White Cross

Carly Hofmann
Wassily Kandinsky, White Cross, 1922
BY CARLY HOFMANN

In his book Modern Art Richard Brettell claims White Cross serves as a primary example in Brettell's analysis of nationalism in abstract artwork through through the early twentieth century. Brettell argues that "nationalism is among the most powerful forces in modern society" as it can be seen at the root of most substantial political events. Yet in spite of ever growing globalixation, the history of modern art remains largely a sequence of national histories written in national languages by historians who viw art as belonging to a specific set of national values. Brettell believes that this is the box Kandinsky's work has been placed in, thus limiting its value. 

Kandinsky was truly an innovator in his time. His background as an economist and a lawer provided him with a unique perspective as he painted his experiences as a participant in the "Great Utopia." The "Great Utopia" was a revolutionary period of artistic transformation in Russia that foreshadowed the impeding political upheavals of the early twentieth century.

In this painting, Kandinsky evokes, rather than describes war, and elicits a more musical expression of his understanding of conflict. On this large canvas, Kandinsky compiled a catalogue of elements observed and invented by himself during his years in Russia. This piece would eventually become emblematic of his style. Though Kandinsky left for Berlin to escape political turmoil when he created this painting, art historians have classified it as a "uniquely Russian artwork."

It is in this classification that Brettell believes the potential of this painting is limited. Brettell notes that "every modern art museum teaches us that place is as important to art as time" and it serves as the primary mode or organization. Modern art museums are segregated by geopolitical fences through which time flows. As viewers, we see pieces produced in the same place at vastly different times, but never work produced at the same time in different places.  

However, as the world became more cosmopolitan, art historians began to understand the value in classifying artwork beyond the physical place in which it was created. This, Brettell argues, opens the door for more thoughtful consideration of artwork such as Kandinsky's. Now, the ability to succeed in a multilingual artistic society is seen as essential for a modern artist, and those who were able to cross such boundaries remain successful today.  In this way, Kandinsky was ahead of his time. Through his use of abstraction, he appealed to all viewers, regardless of language or nationality. The feelings prompted by his compositional an color choices are universal. 
  • 7:00 AM

Several Circles

Anirudh Vadlamani
 Wassily Kandinsky, Several Circles, 1926
By ANIRUDH VADLAMANI

A space is any continuous area or expanse that is free, available, or unoccupied. So any viewer who sees this and thinks of the outer space would not be wrong to think so. This painting does represent space, just not the space the viewer was probably thinking of.

During his illustrious career where he garnered attention for being an impeccable painter as well as philosopher, Kandinsky heavily believed in an art style defined as "theosophy." Theosophy is the idea that creation is a geometrical progression from a single point, and every creative element of the work is generated from the original central point. Kandinsky wrote two books on theosophy during his career. With the second book, Point and Line to Plane, he released this painting to help amplify his point.

This painting helps define the theory of theosophy. Kandinsky starts the work from the direct center of the painting. From there, he sketches two circles. From the larger black circle, he follows it to the bottom and defines a new point of origin, and generates more circles from that point. While this sounds maddening, in the end, the work looks as it does now. A mess? Absolutely not. A calculated, geometrical masterpiece.

Kandinsky's works means nothing when its explained in such crude terms. To me, Kandinsky is a painter of feelings. Upon first inspection it looks like outer space and a bunch of colorful planets. However, if I look deeper, the other space I talked about earlier emerges. Eternal nothingness. The beauty of just general emotion, emerging from the center point, with hues of more nothing, but surrounded by a calming blue. Follow the blue and you see even warmer colors: light olive greens, violet, orange, and light pinks. I will not define each color because these should mean something else, to every different individual. 
  • 7:00 PM

Black Lines/Several Circles

Black Lines
Kandinsky, Black Lines, 1913
Kandinsky, Several Circles, 1926





Starting on Monday, the students of the Modern Art History class will post writings that link painting and film. What makes me happy about this - they are the ones that came up with the idea. 

As I thought back to film that actually made me think about art, I came back to the adaptation of John Guare's play Six Degrees of Separation. In the 1993 film (and play) a young confidence man, Paul, intrudes upon the rarefied world of Flan and Ouisa Kittredge. Flan looks to sell a mid-period Cezanne to a Japanese syndicate, but his plans are temporarily interrupted by the arrival of Paul, who claims to be friends with the Kittredge's kids. The film and play each explore questions of identity, self-absorption and empathy. They are also each littered with literary and artistic references ranging from a theory on Holden Caulfield's cap to a non-existent Kandinsky. 

The rotating Kandinsky, which would be quite cool, doesn't actually exist. Guare invented it to help deepen the themes of chaos and control that define the lives of Ouisa and Flan. The paintings now live  at the Guggenheim, but they were painted 13 years apart. I have always loved each side of the Kandinsky - the vibrant, often violent abstractionist and geometrically-obsessed Apollonian. Here, though, it's Flan's quotation of Kandinsky that brings me a smile. 

Kandinsky said, "It is clear, therefore, that the choice of object that is one of the elements in the harmony of form must be decided only by a corresponding vibration in the human soul." In other words, the work must speak to us on a level that can't necessarily be expressed. Learning to see will always be a part of any Art History class; however, what I hope you can see in all the posts here is the rather joyous process of students learning how to hear and feel the vibrations of art. 

  • 7:00 AM

Ludwigskirche

Ludwigskirche in Munich
Wassily Kandinsky, Ludwigskirche in Munich, 1908
Russian painter, Wassily Kandinsky, is known as one of the first abstract painters and for his tendency to paint socially unacceptable paintings. With his first few compositions, he chose  government raids as his subject matter, with an apocalyptic theme, which resulted in confiscation and destruction of his work. Kandinsky used passages from Jewish and Christian texts as influence his themes of doom.

His theory of painting was that eat color had a musical characteristic. Looking at each color was like hearing a different chord, which explains his wide use of bright and dull colors. Along with these musical connections, he saw shapes as having mood altering abilities, as circles were calming. Kandinsky was known for his emotional attachments to paintings, one in particular painted by Monet.

Ludwigskirche in Munich depicts of crowds and how lost individuals get within these massive groups.

  • 8:00 AM