Vasily Kandinsky
“Must we not then renounce the object altogether, throw it to the winds and instead lay bare the purely abstract?” Vasily Kandinsky posed this question in December 1911, in Concerning the Spiritual in Art, a text that laid out his argument for abstraction.1 That same month, he seemed to answer his own question, making a radically new picture type, Komposition V. Both his text and his painting established Kandinsky as a central actor in the move toward abstraction that was playing out across a network of artists, poets, and musicians in the years immediately preceding World War I.
An earlier painting from 1909, Picture with an Archer, suggested the direction Kandinsky was taking his work. In this landscape, certain forms remain discernable, such as the archer astride a horse and drawing his bow, two men in Russian dress, a collection of houses, and a central tower. But the painting’s color thrums with vibrancy, forming a patchwork of rich, non-naturalistic hues that nearly consumes the canvas. Soon, in works like Study for Painting with White Form and Improvisation, the artist would liberate line from its traditionally descriptive function. No longer used to bound form, it became purely expressive.
Kandinsky believed that the most advanced art would awaken “emotions that we cannot put into words.”2 For him, abstraction provided a vehicle for direct expression, circumventing language. He believed that color and form possessed their own affective power, acting on the viewer independently of images and objects. "Color is a means of exerting direct influence upon the soul,” he wrote in Concerning the Spiritual in Art. “Color is a keyboard. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano, with its many strings.”3
Throughout his career, music remained an important touchstone for Kandinsky. One of his first proto-abstract canvases had been inspired, he said, by a concert of Arnold Schoenberg’s atonal work in 1911. In late 1912 or 1913, he produced a volume of poetry known as Klänge (Sounds), in which he paired semi-abstract woodcuts with 38 prose poems. “I wanted to create nothing but sounds,” he declared.4
Compelled to leave Munich immediately after the outbreak of World War I, in August 1914, Kandinsky returned to his native Russia. There, he served as the first director of the Museums of Painterly Culture, working to establish a network of regional museums, in 1919. One year later, he became the first director of INKhUk (the Institute of Artistic Culture) in Moscow, a state-funded interdisciplinary research center for the study of culture. In 1922, he returned to Germany to join the faculty of the Bauhaus, an avant-garde art and design school based in Weimar and, later, Dessau. He remained at the Bauhaus until the Nazis shuttered it in 1933, prompting him to relocate one final time, to France.
Kandinsky made color theory an important part of the Bauhaus curriculum, and his preoccupation with primary form (basic geometric shapes including the triangle, circle, and square) and primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) influenced a new generation of artists, among them Herbert Bayer and Sonia Delaunay-Terk. During this time, his abstractions became increasingly hard-edged, as in Orange, with the circle emerging as his favored form—“a precise but inexhaustible variable,” he said, that “points most clearly to the fourth dimension.”5 In this, Kandinsky remained steadfast in his belief in the power of color and form to supplant language and to open our perception to a transcendent plane.
Natalie Dupêcher, independent scholar, 2018
Vasily Kandinsky, On the Spiritual in Art (1911), translated in Kandinsky: Complete Writings on Art, vol. 1 (1901–1921), ed. Kenneth C. Lindsay and Peter Vergo (Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1982), 169.
Kandinsky, quoted in Ralph Jentsch, Illustrierte Bücher des deutschen Expressionismus, exh. cat., Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum, Berlin (Stuttgart: Edition Cantz, 1989), pp. 60–61.
Vasily Kandinsky to Will Grohmann, October 12, 1930; quoted in Will Grohmann, Wassily Kandinsky: Life and Work (London: Thames and Hudson, 1959), 188.
- Introduction
- Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; Russian: Василий Васильевич Кандинский, tr. Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, IPA: [vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj]; 16 December [O.S. 4 December] 1866 – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as the pioneer of abstract art. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa (today Ukraine), where he graduated at Grekov Odessa Art school. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics. Successful in his profession—he was offered a professorship (chair of Roman Law) at the University of Dorpat (today Tartu, Estonia)—Kandinsky began painting studies (life-drawing, sketching and anatomy) at the age of 30. In 1896, Kandinsky settled in Munich, studying first at Anton Ažbe's private school and then at the Academy of Fine Arts. He returned to Moscow in 1914, after the outbreak of World War I. Following the Russian Revolution, Kandinsky "became an insider in the cultural administration of Anatoly Lunacharsky" and helped establish the Museum of the Culture of Painting. However, by then "his spiritual outlook... was foreign to the argumentative materialism of Soviet society", and opportunities beckoned in Germany, to which he returned in 1920. There he taught at the Bauhaus school of art and architecture from 1922 until the Nazis closed it in 1933. He then moved to France, where he lived for the rest of his life, becoming a French citizen in 1939 and producing some of his most prominent art. He died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1944.
- Wikidata
- Q61064
- Introduction
- Kandinsky was raised and educated in Moscow, but left for Munich in 1896 to attend art school. There he was exposed to the paintings of the French Impressionists and the music of Wagner, which inspired him. In Germany, he was active in the foundation of several different art schools and artists' groups, most notably "Der Blaue Reiter." His theoretical texts were also published internationally. In 1914, he returned to Moscow, where he collaborated with Malevich and Tatlin. In 1922, he began teaching painting at the Bauhaus in Weimar, while continuing to paint and publish treatises on painting. Kandinsky became a naturalized German citizen in 1928, and later a French citizen. Russian artist. Comment on works: Abstract
- Nationalities
- Russian, French, German
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Author, Engraver, Teacher, Decorative Artist, Painter, Theorist
- Names
- Vassily Kandinsky, Vasilii Vasilevich Kandinskii, Vasilij Vasil'evic Kandinskij, Vasily Kandinsky, Vasilij Kandinskij, Vasilij Kandinski, Wassili Kandinsky, Wassily Wassiljewitsch Kandinsky, Wahsili Kang-ting-ssu-chi, Vasili Vasilevich Kandinsky, Wassily Kandinsky, Vasily. Kandinsky, Vasily Vasil'yevich Kandinsky, Vasilĭi Vasilʹevich Kandinskĭi, Kandinsky, Wa-hsi-li Kʻang-ting-ssu-chi, Kʻang-ting-ssu-chi, Vasilij Vasil'evič Kandinskij, Basile W. Kandinsky, w. kandinsky
- Ulan
- 500021093
Exhibitions
-
513: Design for Modern Life
Ongoing
MoMA
Collection gallery
-
504: New Expression in Germany and Austria
Ongoing
MoMA
Collection gallery
-
A Revolutionary Impulse: The Rise of the Russian Avant-Garde
Dec 3, 2016–Mar 12, 2017
MoMA
-
Inventing Abstraction, 1910–1925
Dec 23, 2012–Apr 15, 2013
MoMA
-
German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse
Mar 27–Jul 11, 2011
MoMA
-
Vasily Kandinsky has
116 exhibitionsonline.
-
Vasily Kandinsky Watercolor No. 14 (Aquarell No. 14) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Two Riders Before Red (Zwei Reiter vor Rot) (plate, folio 4) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Hills" (Vignette bei "Hügel") (headpiece, folio 5) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Composition II (Komposition II) (plate, folio 7) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Improvisation 24 (headpiece, folio 8) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Lyrical (Lyrisches) (plate, folio 9) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Bassoon" (Vignette bei "Fagott") (headpiece, folio 10) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Two Women in Moonlit Landscape (Zwei Frauen in Mondlandschaft) (plate, folio 12) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Variation after Improvisation 21 (Variation nach Improvisation 21) (plate, folio 13) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Open" (Vignette bei "Offen") (headpiece, folio 14) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Early Spring" (Vignette bei "Vorfrühling") (headpiece, folio 14, verso) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Cage" (Vignette bei "Käfig") (headpiece, folio 15) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Improvisation 5 (headpiece, folio 15 verso) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Motif from Improvisation 25 (Motiv aus Improvisation 25) (plate, folio 16) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Rider and Child (Reiterin und Kind) (headpiece, folio 17) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Oriental (Orientalisches) (plate, folio 18) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Three Riders in Red, Blue and Black (Drei Reiter in rot, blau und schwarz) (plate, folio 20) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Unchanged" (Vignette bei "Unverändert") (headpiece, folio 21) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Oboe" (Vignette bei "Hoboe") (headpiece, folio 22) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Springtime" (Vignette bei Frühling) (headpiece, folio 22 verso) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "A Thing or Two" (Vignette bei "Einiges") (headpiece, folio 23) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Riding Path (Reiterweg) (plate, folio 24) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Improvisation 20 (headpiece, folio 25) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky White Sound (Weisser Klang) (plate, folio 26) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Still"? (Vignette bei "Doch noch?") (headpiece, folio 27) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Boat Trip (Kahnfahrt) (plate, folio 28) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Sounds" (Vignette bei "Klänge") (headpiece, folio 29) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Improvisation 4 (plate, folio 30) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Improvisation 22, Variation I (Improvisation 22, Variation I) (headpiece, folio 31) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "In Two" (Vignette bei "Der Riss") (headpiece, folio 32 verso) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Black Spot (Schwarzer Fleck) (plate, folio 33) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Different" (Vignette bei "Anders") (headpiece, folio 34) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Mountains (Berge) (plate, folio 35) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Exit" (Vignette bei "Ausgang") (headpiece, folio 36) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Improvisation 7 (plate, folio 37) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "In the Woods" (Vignette bei "Im Wald") (headpiece, folio 38) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Apple Tree (Apfelbaum) (plate, folio 39) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Improvisation 19 (plate, folio 40) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Improvisation I (plate, folio 41) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Improvisation 22, Variation II (headpiece, folio 42) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "White Foam" (Vignette bei "Weisser Schaum") (headpiece, folio 42, verso) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Hill, Tree, Clouds and Figure (Hügel, Baum, Wolken und Figur) (tailpiece, folio 43) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Judgement Day (Jüngster Tag) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Fountain (Springbrunnen) (headpiece, folio 45) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky Vignette next to "Adventure" (Vignette bei "Abenteuer") (headpiece, folio 45 verso) from _Klänge (Sounds) _ (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky All Saints' Day (Allerheiligen) (plate, folio 46) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
-
Vasily Kandinsky The Baptized (Täuflinge) (plate, folio 47) from Klänge (Sounds) (1913)
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
All requests to license audio or video footage produced by MoMA should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills or motion picture footage from films in MoMA’s Film Collection cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For licensing motion picture film footage it is advised to apply directly to the copyright holders. For access to motion picture film stills please contact the Film Study Center. More information is also available about the film collection and the Circulating Film and Video Library.
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication or moma.org, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].