Wassily Kandinsky is credited with painting the first purely abstract paintings. Looking at his two paintings Improvisation 28 (below) and Composition II (right), it is clear why. Marked by confident brush strokes that seem to abandon the creation of form and bright patches of color, the two paintings stand in stark contrast to the early paintings of Kandinsky. M.K. Lacoste had this to say on Kandinsky's change in style:
"What prompt evolution from 1908 to 1914 - from landscapes, though bold already in color and form, but still true to nature, as "Houses in Murnau on Obermarkt" "(1908) It would be difficult to guess a hand of the same artists in such an abstract work, as "Composition VII", 1913, despite their common dynamics. Here - a constrained impulse, there - a liberated movement".Moving away from the landscapes of his earlier work, starting in 1909, Kandinsky became increasingly concerned about painting apocalyptic narratives rather than the portrayal of natural events. Nancy Spector comments:
"In both Sketch for Composition II and Improvisation 28 Kandinsky depicted—through highly schematized means—cataclysmic events on one side of the canvas and the paradise of spiritual salvation on the other. In the latter painting, for instance, images of a boat and waves (signaling the global deluge), a serpent, and, perhaps, cannons emerge on the left, while an embracing couple, shining sun, and celebratory candles appear on the right."Also during this time Kandinksy was increasingly influenced by music, in particular Richard Wagner's Lohengrin which, he felt, pushed the limits of music and melody beyond standard lyricism. Born with synesthesia, Kandinksy experienced art very differently than most. Hearing tones and chords as he painted, he theorized that (for example), yellow is the color of middle C on a brassy trumpet; black is the color of closure, and the end of things; and that combinations of colors produce vibrational frequencies, akin to chords played on a piano.
"Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul"
-Wassily Kandinsky
A full description of his theories on colors can be read in Kandinsky's book: Concerning The Spiritual in Art.
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment