Who is Wassily Kandinsky?

If you’re a fan of the famous Impressionist painter then you probably know that his last name is Kandinsky. But if you don’t recognize the artist by his first name, you might recognize him as the guy who painted the curved-shape squares and various colored circles. If not, maybe you recognize him as the Russian painter who was “an early pioneer of abstract art.” Or perhaps you recognize him as a major influence on Piet Mondrian and Marc Chagall both considered some of the more noted 20th century abstract artists.
He was a Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics. He returned to Moscow in 1896 and began his career as a painter. Kandinsky was one of the first artists to explore and use forms of abstraction, believing that the visual arts should be purely self-referential. Around 1913, he became involved in the avant-garde Suprematist movement, composed of like-minded artists such as Malevich and Lissitzky. Kandinsky settled in Germany in 1914. He conducted an affair with German poet Gabriele Münter while living there before marrying her in 1921. The same year, he set up the "New Artists' Association" with a group of like-minded painters including Franz Marc and August Macke. In 1925, he published his essay "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" which is considered to be one of the most important texts on modern art theory. It helped to establish painting as a form of art that could express spiritual themes from a personal viewpoint rather than simply copying reality through objective representation."

The History of Wassily Kandinsky Art Movement

A story about a German painter who was a representative of a Russian art movement called “Suprematist art” which involved the concentration on painting new, free from all conventions and traditions. Kandinsky was born in Moscow, the son of a Russian pianist and composer, and studied at Moscow University. He received his first piano lessons from his father at the age of seven. On Kandinsky's 13th birthday, his father gave him his first serious painting lessons. Early in his life, Kandinsky showed an interest in and talent for art and music and was a professional cellist and painter before he even graduated from Moscow University. The young artist's talent attracted the attention of many people who had connections with the Russian royal family. The most important was Nikolai Rerikh, a mystic whose philosophy was based on "the law of the soul." This philosophy involved balancing one's spiritual energy to achieve a higher state of being. Rerikh introduced Kandinsky to important art collectors such as Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, who were also interested in spiritual values as well as new art forms that were emerging at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Secret Love of Wassily Kandinsky

The Secret Love of Wassily Kandinsky is a stunningly simple yet surprisingly original set of puzzles that unleash the creativity of players. It allows them to immerse themselves in the life and mind of an artistic genius whose revolutionary vision was decades ahead of his time. The Secret Love of Kandinsky is a game that revolves around the life and work of Russian painter, designer, and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky. The game depicts his life in two separate timelines. The first one takes place between 1866 and 1910, when Kandinsky had to deal with difficult living conditions, the lack of recognition for his works, and the inability to find an appropriate artistic style. The second timeline portrays his private life after moving to Germany in 1911, where he finally gained recognition as an artist. This innovative game doesn't require any skills or knowledge of art; all it requires is an open mind and imagination. It encourages players to solve puzzles using their own creativity rather than their logical thinking skills. The game features over 25 unique mini games that can be solved in any order. Each game helps players get closer to understanding Kandinsky's private world. As the story unfolds, players get to know more about his hidden thoughts and feelings by deciphering codes or completing riddles. The developers' goal was not only to make the gameplay entertaining but also educational, so they included various documents (diaries, love letters) that shed light on Kandinsky's life circumstances in different periods of his life.

Wassily Kandinsky's Abstract Art

Technically speaking, Wassily Kandinsky can lay claim to be not only a leading painter of the 20th Century but a pioneer of abstract art. Kandinsky's work has always been about color and composition. His combination of the two is what makes it completely original, and this originality will forever be tied to its time period. Abstract art is a type of art that does not represent anything. In other words, the work is non-objective, or nonrepresentational. Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color, and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. A major proponent of abstract art was Wassily Kandinsky. He theorized as early as 1912 that pure abstraction had "richer emotional content" than figurative painting. In his article "On the Spiritual in Art" (1912) he said that the "pure abstraction conveys a certain emotion much more strongly… it is more spiritual". Kandinsky is an artist who created abstract work, which was not widely recognized at the time. His work was considered to be crazy, but today his paintings are worth millions of dollars. Kandinsky's work is still used in art classes all over the world. His work has influenced many artists in the modern era. Abstract art is used by people all over the world today in their homes, offices, etc. Abstract art is used in furniture design, architecture, fabric designs, etc. Many companies have started using abstract artwork in their logos because it's trendy and appealing to the eye.

What were the events occurring around Kandinsky's time?

Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian-born painter and one of the pioneers of abstract art. Often credited with being the founder of abstract painting, he also created one of the first purely abstract pieces of music, a piece called Improvisation 27.  The question “What were the events occurring around Kandinsky’s time?” cannot be answered in one simple sentence, but it is my intention to shed light on the artist’s surroundings, thoughts and work that led to his creations. Kandinsky was a pioneer of abstract art, a movement that began in the early 20th century. It was a time of great change and conflict. The world was moving from an agricultural to an industrial economy, and people were becoming more disconnected from their work. Mass production made the same products available to everyone, and serialized novels and movies created a culture of mass entertainment. In 1909 Kandinsky founded the Neue Künstlervereinigung München group with Franz Marc. The organization was dedicated to opposing what it saw as conservative forces in the fine arts establishment. In 1910 they organized the first Der Blaue Reiter exhibition in Munich featuring works by Kandinsky, Marc, Paul Klee, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin and others. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 had a devastating effect on the European cultural scene. Kandinsky himself served in the Russian army before taking charge of an orphanage in 1916. After the war he taught at the Bauhaus school in Weimar under Walter Gropius . Kandinsky's paintings from this period are less abstract than his earlier work; many include figurative elements, such as portraits of his students at the Bauhaus.

Why Kandinsky is an inspirational figure

Kandinsky is an inspirational figure for artists who live to paint. Accepting his fate as a painter, he dedicated his life to the art of painting. Though regarded as one of the most significant influences of abstract art, Kandinsky was also deeply troubled by the violence surrounding him in Europe. He sought to create a self-sufficient plane upon which art could exist, free from the distractions plaguing society outside. Kandinsky's life and work deeply inspire me and many others. He was a man who strived to create art that he felt in his heart to be the most beautiful and expressive that anyone could imagine, and he spent his life trying to accomplish this goal. Kandinsky's art is identifiable by the visual qualities that are so unique to him: his brilliant use of color, the ways in which he used line to create texture and depth, his ability to capture energy and emotion within a single image, and his fluid forms. I find Kandinsky's paintings to be the most inspiring of all 20th century artists, and they have helped me through many difficult times. His work has taught me about the importance of balance, harmony, beauty, and self-expression through art. Kandinsky developed a style that was uniquely his own even though it is impossible to point out exactly what makes one image different from another. Through my own art I hope to capture some of what made Kandinsky so special."

Exhibitions of Wassily Kandinsky's works

Wassily Kandinsky's work is characterized by the extensive use of pure color and a Symbolist repertoire of emblematic shapes and forms. Related to both Abstraction and Expressionism, his later works were notoriously anti-figurative in nature.
Wassily Kandinsky's work is characterized by the extensive use of pure color and a Symbolist repertoire of emblematic shapes and forms. Related to both Abstraction and Expressionism, his later works were notoriously anti-figurative in nature. Kandinsky's first solo exhibition was held at the Galerie Der Sturm, Berlin, in 1903. Kandinsky participated in several group exhibitions before World War I. His first solo show in Paris was at Léonce Rosenberg's Galerie de L'Effort Moderne in 1912, followed by solo exhibitions at the Galerie Der Sturm (1913) and Walter Gropius' Bauhaus (1922). The first retrospective exhibition of his work took place at the Kunsthalle Mannheim in 1928. The following year his first one-man show in America opened at the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. It travelled to four other American cities over the next year. Kandinsky's first retrospective exhibition in Europe took place at the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1938. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum organized a retrospective of his paintings and drawings in 1943. A great many other museums throughout the world have also hosted retrospectives of his art.

Oil painting reproduction Wassily Kandinsky