Works by Vassily Kandinsky, 1903-1924
This set is intended to introduce beginning art history students to the work of an influential abstract expressionist. As part of an interactive classroom experience, students can contribute comments and tags to the set pieces.
Kandinsky (1866-1944) was a Russian-born French painter who lived the first part of his life in Moscow, and whose first career was in law. In 1895 he moved to Germany and devoted himself to art. He was associated with the Bauhas group in Weimar, Germany, and founded "Phalanx", an association for avant-garde artists in 1901. He founded the influential "Blue Rider" group of artists in 1911.
Throughout his artistic career, his style evolved from post impressionism to abstract expressionism. The works in this set exhibit his stylistic changes, chronologically. Media include painting, prints, drawings and watercolor. He was also an author and had a great interest in music. The last slide shows a variety of his work, set to classical music.
Artist: Vassily Kandinsky
Date: 1903
Medium: Prints, Print
Size: 12 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. (31.12 x 31.12 cm) (image)
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Accession #: P.353
This piece was painted after the artist founded "Phalanx", and met Gabrielle Munter, who was an art student and who became his companion for many years after Kandinsky's first marraige failed. His work during this period had a romantic quality, and was most likely influenced by Munter's work.
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Artist: Vassily Kandinsky
Date: 1904
Medium: Paintings, Painting
Size: 9 1/2 x 12 3/4 in. (24.1 x 32.4 cm)
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Accession #: 81.106.1
Painted during the same period as the work in the previous slide, this landscape shows the abstracted trend that typified Kandinsky's work in later years. The place depicted is in Munich, where Kandinsky was living when he painted it.
For more information about the Nymphenburg Palace, go to
http://www.nymphenburg.com/us/nymphenburg/schloss-nymphenburg.html
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Artist: Vassily Kandinsky
Date: 1910
Medium: Paintings, Painting
Size: 27 5/8 x 27 1/2 in. (70.2 x 69.9 cm)
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Accession #: 67.34.2
By the time Kandinsky painted the Improvisation series, his concentration on colors and shapes had taken over and the romantic landscapes of former years had disappeared. It was during this time period that many of his most famous works were completed.
to see the Improvisation series, visit
http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/improvisations.php
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Artist: Vassily Kandinsky ; Published by R. Piper and Co. , Munich
Date: 1912
Medium: Books, Book-Artist's Book
Size: 8 1/4 x 7 3/16 x 3/8 in. (20.96 x 18.26 x 0.95 cm)
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Accession #: 2000.14
The year before this book was published, Kandinsky helped to found "Der Blaue Reiter" (Blue Rider), a society concerned with changing the theories of art. It was in this work that he discussed his theories of the connection between art and music, as well as his feelings about the spiritual nature of painting.
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Artist: Vassily Kandinsky ; Text by Vassily Kandinsky ; R. Piper & Co. , Munich ; F. Bruckmann , (woodcuts) ; Poeschel and Trepte , (type)
Date: 1913
Medium: Books, Book-Artist's Book
Size: 11 x 10 3/4 in. (27.94 x 27.31 cm)
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Accession #: B.83.18
This illustration was published just after Kandinsky enjoyed his first one-man show in a gallery in Berlin, and just before his life was overturned by the eruption of World War I. At that time he was no longer welcome in Germany and had to flee to Switzerland. He later returned to Russia.
For more information on the relationship between Kandinsky's work and music, go to http://www.artchive.com/artchive/K/kandinsky.html
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Artist: Vassily Kandinsky ; Propylean Press , Berlin
Date: 1922
Medium: Prints, Print
Size: 10 3/4 x 9 1/4 in. (27.31 x 23.5 cm) (image)14 1/8 x 12 3/8 in. (35.88 x 31.43 cm) (sheet)
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Accession #: P.96.12
By 1922, Kandinsky had married again (this time to a woman 27 years his junior, one who would stay with him the rest of his life) and had moved back to Berlin He taught at the Bauhaus, the college of building and art construction in Germany. It was here that he met Paul Klee, an artist to whom Kandinsky is often compared.
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Artist: Vassily Kandinsky
Date: 1922
Medium: Prints, Print
Size: 13 1/4 x 11 3/8 in. (33.66 x 28.89 cm) (sheet)
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Accession #: P.79.57
This piece, with its apocalyptic overtones, shows Kandinsky's work in it's fully developed abstract style. During the 1920's and 30's, Kandinsky became well known, and was considered a leading figure in abstract art, both for his work and his theories.
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Artist: Wassily Kandinsky
Date: 1924
Medium: Drawings and Watercolors, Gouaches/Watercolors
Size: sheet 13.625 x 8.875 x inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1995.85
Kandinsky's 1920's and 30's are known as the Bauhaus period. Bauhaus was an architectural style focusing on monochromatic colors and the incorporation of plastics. The Bauhas school closed because of political pressure in 1933.
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