Ruth Leon recommends.. Kandinsky – the Master of Abstract Art
Ruth Leon recommendsKandinsky
He likened abstract art to music, writing, “Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmony, 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”.
With all the other anniversaries this week I nearly forgot to mention the 80th anniversary of the death of Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian-born French artist known as a pioneer in the abstract movement. That would have been a pity as there’s this fine documentary about him which I enjoyed heartily and wanted to share at an appropriate moment. This is that moment.
Born in Moscow in 1866, he was stimulated by colour as a child. His fascination with colour symbolism and psychology continued as he grew although his studies took him into law and economics. Offered a professorship in Roman Law, instead, at the age of 30, he began to draw and paint. He moved to Germany where he taught at the Bauhaus until the Nazis closed it in 1933. He went to live in France where he remained until he died, nearly at the end of WW2, in December 1944.
Kandinsky was a trailblazer, widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to the field. He is celebrated for his revolutionary 1910 watercolor piece titled Abstract, which marked a significant departure from representational art.
Regarded as one of the most prominent artistic figures of the 20th century, Kandinsky’s influence resonates alongside the likes of renowned masters such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.
He likened abstract art to music, writing, “Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmony, 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”.
The work of Kandinsky is of the greatest importance within the 20C narrative of abstract art, and that should be enough to at least be very, very sceptical. Visual art that ‘leaves behind’ representation of elements from reality, is decoration. Kandinsky had all kinds of blown-up claims of spirituality, which remain in the ‘manual’ for the viewers and never come across, because decoration does not convey spiritual content. it’s wishful thinking. And it is a step ‘forward’ towards the absurdities of conceptual art where it is not the work itself but the ideas behind it which are the work, opening the door to anything whatsoever and thus: full-blown charlatanism (beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ which was a simple urinal).
Schoenberg who was a friend of Kandinsky, equated representation (= tradition) with ‘oldfashioned’ tonality, and thus thought that ‘leaving tonality behind’ would offer ‘progress’ to serious concert music.
The rest is history.
I’ve come to liken Kandinsky and his ilk to Schoenberg and his followers: there are some people whose intellect or mind sees something remarkable that mine simply does not. I spent time at the Tate Modern staring down a Kandinsky and I just don’t get it just like I’ll never get Webern. I’ll watch the video and see what I glean.