Wassily Kandinsky

Patricia Martin
LBCC Fall
Beginning Drawing

Wassily Kandinsky
Russia, 1866-1944

Wassily Kandinsky is often credited with the initial transition from representational to abstract art. It is his works, while he was a teacher, on display at LACMA that attracted me to him. He was born in Moscow and learned to play the piano and cello as a child and study drawing with a coach. He attended University of Moscow to study law. As an adult he saw Claude Monet's "Haystacks at Giverny" which inspired him to give up law and move to Germany to study art full-time. He had a theory of music and color which gave him his ideas on theories of art. During WW1 he move back to Russia and was influenced by the constructivist movement based on hard lines, dots and geometry. He taught at Bauhaus school in Berlin.

His work "Three Free Circles" 1923 and "Melodious" 1924 are the ones I liked the best. Their color and geometric shapes were fascinating. Their simplicity of line and the contrasting colors are beautiful. The drawing below was not in the collection at LACMA but represents the works that attracted me. I was able to find a picture of Melodious.

Merry Structure

Melodious

I enjoy contrast in art. Color, shapes and forms. I think that is why I enjoy drawing so much. Its purity of contrast of pencil and paper. Kandinsky's color combinations gave me new insight on how color can be used in drawing to increase the intensity of contrast. How color can influence imagination and spark emotion.