Artwork of the month: Kandinsky's "Composition #8"

I discovered Wassily Kandinsky in 1996.  It was a portion in my life when I learning how to oil paint.  My work at the time were expressionistic abstract oils, all improvisational and without any preconceived thought.  After Kandinsky I began my work toward compositional oil painting.  Compositional oil painting is not simply working with the surface area of an oil painting, it is a philosophy.

I have traveled to the Guggenheim art Museum in New York seven times now simply to view this one oil painting.  Composition #8 is Kandinsky's peak, it was his best and although his work continued to progress ever forward conceptually, he was never able to reach that height again.

Wassily Kandinsky
Russian, 1866-1914
"Composition #8"
1923, oil on canvas

From this digital picture the lines look hard and solidly defined.  Standing in front of this you can see that they are also delicate and completed the first time the brush hit canvas.  Composition #8 is a treasured work of art and one that I will go spend some time with again very soon.


I should be painting instead of blogging...
...but you are reading so I keep writing.

Artwork of the month: Wassily Kandinsky.

Kandinsky is and always has been my biggest influence (aside from Caravaggio) in abstract art. I have read everything he wrote attentively.  I have traveled to museums simply to view his works of art.  I have visited the Guggenheim in New York 17 times only To spend a few hours in front of "Composition #8" his finest work. I studied his life, his works, and his impact so completely I feel as if i kew him personally.

I can conclude that I truly admire his work, and I would never have liked him as a person. Kandinsky was a spoiled rich kid infused with the misguided plight of privilege. Albeit, his works of art, his thesis, is more insightful than any artist in our recorded history. Bold statement, yes it is and I stand by it.

I have been studying this painting periodically since 1996 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Wassily Kandinsky

Russian, 1866-1944

"Study for Improvisation V"

1910, oil on pulp board

Kandinsky painted on both sides of the work.  It was a common practice artists of early 1900s to paint on both sides of fiber board, and then split them up and sell them as separate pieces.  I have painted on both sides of a canvas several times. 

The sibling to this painting is in a private collection as far as I know.  I have only seen it in person once in 2005 when the two paintings were exhibited together for the first time.

"Two Riders and Reclining Figure"

1910, oil on pulp board

So the original "Two Riders and Reclining Figure/Study for improvisation V" oil on pulp board was separated until 2005 when exhibited as "Kandinsky: A Relationship Revealed" at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  The $ tier made a huge international deal about how amazing this was and how great to have the two works reunited again, even if for only a moment.  The reality is that Kandinsky was poor at the time he painted these works and it wasn't because he wanted the extra money from a double sale for the cost of one...

...it was because he had to paint no matter what the consequences.  historians, curators, directors and investors love the tales but lack the understanding that an artist has about another artist.  

"The artist must have something to say, for mastery over form is not his goal but rather the adapting of form to its inner meaning." 

-Wassily Kandinsky

Artwork of the month: Kandinsky's Compositions.

Kandinsky painted ten compositions, as he saw everything else as a study leading up to these ten pure works.  Unfortunately the first three compositions were destroyed in World War II.  Fuck you Hitler.  You want a reason to stop war, be outraged at the destruction of these masterworks.  

Kandinsky has always been my largest influence.  These works were planned out as complete statements, pure works of emotion, philosophy, spirituality.  Each one of theses were for Kandinsky the peaks of his work in the moment he created them.

I have had the luck to be able to view most of them.

"Composition IV"

1911, oil on canvas

Dusseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

"Composition V"

1911, oil on canvas

Private collection

"Composition VI"

1913, oil on canvas

State Hermitage museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

"Composition VII"

1913, oil on canvas

The Tretyakov State Gallery, Moscow Russia.

I have traveled to the Guggenheim New York many times only to spend time with this work.  Composition 8 is where I feel Kandinsky reached his top.  This painting speaks to me retrospectively, and reminds me of where I am going.  I will travel to see it again many times.

"Composition VII"

1923, oil on canvas

Guggenheim, New York

"Composition IX"

1936, oil on canvas

The Center Pompidou, Paris France.

"Composition X"

1939, oil on canvas

Dusseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

These masterworks have been a major part of my education as an artist.  I have always felt that i can not only relate to these works, but that I can see their truths and where Kandinsky was headed philosophically.  

"Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for color, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential."

-Wassily Kandinsky