studied the folk art of the region. These influences are manifested in his early work. He was also influenced by the works of Richard Wagner and HP Blavatsky. Blavatsky was a proponent of theosophy who believed that creation is a geometric progression. This is seen by a descending series of triangles, circles, and squares. Additionally, he was visually influenced by John Varley and his illustrations.

In Kandinsky’s early works, elements of Pointillism and Fauvism will also be seen. He uses a flat, luminescent surface for depth of field and color as an expression of subject matter rather than objective nature. Most of these paintings featured towns and landscapes rather than human figures. The most notable exceptions were Riding Couple and Sunday, Old Russia. Intentional disjunction, seen in The Blue Rider, also delineates Kandinsky’s early works. Here the viewer participates in the creation of the work of art. This style was a precursor to his later works.

Wassily Kandinsky then moved on to the use of geometric figures in his works. This is unlike the Suprematism and Constructivism movements that were popular at the time. When he moved to Paris, he was even more isolated from the art world in general. He continued to paint abstracts while others focused on cubism and impressionism. In his last years, he combined elements seen in his previous works. His last two major works used this technique and were simply called Composition IX and Composition X. With so many techniques used during his lifetime, you may love some pieces and dislike others. It’s all in the eye of the beholder.