Synopsis
Born in Russia, Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was one of the most original and influential artists to emerge in the twentieth century. He is known primarily for his daring use of color in startling non-objective works. Vasily Kandinsky: A Colorful Life is the most comprehensive and fully illustrated account to date of his early work, from 1900 to 1914, the period in which he made his radical shift to abstraction - and in so doing altered the very concept of art itself.
The works presented here are from the collection of the city museum of Munich, or Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus. They were given to the Galerie in 1957 by the artist Gabriele Munter, who was Kandinsky's companion from 1903 to the beginning of World War I. They are being shown at the Galerie in their entirety for the first time in a major exhibition, for which this book serves as the catalogue.
In compelling, readable text that draws on the latest research, noted Kandinsky expert Vivian Endicott Barnett illuminates the life and work of the artist. She begins with sketches made during his student years in Munich and considers also his interest in folk art, myths and fairy tales, the small oil studies from nature, medieval scenes, woodcuts, glass paintings and landscapes he made before progressing to the first abstractions. Included as well are the important paintings from the series of Improvisations, Impressions, and Compositions, which are among the highlights of his involvement with the Blue Rider group, and later works from his Bauhaus and Paris years.
This sumptuous book includes more than 700 examples of Kandinsky's early genius, most of them brilliantly reproduced in full color. The works are organized chronologically, and paintings are accompanied, when relevant, by preliminary sketches and prints.
Reviews
A gorgeous compilation of Kandinsky's art, remarkable in its breadth and diversity and in the large number of important and fascinating paintings it unearths, this catalogue documents an exhibition at Munich's city museum, to which in 1957 Kandinsky's jilted companion, Gabriele Munter, donated her private collection of his works, now being shown in its entirety for the first time. The emphasis is on the period from 1900 to 1914, which saw the Russian artist's gradual shift to abstraction. His trajectory began with medieval motifs of Old Russia (such as the dreamlike, ominous Colorful Life, made in 1907, with its folksy, chaotic throng surrounding a kremlin), then moved on to brooding or wildly colorful landscapes and interiors. It followed these with religious paintings (St. Vladimir, Angel of the Last Judgment), finally erupting into an abstract yet spiritualized universe of purer forms, colors, energies. Kandinsky scholar Barnett's biographical profile of the artist's sojourns in Munich, Paris, Berlin, Tunisia and Sweden complements 723 illustrations (618 in color) showing oils, watercolors, paintings on glass, drawings, furniture and sculpture. Kandinsky died in 1944 at 78.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Kandinsky was as prolific as he was brilliant and innovative, and it takes as large, well-produced, and luminous a volume as this one to even attempt to embrace the grandness, virtuosity, and abundance of his revolutionary oeuvre. The works found here, some 700 in number and most shown in glorious color, were all created during the pivotal years of 1900^-1914, during which time Kandinsky found his way from representation to abstraction. Barnett, editor of a 1992 book devoted to Kandinsky's watercolors, and her distinguished contributors provide useful biographical and aesthetic contexts for his extraordinary achievement. Curiously, there are two stories behind this collection. One, of course, is the evolution of Kandinsky's work; the other, a tale of love, betrayal, and sweet revenge, explains how these treasures came to be housed in the city museum of Munich. And this book is an event; it's the very first time that this magnificent collection, one that defines the very essence of modern art, has ever been shown in its entirety. Donna Seaman
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