Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky (Vah-see-lee Can-din-skee) was born in Moscow, Russia in 1866. He is known as one of the first truly Abstract Artists. Both of Wassily's parents were very musical, and they encouraged him to learn how to play the Piano.
When Wassily grew up he moved to Germany and studied Law and Economics, but his heart was always with Art. He taught Art while in Germany, but finally decided to move to France, where he spent the rest of his life Painting.
Early Artworks
Kandinsky's early paintings were inspired by the French Artist Claude Monet. When Wassily first saw Monet's "FUZZY" style of painting, he didn't like it much at all, but soon he started to paint with "Splotches and Colors" . . just like Monet did.
"Munich-Schwabing with the Church of St. Ursula" - 1908
Kandinsky found that he was born to paint, so he stopped everything else he was doing and devoted all of his time to his Art. He soon came up with his own "Style" (the way he made his Art), which other Artists noticed and started to copy. They called themselves the "Blue Rider Group".
"The Blue Rider "- 1903
Wassily Kandinsky started to combine his love of music and art. He began painting ABSTRACT lines, shapes, and colors like no artist had ever made before. Notice how the PAINTINGS above are different than the ones below.
"Improvisation No. 29 Swan" - 1912
"Composition IV" - 1911
"Black and White" - 1923
"Heavy Red" - 1924
Kandinsky thought is was important for Artists to "Paint what they Feel". Try to IMAGINE what kind of music Wassily was listening to when he created these Artworks.
"Vibrante" - 1928
"Composition X" - 1939
"Contrasting Sound" - 1925
"Compostion 8" - 1923
ART IDEA #1
This painting by Wassily Kandinsky - "Compostion 7" - is the most COMPLEX one he ever painted. Look closely . . can you feel the sounds he was painting? With MUSIC playing, see if you can CREATE an Artwork that FEELS like what you hear!
ART IDEA #2
This picture shows Kandinsky's "Yellow, Red, Blue" painting. Find a CANVAS or HEAVY PAPER, grab a BRUSH and get ready to PAINT an ABSTRACT ARTWORK! Remember - use Lines, Colors, Shapes and FEELINGS . . but try to create NOTHING that we know when we see it.
ART IDEA #3
In this painting - "Squares with Concentric Circles" - Kandinsky was playing around with COLORS, trying to better understand how they worked (or didn't work) together. Find a paper, and CREATE a COLOR STUDY like Wassily did. It might lead you to your next Artwork.
