Wassily Kandinsky 
Squares with concentric circles 1913

SUBJECT MATTER

Looking at the quote addressed to this specific painting the artist seems to want to transmit joy and sound. He described it as a key board on which the artist can sing. The painting seems to have a joyful atmosphere caused by the strong contrasts between complementary colours (bright yellows and reds creating beautiful bright oranges).Is about colour and composition about the great impact which a well thought composition like this has on the viewer.

TECHNIQUE

The artwork is done on canvas with oil paint applied with the help of a palette knife and brush . The paint is not applied with care (he didn’t wanted his circles to be perfectly symmetrical as much as he wanted the colour choice to be perfect; thick consistent paint). When we talk about perspective in this painting is more about the individual viewing the composition. There might be people who would see the perspective through colour and brush mark but there will be individuals who will see just colour.

In this painting Kandinsky associated colour with sound and music .As I previously said the colours has been very well chosen to create an impact. It has got bright contrasts and surely a balance of the composition and colour eg; yellow next to purple and reds; blue and bright yellows with touches of red, yellow, red orange, blue-marine etc. The composition consists of 12 irregular squares with rows of different coloured irregular circles.

ARTIST’S CAREER

Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter, a printmaker and an art theorist. He is one of the most famous 20 th century painters. Wassily was born in Moscow and spend his childhood in Odessa. Later he enrolled at the University of Moscow to study Law and Economics .He was quite successful in what he chose to do but later on at the age of 30 he started painting studies (life drawing sketches and anatomy). In 1896 he settled in Munich to study in a private school and after the Academy to France where he lived the rest of his life and became a French citizen in 1939.He died in 1944.

LINKS WITH OWN WORK

I appreciate his passion for learning, his hunger of finding and learning as much information as possible. The paintings of this period contain a very expressive coloured mass evaluating independently from forms and lines (abstract art).What I like about Kandinsky’s work is the large range of bright, happy, vibrating colours. I like that it makes you think and try to find what is actually the meaning of each shape ,the meaning of the painting itself (what is the message?).He has a very unique way of playing with shapes, lines and colours. I like the way the shapes are juxtaposition giving birth to new colours and shapes. I am sure there is a logic way of arranging the composition in every painting of Kandinsky but the beauty about it is that we will never be able to find the truth hiding behind each shape, each painting. The simple fact that each painting represents a feeling or a thought makes everything more interesting to observe. I have chosen this painting to be part of my research and influence in this unit called ‘Colours in high-key’ because it ticks all the boxes for me when we talk about the impact of colour and contrasts in our lives.

QUOTATIONS

‘I applied steaks and blobs of colours onto the canvas with a palette knife and I made them sing with all the intensity I could’

‘Colour is the key board, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibration in the soul.

‘There is no must in art because art is free. ‘ Wiki .answers.com
https://docs.google.com/document/d/111aR-xRHFpnKOYbOrYCsFFIy9EMeZefPW_WIjcqic5Y/edit