Abstract This paper discusses the spiritual foundation for the artistic and spiritual ideology of WassilyKandinsky. It then provides a textual and analytical critique of his paintings and examines his written work, "Concerning the Spiritual in Art,". The paper also discusses the geometric symbolism that would inevitably become part of his own painting process.
From the Paper "The musical foundation for spiritual painting is also revealed by Kandinsky, as he further defines the nature of a higher power through the discourse of time, color, and form. Kandinsky understands this overall or macrocosmic view of painting, which defines the need for an understanding of music to determine the nature of metaphysical properties in his compositions. In Composition VII, the idea of a triangular ascension of form is directly related the movement of the objects in the painting revolving around the central oval shape."
Abstract This paper explains that Vassily Kandinsky's work is often chaotic and formless; however, they are somehow pleasing to the eye as seen in paintings such as "Landscape Near Murnau with Locomotive" (1909), "Black Lines No. 189" (1913) and "Little Pleasures" (1913). The author points out that Kandinsky believed the purpose of painting was to prepare people to think and see in terms of immaterial form rather than perceived objects like apples and nudes. The paper concludes that Vassily Kandinsky, the founder of abstract expressionism, was unique in his successful endeavors to juxtapose color, light, landscape, music, spirituality, nature and other essences of life into his artistic works.
Table of Contents
Introduction and Thesis Statement
Personal Feelings about Kandinsky's work
Biography of Kandinsky Kandinsky's German Expressionism
The Blau Reiter (Blue Rider) Movement
The Influence of Theosophy on Kandinsky Kandinsky's Color Theory
Conclusion
From the Paper "Typically, German Expressionists depicted aspects of real life as they saw it, not just abstraction and spirituality. Also, they painted not so much within a vacuum of pure art but rather to artistically express diverse influences on art and life of nature, spirituality, music, architecture and sculpture. Within that spirit, Kandinsky and Franz Marc co-founded the Blue Rider (Blaue Reiter) movement (1911-14), and along with it, their Blaue Reiter Almanac (1911) and a Blaue Reiter Exhibition (1912), all so-named because of Kandinsky's fondness for two canvases he painted years earlier."
Abstract This paper describes the folk artist that is Vassily Kandinsky; his background, what defines a folk artist, and how Kandinsky progressed from the general art of the 1900s in to a force that changed the way modern art is viewed. Examples of his art are enclosed.
From the Paper "The folk artist of the twentieth-century has been widely viewed as an artist that is not universally popular, accessible, or substantial to the progression of popular art. By the World Artist Dictionary, folk art can be defined as simply na?ve, primitive art that is done by someone who has had no artistic institutionalized training. Generally speaking, folk art is commonly thought of as figurine work, quilted blankets, beads and jewelry art; generally items that are thought of as simple traditional pieces that do not require specialized training. Russian born painter Vasily Kandinsky is an artist who transforms the notion of folk art to something that can be popular and significant. He represents the truest folk artist by his experiences as an ethnographer who traveled to the Vologda region near Siberia, his background in the Ukranian and Russian churches, and by his drive to illustrate traditional Russian lore and values while incorporating them in to the twentieth-century art movement."
Abstract This paper explains why the author believes that artist Vassily Kandinsky, despite being Russian by birth and nationality, deserves to be considered a true German Expressionist.
From the Paper "Kandinsky lived and painted in Munich at a time when German society, and in fact the world, was greatly changing, during the run-up to World War I. Even before that war, German Expressionist painters had endeavored, based on their new theories of painting, which sought to capture within art, elements of real life, as well as abstractness and spirituality , to now paint not so much within a vacuum of pure art, but rather, to instead artistically express (by allowing their essences to flow, from within the artist, onto a canvas) influences derived from nature; music; architecture; sculpture, and from spirituality and philosophy, within their art as well. As Kandinsky's fellow German Expressionist Karl Jakob Hirsch stated: 'This is the beginning! In our hearts we were ready to throw everything away-the old fashioned ideas, the junk!' "
This paper compares the works and aims of abstract artists Frank Stella and Robert Pepperell with those of the founder of abstract art, WassilyKandinsky.
Abstract The paper attempts to illustrate how ideas and conceptions of abstract art have changed and developed since the early years of the twentieth century. The paper compares two modern abstract artists, Frank Stella and Robert Pepperell, with more traditional views of abstract art, such as those of WassilyKandinsky. The paper shows how contemporary abstract artists still adhere to the formal and stylistic tenets of early abstraction but without the idealism that had initiated the abstract art movement.
Outline:
Introduction
Brief Overview of Abstract Art
Modern Abstract Artists: Frank Stella and Robert Pepperell
Conclusion
From the Paper "Abstract art is commonly defined as, "art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non representational way." (NationMaster Encyclopedia: Abstract art). This definition does not deal with all the issues surrounding the meaning and understanding of abstract art and there is a great deal of dissension and argument among critics and art theorists about the nature and meaning of the term 'abstract'. However, the general view is that abstract art is essentially non-representational and non-objective. It is also seen from an artistic viewpoint as an attempt to provide an understanding of the world and reality that cannot be obtained by the methods and techniques of representation."
From the Paper "Wassily Kandinsky's Untitled Improvisation III (1914), a work owned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, was done in oil paint on cardboard. The painting measures approximately 25 by 20 inches. This work is one of a series Kandinsky painted in the first years of his experiments with purely non-objective art. Kandinsky theorized about abstract painting and Untitled Improvisation III can be studied with reference to his theories about color and spirituality in art.
Kandinsky was born in Russia in 1866. He became a lawyer and it was not until he was thirty years old that he gave up a career as a legal scholar to become a painter. In 1896 he moved to Munich to take up his new career and, with trips to Paris, became familiar with the current trends in painting. In 1907 he exhibited with the early German expressionist group Die Brucke (The Bridge). Sometime between 1910 and 1912 he painted his first non-objective work--a watercolor."
From the Paper "There is some controversy over who made the first non-objective painting and Vasily Kandinsky is sometimes given credit for the accomplishment. Though this is certainly not true it does seem fitting since Kandinsky certainly was the first artist to make non-objectivity "the very foundation of his pictorial imagery." Kandinsky also wrote extensively on the theory of abstract painting. His best known treatise, On the Spiritual in Art, became one of the most influential theoretical works of the twentieth century. Generations of abstract painters absorbed his belief in "inner necessity as the only source of art." Although Kandinsky had an enormous influence on the course of painting and was himself a great painter, it still remains difficult to reconcile his theoretical writings with the work he produced. There are two problems in applying the ideas to the.."
Abstract This paper explains that Claude Monet's "Water Lily" paintings represent plein-air painting, meaning they were painted outside the confines of the studio, which relates directly to the Impressionistic mode of thinking about art. The author points out that Claude Monet emphasized the visual experience of the sensuously immediate, producing a new kind of art from an unacknowledged, yet most commonplace, kind of visual experience called "the glance". The paper relates that these later Monet paintings are akin to the Abstract Expressionism of Jackson Pollack and Abstractionists like Kandinsky because, in essence, the later water lily paintings are abstract in their concentration on flow, color texture, and movement.
Table of Contents
Monet and Impressionism
Giverney and the Water Lilies
"Water Lilies"
Importance
Figure 1: "Water Lilies" ("The Clouds")
Figure2: "Water Lilies" (1906)
Figure 3: "Waterlilies, Green Reflection, Left Part" (1916-1923)
Figure 4: "Water Lilies" (1907)
Figure 5: Bridge at Giverney. "Le Bassin aux Nympheas"
From the Paper "In art historical terms Monet was the heir to a departure in style and content in 19th Century painting and was one of the instigators of the new school of French landscape painting. Monet's earlier work signals a break from the past conflict in art between line and color as the dominant aspects of painting. He also began his painting career in an atmosphere which no longer felt bound to paint from a religious and mythological basis - which had previously been seen as essential elements of artistic creation. This meant that the artist felt free to explore new and more expressive methods of artistic creation and "they no longer troubled themselves about composing pictures based on geometric principles. They continued to compose, of course, but they chose their patterns with an eye to pictorial rhythm, and were thereby led to seek out new rhythms."
Abstract In this paper, an analysis of the characteristics that are associated with the art movement known as expressionism is provided. The paper explains that Expressionism is an outgrowth of Impressionism. The author examines the values of pictorial design and artist's and spectator's emotional response to the work of art.
From the Paper "When a group of artists, whether they be writers, filmmakers or painters, write, make films or paint in a common manner and focus on the same themes, it is generally referred to as an art movement. Expressionism is such an art movement, one that is characterized whether it is in literature, cinema or painting by the distortion of reality to achieve a heightened emotional impact. As Dellolio explains, a central focus of expressionism is clearly the attempt to express emotional states through a distortion or deformation of..."
