Wassily Kandinsky Research Paper

When we think of abstract artists, well-known Western artists such as Pablo Picasso, known for his odd cubism works, or Jackson Pollock, who became famous for his unique drip paintings, probably come into mind more easily. Is there anyone else known for his or her pure abstract artworks that you know? Do you even know who the pioneer of abstract work is said to be? Then I think you should turn your attention to Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, who is not as known to us as the other famous artists, yet he contributed a lot to what became today's definition of abstract artwork. With his uses of forms, shapes, music, the senses, and the colors, Wassily Kandinsky was a major pioneer, and to some the pioneer, of abstract artwork through paintings. …show more content…
Expressionism is described as “a movement in the arts that emphasized distortion of external reality,” much like how Kandinsky’s paintings were erratic and distorted through the forms, vivid colors, and shapes. (The Free Dictionary) Abstract art is described as “an art form representing ideas,” and Kandinsky emphasizing his own philosophy and messages that are often masked in his paintings connects to this definition. (The Free Dictionary) He primarily had four periods of his artwork that expressed these two genres and styles. His first period, spanning from the early 1900s to 1914, (Encyclopedia.com, 2004) is when he created one of his most famous paintings, known as the Blue Rider. Painted in 1903 with oil paints on a canvas, it is one of Wassily’s earliest works coined with the term “abstract.” While the scenery, subject, and background objects have defined shapes, the artist is said to have left the rest to the viewer of the painting. What gives the terms abstract to the painting is due to the misleading shadow, which is how critics and observers draw the line as it being a usual type of art, and lead it to being abstract. It is argued whether the figure is supposed to be a shadow, another person, something being held by the main subject, or other theories. (Wassily-Kandinsky.org, 2011) Kandinsky also painted with the feeling that the color blue, his favorite color, …show more content…
During this period, he produced wall decorations, although not much of that kind of work can be found from this span, only paintings connecting to his third period can be found. His third period came in 1925, and last for two years, and it finished in 1927, and it coincides with his earlier period. From observation, those can see that Wassily emphasized circles during this two-year span, as well as more geometrical shapes such as straight lines, triangles, and squares. (Encyclopedia.com, 2004) Two examples are Several Circles (Whitford, 68) from 1926, a piece of work emphasizing multiple circles against a black background, and Circles in a Circle from 1923, featuring multiple circles and lines within another large circle; then there is Softened Construction (Whiteford, 69) from 1927, which does not feature circles as prominently as the former piece mentioned, but does indeed include circles in many places among the other geometrical shapes. His final major period was prominent from 1927 until 1934, and it lasted until his death. It is described as his romantic or concrete period due to the fact that elements in his painting were created using softer, lighter colors. Examples during this time include Centre with Accompanimen (Bovi, 82) and Dominant Violet (Bovi, 79), both which primarily uses light yellows, whites,

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