Artist: Vasily Kandinsky

Vasily Kandinsky wrote in his book titled Concerning the Spiritual in Art the following: "The harmony of color and form must be based solely upon the principle of the proper contact with the human soul." Kandinsky was an artist who combined intellect, passion, mysticism, and scientific thought to revolutionize art. He was one of the first, if not the very first, artist to break through the representational barrier and move painting into the abstract.

Kandinsky was born in Moscow and studied law and economics at the University of Moscow. After several visits to Paris and seeing an exhibition of French painting in Moscow, Kandinsky turned down a professorship of law and began to pursue the study of art. He moved to Munich which in the 1890's had begun to be one of the most experimental art centers in the world. A brilliant man, he rose to be influential in the city's art community. In 1901 he started the art association Phalanx and opened his own art school. By 1904 he was showing his work in the Paris Salon which was the most influential place that an artist's work could be exhibited. In 1909 Kandinsky rebelled against the established art movements in Munich and formed the Neue Kunstler Vereinigung which also included Franz Marc. In the NKV's second exhibition it had enough weight that it showed the works of such artistic luminaries as Braque, Roualt, Derain, and Picasso.



Kandinsky's moment of inspiration that began his exploration of nonobjective or abstract art that does not take its form from the observed world came when he walked into his studio one day and could not make out any of the subjects in one of his paintings. He then realized that the painting was on its side. Kandinsky left NKV and Franz Marc accompanied him to start Der Blaue Reiter. Der Blaue Reiter was even more influential that NKV and had exhibitions that included not only Kandinsky and Marc, but also August Macke, Munter, Rousseau, Delauney, and Paul Klee.



The work of Kandinsky has influenced many subsequent artists such as Joan Miro and Jackson Pollack. He explored connections between art and music. Because of his desire to disassociate his work from the observed world and to connect the images to the senses, Kandinsky named his paintings names that were derived from music such as "Composition," "Improvisation," and "Impression." He did whole series of painting that were titled with these titles and numbered. Kandinsky's artistic compositions often revolved around conflict and renewal. Conflict and renewal were also expressed in his constant exploration of artistic ideals, formation of new movements, and pushing art forward into a modern era that he was one of the architects of. Kandinsky was a revolutionary artist who made people think beyond the ordinary into the extraordinary.