Vassily Kandinsky
Born – Moscow, Russia 1866
Died – Paris, France 1944
Vassily Kandinsky is generally considered to be the pioneer of abstract painting. Much affected by an exhibition in Moscow of French Impressionists, he abandoned his legal career and went to Munich to study art. His early work showed a number of influences, including features of Art Nouveau, Russian folk art and the Fauves. Kandinsky was the driving force behind the formation of the Blaue Reiter group in 1912. With fellow-artists Marc and Macke, this influential group’s primary commitment was to the intuitive and primitive qualities of painting, as well as to the symbolic importance of colour and line. Kandinsky began to make his first pure abstract works in 1910. Improvisation 26 is from a series of paintings that took landscape as their starting point. Through a fluid blend of calligraphic lines and amorphous shapes, the artist expresses a sense of growing detachment from nature. The emphasis is on mood and harmony and reveals Kandinsky’s fascination with the relationship between colour and music. Kandinsky taught at the Bauhaus from 1921-1933, when he left Germany for France. He was one of the most influential artists of his generation and an important art theorist.
Masterpieces:
- Landscape with Church
- Composition VIII No 260
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About vassily kandinsky
Sky Blue (An Art Play Book Series)
Max-Henri Delarminat
Buy on Amazon
Vassily Kandinsky: Retrospective
Jean-Louis Prat
Buy on Amazon
Vassily Kandinsky
Buy on Amazon