He felt colours and shapes, art was his life. Wassily Kandinsky ranks among one of the best artists that ever held a paintbrush in his hand and created classics. Reason enough, not only to devote this story to him but also the cover.
Let us begin this story with an “A” as in abstract. And end with “Z”, as in zanily cool. And we’ll do it by talking about Wassily Kandinsky. His character was a guy, who wrote art history. He is the founder of abstract painting and the man who attributed colours and shapes to emotions. He made blue transcendental and attributed the attributes earthly, aggressive and eccentric to yellow. The point became a primary element and the vertical line a warm, white phenomenon. The result of this rethink was pictures, showing the perfect combination of colours and shapes. And which are worth millions to collectors today. For example, the “Study of improvisation 8” from the year 1909 came under the hammer for 23 million dollars.
Wassily himself was born on 16 December 1866 in Moscow and died on 13 December 1944 in the French commune of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Happy? One can never definitively claim that of artists. What is certain is that he could look back on an eventful life. After dropping out of law studies, he devoted himself to art, lived for a long time in Munich and founded the exhibition group “The blue rider” with friends in 1911. As was
the case for many at the time, the First World War determined his place of residence or rather place to live and also his income. However, he was never badly off. His work was a creative potpourri that his second wife managed after his death. And she invested in foundations and art funding. Because courage also requires investors, Kandinsky knew that and his wife knew it too. Therefore to conclude simply a summary: Great guy, classy lady. The result a zanily cool story. Full stop.
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, München
VG-Bild Kunst, Bonn 2016
Foto: Gabriele Münter- und Johannes Eichner-Stiftung, München
Impression III (Konzert), 1911 Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus München
