Wassily Kandinsky Essay

Judging a Pioneer
Wassily Kandinsky was a pioneer who set the standard for the artistic expression of abstract painting. A Russian born visionary who sought to unveil the spiritual realm of creative ability. He believed the art of painting to be loftier than the technical and mechanical abilities employed to replicate an object and thought it was to be interpreted, not by perceiving the obvious alone, but by deciphering the underlying message being communicated by the artist. An aesthetic medium influenced by the current world events surrounding the artist as well as by a personal belief system. Bond (1999) states, “Kandinsky believed that abstraction was the pictorial language of the future, that it communicated truths about the human spirit

Cardboard was used because art supplies were scarce in German occupied Paris where he now resided. Even at the age of seventy-eight, he was not afraid to venture from his prior techniques. Never hesitant to move out of his comfort zone, this work appears different from previous ones in color and composition. At first glance the objects depicted have the appearance of microscopic organisms, things not comprehended by the naked eye. Upon further examination, inside one of the “organisms” materializes a horse and rider (a subject in several other paintings) and the object in the upper left hand corner, looking almost spider-like, now emerges angelic in form. The colors utilized are not as bright and the sharp geometric patterns are replaced with more rounded, curved objects. Perhaps this is a reflection of disillusionment brought about by the atrocities of war he had witnessed. Where the future of the world had once appeared hopeful and optimistic it now seemed catapulted into hopelessness and despair. Or, as some have theorized, maybe it was symptomatic of his impending death. If this is true, can the “angel” be visualized as the approaching angel of death? The horse and rider possibly symbolic of death’s haste to abduct its intended victim? Once again, as Kandinsky intended, the subject is open to personal