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Kandinsky
Book by Duchting, Hajo
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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August 7, 2015
A lavishly-illustrated, easily-digested account of Kandinsky's career and the careful thought he put behind his paintings. Kandinsky is portrayed here as an emotionally-honest artist who worked with great focus and intent. His works were in no way haphazard, but carefully calculated in their design, the thought behind them, and the emotional effect that Kandinsky hoped to achieve.
I was surprised that Kandinsky was a sort of early existentialist, particularly in his feeling that the soul of man was doomed to mediocrity and abasement, so long as materialism held sway over society. One might have viewed him as a happy Marxist, except that he really wasn't. In fact, he was careful to avoid being caught up in the sweeping changes that took place in his home country of Russia. For example, he refused to be subsumed in the tide of Social Realist art embraced by so many Russian artists during the early 1920's. He felt strongly enough about it that he left Russia (again - he had spent several years in Munich during his early career before returning to his motherland around the outbreak of The Great War) to move to Germany during the interwar years. Later, he moved to France only to witness the German occupation and hear of the destruction (back in Germany) of several of his paintings, which were considered decadent by the Nazi regime.
And somehow, amidst all of this, he and his art survived. Perhaps there was something to his strong feelings of spirituality that upheld him during these tumultuous years, where the world seemed to be falling to pieces all around him. Early in his career, he espoused spiritualism and even based his long essay "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" on "The Third Revelation," a twelfth-century occult text by Joachim von Fiore. In fact, Kandinsky and several of his early contemporaries felt that abstract art was the herald of a new age which would be ushered in by the artists who "led" society to greater heights of well-being, though they were, naturally, misunderstood prophets at the time.
Here again, Taschen has produced an inexpensive, erudite analysis of the artist and his work. Should you have a favorite artist, or are simply curious about a particular artist's work, you'll be hard-pressed to find such excellent texts as Taschen has produced. They are truly marvelous. I've always liked Kandinsky's art, but now I can much more fully appreciate it, both viscerally and intellectually. Think Kandinsky was a scheister? I dare you to read this work and continue to hold onto your mistaken belief. Look, read, and learn. After all, isn't that at least a part of why we read?
I was surprised that Kandinsky was a sort of early existentialist, particularly in his feeling that the soul of man was doomed to mediocrity and abasement, so long as materialism held sway over society. One might have viewed him as a happy Marxist, except that he really wasn't. In fact, he was careful to avoid being caught up in the sweeping changes that took place in his home country of Russia. For example, he refused to be subsumed in the tide of Social Realist art embraced by so many Russian artists during the early 1920's. He felt strongly enough about it that he left Russia (again - he had spent several years in Munich during his early career before returning to his motherland around the outbreak of The Great War) to move to Germany during the interwar years. Later, he moved to France only to witness the German occupation and hear of the destruction (back in Germany) of several of his paintings, which were considered decadent by the Nazi regime.
And somehow, amidst all of this, he and his art survived. Perhaps there was something to his strong feelings of spirituality that upheld him during these tumultuous years, where the world seemed to be falling to pieces all around him. Early in his career, he espoused spiritualism and even based his long essay "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" on "The Third Revelation," a twelfth-century occult text by Joachim von Fiore. In fact, Kandinsky and several of his early contemporaries felt that abstract art was the herald of a new age which would be ushered in by the artists who "led" society to greater heights of well-being, though they were, naturally, misunderstood prophets at the time.
Here again, Taschen has produced an inexpensive, erudite analysis of the artist and his work. Should you have a favorite artist, or are simply curious about a particular artist's work, you'll be hard-pressed to find such excellent texts as Taschen has produced. They are truly marvelous. I've always liked Kandinsky's art, but now I can much more fully appreciate it, both viscerally and intellectually. Think Kandinsky was a scheister? I dare you to read this work and continue to hold onto your mistaken belief. Look, read, and learn. After all, isn't that at least a part of why we read?
July 18, 2019
Huh, the subtitle is not on the cover. And every book by this author is titled "Kandinsky"! Are they all the same?
Not that it matters to me, because one thing I learned by reading this is that I already know plenty about Kandinsky and his contemporaries. The part I know least is his time in Russia, which seems to correspond to the late, more abstract works that I don't like as much.
I was familiar with almost every piece in this book, excepting a few owned by the Guggenheim and Pompadieu, neither of which I've visited. Here are a couple pieces from those collections:
Not that it matters to me, because one thing I learned by reading this is that I already know plenty about Kandinsky and his contemporaries. The part I know least is his time in Russia, which seems to correspond to the late, more abstract works that I don't like as much.
I was familiar with almost every piece in this book, excepting a few owned by the Guggenheim and Pompadieu, neither of which I've visited. Here are a couple pieces from those collections:
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October 2, 2021WASSILY KANDINSKY 1866-1944: A Revolution in Painting by Hajo Düchting, tr. from the German by Ilmar Lehtpere, Taschen 1991.
Biography and art history of the Russian modern artist, Wassily Kandinsky. Born in Moscow, grew up in Siberia and later Odessa. Trained as a lawyer, he left that profession to fully focus on art, moving to Munich (returning to Moscow a few years later, and then settling in Germany and France).
The beauty of a book like this is that it traces both visually and chronologically the style that Kandinsky is so well known for - the colors, the linear and geometric expressions, through time. The experimentation with color really came first, and he began to experiment more and more with form, deeply inspired by other artists - musicians, dramatists, and poets. He even wrote some "zines" that mixed his art - primarily woodcuts - with some of his own poetry.
As he started to experiment more, there was a backlash by the art world establishment, art critics in Munich stating how work "was that of a madman, or someone under the effects of morphine or hashish."
However, with time, his brilliance was fully recognized, and he achieved great renown in his lifetime, becoming one of the most well-known and influential modern artists.
Biography and art history of the Russian modern artist, Wassily Kandinsky. Born in Moscow, grew up in Siberia and later Odessa. Trained as a lawyer, he left that profession to fully focus on art, moving to Munich (returning to Moscow a few years later, and then settling in Germany and France).
The beauty of a book like this is that it traces both visually and chronologically the style that Kandinsky is so well known for - the colors, the linear and geometric expressions, through time. The experimentation with color really came first, and he began to experiment more and more with form, deeply inspired by other artists - musicians, dramatists, and poets. He even wrote some "zines" that mixed his art - primarily woodcuts - with some of his own poetry.
As he started to experiment more, there was a backlash by the art world establishment, art critics in Munich stating how work "was that of a madman, or someone under the effects of morphine or hashish."
However, with time, his brilliance was fully recognized, and he achieved great renown in his lifetime, becoming one of the most well-known and influential modern artists.
December 6, 2020
1. He trained as a lawyer
Before devoting himself completely to art, Kandinsky complied with his parents’ wishes and studied law at Moscow State University. He graduated in 1893 and taught law at the university for three years. He was then offered a position as a professor of law at the University of Dorpat in Tartu (in present-day Estonia). Kandinsky, who had just turned 30, decided instead to focus on painting.
2. He was inspired by music
Kandinsky believed that art was closely connected to music. He was inspired to give up his law career in part by the production of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Bolshoi Theater. Kandinsky described the experience in his autobiography, Steps: “Violins, deep basses and especially the wind instruments represented for me the full force of the twilight hour; in my mind, I saw all my colours, they were all there, in my mind’s eye. Wild, almost crazy lines, were being painted in front of me.” Music inspired him to create new works throughout his career. For example, after a concert by Arnold Schoenberg in Munich in 1911, he painted “Impression III (Concert)” (Lenbachhaus Gallery, Munich).
3. He was a designer and a photographer
Finding synthesis between the arts was extremely important for Kandinsky, and he did not restrict himself to art and music. He designed interiors, clothes and furniture and created sketches for painting on porcelain. He also was interested in photography and cinematography.
4. He painted scenes from country estate life
In search of a new language of art, Kandinsky first tried different styles. In 1896, he was stunned by an exhibition of Monet’s “Haystacks” in Moscow. Later, while studying at the school of Anton Ažbe in Munich, Kandinsky tried using separate brushstrokes and pure colours. He felt close to art nouveau and symbolism. During this phase, he painted traditional country estate scenes, such as “Crinoline Lady” (1909, Tretyakov Gallery). Following his time in Europe, Kandinsky’s works showed elements of fauvism and the Les Nabis movement.
5. Critics called him a drug addict and a madman
Kandinsky’s first abstract works were preceded by a gradual simplification and destruction of form, which he practised not only in painting but also in xylography. At the second exhibition of the New Munich Artists’ Association in 1910, which included such artists as Picasso, Braque and van Dongen, Kandinsky presented his “Sketch for “Composition II” (Guggenheim Museum, New York). Critics greeted it with scathing comments, including writing that the work had been painted by a madman or somebody “under the influence of morphine or hashish.”
6. He painted the world’s first abstract picture
“Picture with a Circle” is considered the first abstract painting in Kandinsky’s career and the first abstract painting in the world. Created in 1911, it is currently on display at the National Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi. According to the artist, nature gives an impulse for creativity, but there is no point in copying it. Instead, colour sets the main emotional tone of work and helps create the composition, and form is a combination of planes and lines that create movement.
7. He created new genres
By giving up a subject matter in paintings, Kandinsky introduced a new classification of genres. In place of the previously used categories of the portrait, landscape and still life, Kandinsky created “impressions” – works that retained a connection with nature; “improvisations” – spontaneous and often unconscious expressions of internal impressions and emotions; and “compositions” – a synthesis of an external form and an internal substance expressed with the help of lines and colours.
8. He breathed life into colour
For Kandinsky, colours had value in themselves not connected to the subject matter of a painting. He called his paints “animate creatures” and believed they had the power to get right to the soul of the beholder. Based on Goethe’s theories, Kandinsky came up with his own interconnections: yellow is reminiscent of the sound of the flute, is responsible for earthly things, highlights movement towards the viewer and corresponds to a triangle. The colour blue, on the other hand, represents celestial tranquillity, sadness, movement away from the viewer, a circle and the sound of the cello. Red embodies boiling inside and the form of a square; and green, immobility and a lack of emotion.
9. He was at odds with the rationalism of Russian avant-garde artists
The irrational and emotional nature of Kandinsky’s works ran counter to the rationalism of other Russian avant-garde artists. This disconnect became particularly clear after the revolution when Kandinsky was teaching at newly established art institutes with Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova and Lyubov Popova. Unable to realize his ideas in Russia, Kandinsky moved to the Bauhaus in Germany in 1922. There he taught analytical drawing and mural painting.
10. He did not conform to the spirit of the USSR
Wassily Kandinsky was a very prolific artist. Between 1909 and 1914, when he was developing abstraction, Kandinsky created some 200 paintings and numerous sketches. Many of them have been lost. In the Soviet Union, they were sent to provincial museums and hidden in storerooms since they did not conform to the spirit of socialist realism, the reigning art form of the time. In Nazi Germany, they were classified as degenerate art.
Source: https://www.rbth.com/multimedia/peopl...
Before devoting himself completely to art, Kandinsky complied with his parents’ wishes and studied law at Moscow State University. He graduated in 1893 and taught law at the university for three years. He was then offered a position as a professor of law at the University of Dorpat in Tartu (in present-day Estonia). Kandinsky, who had just turned 30, decided instead to focus on painting.
2. He was inspired by music
Kandinsky believed that art was closely connected to music. He was inspired to give up his law career in part by the production of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Bolshoi Theater. Kandinsky described the experience in his autobiography, Steps: “Violins, deep basses and especially the wind instruments represented for me the full force of the twilight hour; in my mind, I saw all my colours, they were all there, in my mind’s eye. Wild, almost crazy lines, were being painted in front of me.” Music inspired him to create new works throughout his career. For example, after a concert by Arnold Schoenberg in Munich in 1911, he painted “Impression III (Concert)” (Lenbachhaus Gallery, Munich).
3. He was a designer and a photographer
Finding synthesis between the arts was extremely important for Kandinsky, and he did not restrict himself to art and music. He designed interiors, clothes and furniture and created sketches for painting on porcelain. He also was interested in photography and cinematography.
4. He painted scenes from country estate life
In search of a new language of art, Kandinsky first tried different styles. In 1896, he was stunned by an exhibition of Monet’s “Haystacks” in Moscow. Later, while studying at the school of Anton Ažbe in Munich, Kandinsky tried using separate brushstrokes and pure colours. He felt close to art nouveau and symbolism. During this phase, he painted traditional country estate scenes, such as “Crinoline Lady” (1909, Tretyakov Gallery). Following his time in Europe, Kandinsky’s works showed elements of fauvism and the Les Nabis movement.
5. Critics called him a drug addict and a madman
Kandinsky’s first abstract works were preceded by a gradual simplification and destruction of form, which he practised not only in painting but also in xylography. At the second exhibition of the New Munich Artists’ Association in 1910, which included such artists as Picasso, Braque and van Dongen, Kandinsky presented his “Sketch for “Composition II” (Guggenheim Museum, New York). Critics greeted it with scathing comments, including writing that the work had been painted by a madman or somebody “under the influence of morphine or hashish.”
6. He painted the world’s first abstract picture
“Picture with a Circle” is considered the first abstract painting in Kandinsky’s career and the first abstract painting in the world. Created in 1911, it is currently on display at the National Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi. According to the artist, nature gives an impulse for creativity, but there is no point in copying it. Instead, colour sets the main emotional tone of work and helps create the composition, and form is a combination of planes and lines that create movement.
7. He created new genres
By giving up a subject matter in paintings, Kandinsky introduced a new classification of genres. In place of the previously used categories of the portrait, landscape and still life, Kandinsky created “impressions” – works that retained a connection with nature; “improvisations” – spontaneous and often unconscious expressions of internal impressions and emotions; and “compositions” – a synthesis of an external form and an internal substance expressed with the help of lines and colours.
8. He breathed life into colour
For Kandinsky, colours had value in themselves not connected to the subject matter of a painting. He called his paints “animate creatures” and believed they had the power to get right to the soul of the beholder. Based on Goethe’s theories, Kandinsky came up with his own interconnections: yellow is reminiscent of the sound of the flute, is responsible for earthly things, highlights movement towards the viewer and corresponds to a triangle. The colour blue, on the other hand, represents celestial tranquillity, sadness, movement away from the viewer, a circle and the sound of the cello. Red embodies boiling inside and the form of a square; and green, immobility and a lack of emotion.
9. He was at odds with the rationalism of Russian avant-garde artists
The irrational and emotional nature of Kandinsky’s works ran counter to the rationalism of other Russian avant-garde artists. This disconnect became particularly clear after the revolution when Kandinsky was teaching at newly established art institutes with Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova and Lyubov Popova. Unable to realize his ideas in Russia, Kandinsky moved to the Bauhaus in Germany in 1922. There he taught analytical drawing and mural painting.
10. He did not conform to the spirit of the USSR
Wassily Kandinsky was a very prolific artist. Between 1909 and 1914, when he was developing abstraction, Kandinsky created some 200 paintings and numerous sketches. Many of them have been lost. In the Soviet Union, they were sent to provincial museums and hidden in storerooms since they did not conform to the spirit of socialist realism, the reigning art form of the time. In Nazi Germany, they were classified as degenerate art.
Source: https://www.rbth.com/multimedia/peopl...
August 20, 2023
Подборът и оформлението в албума не ме впечатли особено. Кандински заслужава повече. За себе си го открих чрез серия бижута, и е тъжно, че те се оказаха по-добър вестоносец на този художник на философски и космически символи. И да - търсете руснака :) Ненапразно новата комунистическа власт отхвърля концепциите на Кандински - той все пак има късмета да успее да емигрира за втори път в Германия през 20-те години на ХХ век.
December 21, 2019
An odd little biography in some ways. For one thing: well, close your eyes and imagine a Kandinsky painting. Think of a few of them. Imagine what a stylistically typical Kandinsky painting looks like. OK, good, now open your eyes, I'm trying to write to you. The classic Kandinsky paintings you just imagined are barely represented in this biography, and on the few pages where they make their brief appearance, Düchting apologizes for this brief lapse in Kandinsky's taste. This is, in other words, a biography of Kandinsky by someone who doesn't really like Kandinsky very much -- or at least, doesn't like that part of Kandinsky's work for which he is remembered, admired, and studied, which comes to much the same thing.
Also, Kandinsky himself comes off as a real crank. But that's OK. He was a heckuva a painter. There's lots of great pictures in this well-printed book, of course -- but be prepared not just for the early work characteristic of a biography, but also for a deliberate focus on work that most casual Kandinsky fans would consider his B-sides and outtakes.
Also, Kandinsky himself comes off as a real crank. But that's OK. He was a heckuva a painter. There's lots of great pictures in this well-printed book, of course -- but be prepared not just for the early work characteristic of a biography, but also for a deliberate focus on work that most casual Kandinsky fans would consider his B-sides and outtakes.
December 11, 2017
What a fabulous little book! The quality of the reproductions is fantastic, and Duchting gave me just the right amount of information about Kandinsky's life and art to give me a sense of whether I want to go deeper.
The answer is "yes, but not now". I picked up this book because the cover leapt out at me when I was browsing the Recommended shelf of my local library. And the beautiful colours and designs of Kandinsky made a refreshing change for my brain and eyes from my usual diet of memoir, literary fiction and mind-body reads. Might do this more often. I see that Duchting has produced similar volumes on other artists whose work has always attracted me.
The answer is "yes, but not now". I picked up this book because the cover leapt out at me when I was browsing the Recommended shelf of my local library. And the beautiful colours and designs of Kandinsky made a refreshing change for my brain and eyes from my usual diet of memoir, literary fiction and mind-body reads. Might do this more often. I see that Duchting has produced similar volumes on other artists whose work has always attracted me.
December 29, 2014
The Vasily Kandinsky I seemed to have had in mind before viewing this summer’s (2014) Milwaukee Art Museum Kandinsky retrospective (prepared in concert with the Musée National d'Art Moderne of the Centre Pompidou Paris) was, apparently, largely the Kandinsky of the 20th century’s teens: to my mind confusing, messy – even perhaps naïve, I imagined – but always, it seemed to me, obstinately provocative. His monumental (2 x 3 meter) 1913 Composition VII might do as an example:
That exhibition broadened my view, as a substantial retrospective should, and also fueled my curiosity. Thus I came to Hajo Düchting’s Wasily Kandinsky, A Revolution in Painting. Düchting’s volume likewise broadened my view, though perhaps, I fear, too much.
The book itself is slim, well made and well printed, the text and plates probably appropriate as a brief, appreciative, and orderly introduction, and though at times I read Düchting’s analyses and enthusiasms as exaggerated, I have no great argument with it.
My argument, as it is, is with – with knowledge, I suppose, or what might pass for it.
Where once a given drawing or painting of Kandinsky’s might have elicited in me a confused provocation: “What is this? Why is this here (in this museum, collection, book)? What is this mix of discomfort and fascination it seems to produce? What justifies this as ‘art’? What are these hints of person here, what is the authority of this ‘style’?,” etc., now I have been tutored to respond to the prompts of biography, of Kandinsky’s own testimony, of German, French, and Russian art history, of proposed decodings of what had previously been completely obscure iconography.
Are these new questions – questions about the relation of a particular piece to the artist’s Theosophy, to his published color theory, to his responses to Orphism or Constructivism, to Dada or the Surrealists, to Miro and Klee, to his alleged propensity to insert into his work symbolic variations of boats, solar disks, knights or dragons, to his claimed grammar of line, angle and stroke – are these new questions more valuable or interesting than the ones they replaced? Somehow they seem not; they seem relatively trivial compared to the previous set, smaller and less significant.
Thankfully, I suppose, I will forget the majority of Düchting’s elucidations, along with what I’ve learned of Kandinsky’s biography and beliefs, and be returned, more-or-less, to my previous ignorance and its musings – even as the whole experience only serves to remind me how much even that previous ignorance (and its question set) was – by my own historical necessity – already similarly well polluted by the scum of knowledge so-called.
You suggest I might retain both curiosities, both attitudes, the one informing the other? Perhaps I am too simple. In his Essay on Criticism Pope famously suggested that a little learning was a dangerous thing. True ignorance and true knowledge being beyond us all, I suppose that in the netherworld available we choose that poison which we will.
May 11, 2009
This is a pretty lavish publication for its cost, containing lots of high-quality colour reproductions of some of Kandinsky's most important works and a large amount of accompanying text. The problem for me was that although the book delivers in terms of bestowing factual details of Kandinsky's life and work, and in terms of explaining his overall philosophy of art, for a complete art novice such as myself it largely failed to explain what was so important about both his individual paintings and his body of work as a whole, or why Kandinsky is so much better known today than many of his contemporaries. Plus I found the author's language to be a little flowery in places, sometimes to the point that I had no idea what he was trying to express. And occasionally the analysis seemed to be little more than a description of what was plainly visible to the lay observer. As an introduction to the artist, it failed somewhat to convince me that I should delve deeper.
January 15, 2024
“Човек говори на човека чрез свръхчовешкото - това е езикът на изкуството.” (Дюхтинг, 54, от Василий Кандински)
Прочетох книгата с желание да разбера за замисъла зад абстрактната живопис на един художник, а в последствие и за източник за проучването ми на “Баухаус”. Кандински не спира да търси духовния свят вътре в изкуството и неговите собствени закони, които той нарича “космически”, вместо “природни”. Той изследва формите и цветовете, също както рационално настроените движения на ХХ век, но обяснението му е в дълбоко вкоренено чувство.
“Когато острият ъгъл на триъгълника докосва кръга, ефектът не е по-малък, отколкото при Микеланджело, когато пръстът на Бога докосва пръста на Адам.” (62, Дюхтинг, от Василий Кандински)
Прочетох книгата с желание да разбера за замисъла зад абстрактната живопис на един художник, а в последствие и за източник за проучването ми на “Баухаус”. Кандински не спира да търси духовния свят вътре в изкуството и неговите собствени закони, които той нарича “космически”, вместо “природни”. Той изследва формите и цветовете, също както рационално настроените движения на ХХ век, но обяснението му е в дълбоко вкоренено чувство.
“Когато острият ъгъл на триъгълника докосва кръга, ефектът не е по-малък, отколкото при Микеланджело, когато пръстът на Бога докосва пръста на Адам.” (62, Дюхтинг, от Василий Кандински)
April 8, 2024
No es la primera vez que leo este libro y admiro la obra del célebre artista ruso. Y siempre me maravilla, sin duda es de mis favoritos.
Además, este libro no solo está muy bien organizado y estructurado, si no, que tiene una calidad de papel y de impresión muy buenas y por ello se disfruta de verdad.
Está en inglés.
Además, este libro no solo está muy bien organizado y estructurado, si no, que tiene una calidad de papel y de impresión muy buenas y por ello se disfruta de verdad.
Está en inglés.
January 17, 2025
seria la mejor monografia que he leido si no me hubiera leído en su momento la de klimt de la misma editorial... la calidad de las imagenes y de la información son como siempre buenisimas para lo barato (relativamente) que es el libro
ha despertado en mi una verdadera fascinación por sus primeros grabados y sus pinturas al vidrio de su primera etapa!! que majo es el tío
ha despertado en mi una verdadera fascinación por sus primeros grabados y sus pinturas al vidrio de su primera etapa!! que majo es el tío
April 15, 2020
Beginning my foray into the art world beyond ooing and aahing in museums. Wrote a little bit about that ‘journey’, and my admiration of Kandinsky, on the blog: https://humanbeingman.wordpress.com/2...
January 24, 2021
Вътрешният свят, съдържащ толкова причудливи фирми и все пак разбираем
June 20, 2022
no haige vend ikka
August 2, 2012
Wassily Kandinsky: 1866-1944 a Revolution in Painting is one of Taschen's. After reading Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Kandinsky, I liked to get a little more background on him. After finishing Duechting's book, I was more surprised than ever that my 20th century art classes barely covered Kandinsky. He was on the forefront of abstraction and befriended and overlapped with artistic movements such as Fauvism, Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism, and was an instructor at the Bauhaus, but was barely a blip on the radar in my art and art history courses.
I was also surprised that as long as I was aware of Kandinsky and his art, I've basically been looking at the same five images in textbooks all this time. Taschen has collected a great number of works from Kandinsky's catalogue. Early representational works, his well-known abstractions, Klee-influenced works from his Bauhaus period onward, and Miro-influenced work from his time in Paris after the end of Bauhaus are all covered. Another gorgeous book from Taschen, and the text is clear and concise, if a bit cursory.
I was also surprised that as long as I was aware of Kandinsky and his art, I've basically been looking at the same five images in textbooks all this time. Taschen has collected a great number of works from Kandinsky's catalogue. Early representational works, his well-known abstractions, Klee-influenced works from his Bauhaus period onward, and Miro-influenced work from his time in Paris after the end of Bauhaus are all covered. Another gorgeous book from Taschen, and the text is clear and concise, if a bit cursory.
May 21, 2022
Strangely uninformative. The narrative format is weird (maybe each section was written by a different person?). And the photos of the art are scattered seemingly randomly throughout, with no consideration of the text.
November 24, 2012
A feast for the eyes, very colourfull and a nice little book as an introduction to the artist at an affordable price.
December 4, 2017
hates on composition 8 and the shift to hard edges.
August 12, 2025
regalo de cumple de mi suricata favorita que me conoce muy bien. gracias, Kandinsky, por ser de los primeros en abrirle la puerta a otro tipo de arte que resulta ser mi favorita.
December 27, 2019
La selección y calidad de las reproducciones de las obras de Kandinsky son del nivel de excelencia a que nos tiene acostumbrado la editorial Taschen en esta "Serie Menor de Taschen". La parte gráfica merece sus cuatro estrellas, pero es la calidad del texto lo que me lleva a otorgarle sólo tres estrellas.
Estoy totalmente de acuerdo con la reseña Goodreads de Ugh (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). Si bien se trata de un texto introductorio, queda corto -sobre todo considerando los escritos que dejó el propio autor. Terminamos por saber muy poco del pintor, apenas se mencionan otros artistas con quien se relacionó y los análisis de sus obras son poco útiles y muchas veces reproducen en palabras lo que se ve en las reproducciones fotográficas:
A pesar de lo indicado previamente, el libro sigue siendo una excelente introducción a la obra de Kandinsky y ciertamente ayuda a ubicarlo en su contexto al mencionar al menos su vinculación con movimientos artísticos que le fueron contemporáneos como la agrupación "El jinete azul" de la cuál fue co-fundador, la Bauhaus de la que formó parte, el suprematismo o constructivismo ruso, el expresionismo o el surrealismo(con los que no congeniaba),y artistas como Marc, Klee los Delauney, Rodtschenko, MIró, Mondrian y Arp, arquitectos como Gropius y músicos como Schönberg entre otros.
Estoy totalmente de acuerdo con la reseña Goodreads de Ugh (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). Si bien se trata de un texto introductorio, queda corto -sobre todo considerando los escritos que dejó el propio autor. Terminamos por saber muy poco del pintor, apenas se mencionan otros artistas con quien se relacionó y los análisis de sus obras son poco útiles y muchas veces reproducen en palabras lo que se ve en las reproducciones fotográficas:
Entre los cuadros más logrados de este año hay que incluir Improvisación soñadora.... En torno a un centro azul, flotan y se mueven diversas formas cromáticas sobre un fondo de coloración difusa, acompañada por las "segundas voces": trazos lineales y manchas gráficas que hacen acto de presencia como figuras independientes, como contrapunto a los colores libres.¿Qué es una "forma cromática", y qué diferencia tiene con una "mancha gráfica", cómo es que trazos y manchas "hacen acto de presencia" y qué significa que hagan "contrapunto a los colores libres"? Más que explicaciones o explicaciones tales textos confunden y enredan dentro de un lenguaje que bien puede considerarse pretencioso. Es cierto que Kandinsky concebía su obra pictórica en función de sinestesias, particularmente con la música -de allí quizás que Dúchting recurra, como lo hizo el propio Kandinsky, a hablar de "segundas voces" o "contrapunto". Lástima que el autor no aclarara o ahondara en estas correspondencias.
[...]
Composición VII... es la obra más importante de la época de Weimar. El vocabulario geométrico se reduce amuy pocos elementos, como el círculo, el semicírculo, el ángulo y las líneas rectas y curvas. Domina el cuadro un centro circular, situado en la esquina superior izquierda, rodeado por otros epicentros formados por círculos de colores dispersos a su alrededor. Algunos motivos ajedrezados atraviesan el espacio libre entre círculos y semicírculos, sin frenarlos y sin entrar en confrontación. La diferencia fundamental entre éstas y sus obras tempranas reside en ese equilibrio ambivalente de las partes del cuadro....
A pesar de lo indicado previamente, el libro sigue siendo una excelente introducción a la obra de Kandinsky y ciertamente ayuda a ubicarlo en su contexto al mencionar al menos su vinculación con movimientos artísticos que le fueron contemporáneos como la agrupación "El jinete azul" de la cuál fue co-fundador, la Bauhaus de la que formó parte, el suprematismo o constructivismo ruso, el expresionismo o el surrealismo(con los que no congeniaba),y artistas como Marc, Klee los Delauney, Rodtschenko, MIró, Mondrian y Arp, arquitectos como Gropius y músicos como Schönberg entre otros.
January 6, 2019
Сред любимите му художници!
Изданието е чудесно.
Преди да се захване сериозно с живопис, Кандински получава "сериозна" професия – по желание на родителите той завършва юридическия факултет на Московския университет. Кариерата му върви отлично – през 1893 г., след като завършва университета, той остава в него като преподавател, а след 3 години Дерптският университет в Тарту (днес в Естония) му предлага място на професор по юриспруденция. Тъкмо по това време 30-годишният художник окончателно решава да се посвети на живописта.
В неговото съзнание живописта е тясно свързана с музиката. Впечатлението от постановката "Лоенгрин" на Вагнер в Болшой театър става една от причините, подтикнали го да изостави юридическата кариера. В автобиографичната книга "Стъпала" той описва по следния начин възприятията си: "Цигулките, дълбоките баси и преди всичко духовите инструменти въплъщаваха в моето възприятие цялата сила на часа на свечеряване, мислено виждах всички мои цветове, тя бяха пред очите ми. Луди, почти безумни линии рисуваха пред мен". Музиката и по-нататък ще го вдъхновява за създаването на картини. След концерт на Арнолд Шьонберг в Мюнхен през 1911 г. той рисува "Импресия III (Концерт)" (изложена е в галерията "Ленбах" в Мюнхен).
Синтезът на изкуствата е изключително важен за Кандински и той не се ограничава с живопис и музика. Прави оформление на интериори, създава ескизи за рисунки по порцелан, прави ескизи за рокли и мебели, интересува се от фотография и кинематография.
В търсенето на нов език Кандински минава през разни стилове. През 1896 г. той е потресен от картината на Моне "Купа сено", която по онова време е изложена в Москва. По-късно в Мюнхен Антон Ашбе, в чиято школа учи Кандински, го склонява да използва отделни щрихи и чисти цветове. Стиловете модерн и символизъм са му близки, той рисува традиционни сюжети с къщи като "Дами в кринолини" от 1909 г. (Третяковската галерия). А след пътуването си по Европа в работите му се появяват елементи на фовизма и живописта в стил "Набидов".
Като се отказва от сюжета в картините, той въвежда нова класификация на жанровете. Вместо предишните портрети, пейзажи и натюрморти при него се появява "импресия" – творби, в които се запазва връзката с природата, "импровизации" – спонтанни и често несъзнателни изразявания на вътрешни впечатления и емоции, и "композиции" – синтез на външните форми и вътрешното съдържание, изразяван чрез линията и цвета.
Василий Кандински е плодовит – само през периода на създаването на абстрактния език – от 1909 до 1914 г. – той създава 200 платна с живопис и множество ескизи. Много от тях са загубени – в Съветския съюз ги изпращат в провинциални музеи и ги крият в тефтери като несъответстващи на духа на социалистическия реализъм, а в нацистка Германия пък ги класифицират като дегенаративно изкуство.
❤️
Изданието е чудесно.
Преди да се захване сериозно с живопис, Кандински получава "сериозна" професия – по желание на родителите той завършва юридическия факултет на Московския университет. Кариерата му върви отлично – през 1893 г., след като завършва университета, той остава в него като преподавател, а след 3 години Дерптският университет в Тарту (днес в Естония) му предлага място на професор по юриспруденция. Тъкмо по това време 30-годишният художник окончателно решава да се посвети на живописта.
В неговото съзнание живописта е тясно свързана с музиката. Впечатлението от постановката "Лоенгрин" на Вагнер в Болшой театър става една от причините, подтикнали го да изостави юридическата кариера. В автобиографичната книга "Стъпала" той описва по следния начин възприятията си: "Цигулките, дълбоките баси и преди всичко духовите инструменти въплъщаваха в моето възприятие цялата сила на часа на свечеряване, мислено виждах всички мои цветове, тя бяха пред очите ми. Луди, почти безумни линии рисуваха пред мен". Музиката и по-нататък ще го вдъхновява за създаването на картини. След концерт на Арнолд Шьонберг в Мюнхен през 1911 г. той рисува "Импресия III (Концерт)" (изложена е в галерията "Ленбах" в Мюнхен).
Синтезът на изкуствата е изключително важен за Кандински и той не се ограничава с живопис и музика. Прави оформление на интериори, създава ескизи за рисунки по порцелан, прави ескизи за рокли и мебели, интересува се от фотография и кинематография.
В търсенето на нов език Кандински минава през разни стилове. През 1896 г. той е потресен от картината на Моне "Купа сено", която по онова време е изложена в Москва. По-късно в Мюнхен Антон Ашбе, в чиято школа учи Кандински, го склонява да използва отделни щрихи и чисти цветове. Стиловете модерн и символизъм са му близки, той рисува традиционни сюжети с къщи като "Дами в кринолини" от 1909 г. (Третяковската галерия). А след пътуването си по Европа в работите му се появяват елементи на фовизма и живописта в стил "Набидов".
Като се отказва от сюжета в картините, той въвежда нова класификация на жанровете. Вместо предишните портрети, пейзажи и натюрморти при него се появява "импресия" – творби, в които се запазва връзката с природата, "импровизации" – спонтанни и често несъзнателни изразявания на вътрешни впечатления и емоции, и "композиции" – синтез на външните форми и вътрешното съдържание, изразяван чрез линията и цвета.
Василий Кандински е плодовит – само през периода на създаването на абстрактния език – от 1909 до 1914 г. – той създава 200 платна с живопис и множество ескизи. Много от тях са загубени – в Съветския съюз ги изпращат в провинциални музеи и ги крият в тефтери като несъответстващи на духа на социалистическия реализъм, а в нацистка Германия пък ги класифицират като дегенаративно изкуство.
❤️
October 25, 2018
Parte histórico, parte biográfico, parte catalogo, parte trabalho de faculdade, o livro apresenta uma proposta simples de ser um informe inicial sobre a vida, obra e contexto do artista. E francamente ele atende suficientemente bem esses objetivos.
Tenho que admitir que fiquei com uma sensação de absência durante quase toda leitura como se partes que me interessariam muito saber simplesmente não tivessem sido sequer cogitadas pelo autor. Contudo não acredito que seria justo julgar esse livro pelo que eu queria que fosse, por isso me atenho ao que acredito que eram os objetivos do autor no desenvolvimento da obra, e nessas arenas o livro se sustenta de forma aceitável, abrindo a porta com suas referencias iniciais para vida do pintor russo Wassily Kandinsky. Recomendo para que tem o desejo de saber um pouco mais sobre o artista.
O único ponto negativo que realmente me saltou aos olhos, que não sei se foi ocorrências do original também, foram as sessões onde houve um excesso desnecessários de jargão técnico ou rebuscamento excessivo chegando a literalmente travar a leitura. Tal foi obtusidade nesses momentos que me lembrei até de um trabalho acadêmico onde o estudante busca fazer do texto uma vitrine de palavras eruditas e jargão técnico para tentar convencer o professor de que possui o conhecimento que é posto a prova.
Em geral uma leitura rápida e interessante, recomendo para não artistas interessados em Kandinsky ou arte abstrata e para Artistas que só desejam ter um conhecimento superficial sobre o pintor russo.
Tenho que admitir que fiquei com uma sensação de absência durante quase toda leitura como se partes que me interessariam muito saber simplesmente não tivessem sido sequer cogitadas pelo autor. Contudo não acredito que seria justo julgar esse livro pelo que eu queria que fosse, por isso me atenho ao que acredito que eram os objetivos do autor no desenvolvimento da obra, e nessas arenas o livro se sustenta de forma aceitável, abrindo a porta com suas referencias iniciais para vida do pintor russo Wassily Kandinsky. Recomendo para que tem o desejo de saber um pouco mais sobre o artista.
O único ponto negativo que realmente me saltou aos olhos, que não sei se foi ocorrências do original também, foram as sessões onde houve um excesso desnecessários de jargão técnico ou rebuscamento excessivo chegando a literalmente travar a leitura. Tal foi obtusidade nesses momentos que me lembrei até de um trabalho acadêmico onde o estudante busca fazer do texto uma vitrine de palavras eruditas e jargão técnico para tentar convencer o professor de que possui o conhecimento que é posto a prova.
Em geral uma leitura rápida e interessante, recomendo para não artistas interessados em Kandinsky ou arte abstrata e para Artistas que só desejam ter um conhecimento superficial sobre o pintor russo.
March 18, 2018
The book's greatest strength lies in its somewhat extensive catalogue of Kandinsky's less well-known paintings - it presents a very wide body of work, spanning several decades, demonstrating the various influences and phases explored by the painter.
The text itself feels a bit jarring at times - art criticism and analysis which I found hard to see on the painting, as if the author couldn't possibily be looking at the same painting as me. But I guess that's art, right?
Anyway, as with all of these books edited by Taschen, it's a must in any collection. And if Kandinsky's paintings speak to you like that of no other artist, like they do to me, than don't hesitate and learn a bit more about the man behind the art - if you dare.
The text itself feels a bit jarring at times - art criticism and analysis which I found hard to see on the painting, as if the author couldn't possibily be looking at the same painting as me. But I guess that's art, right?
Anyway, as with all of these books edited by Taschen, it's a must in any collection. And if Kandinsky's paintings speak to you like that of no other artist, like they do to me, than don't hesitate and learn a bit more about the man behind the art - if you dare.
April 10, 2024
Een moeilijk te begrijpen schilder wordt door een geduldige explicateur Hajo Düchting toegankelijk gemaakt voor de leek. De theorie van Kandinsky door hemzelf verwoord kon ik niet volgen. Ik begrijp dat het figuratieve moest worden uitgebannen en een nieuwe kunsttaal moest worden gecreëerd. Cirkels en kleuren spelen hierin een grote rol. Vooral in zijn laatste jaren in Parijs weet hij een vrolijke sfeer te scheppen in zijn schilderijen. Zijn kleurgevoel is natuurlijk onovertroffen. Maar de Rode Vlek II blijft mysterieus ook la heeft Düchting er een hele pagina aan gewijd om het schilderij te duiden.
November 21, 2023
An erudite and comprehensively illustrated survey of Kandinsky’s career. Biographical detail is combined with artistic analysis to provide an excellent introduction to this sometimes challenging but ultimately rewarding artist.
I thoroughly enjoyed the text although it was written some decades ago. I was frequently transported back to galleries in Russia and France where I first encountered Kandinsky’s colourful juxtaposition of forms and lines.
Thoroughly recommended.
I thoroughly enjoyed the text although it was written some decades ago. I was frequently transported back to galleries in Russia and France where I first encountered Kandinsky’s colourful juxtaposition of forms and lines.
Thoroughly recommended.
January 10, 2025
A short but very well captured life and journey of one of the great artists to ever be. So inspiring to get a glimpse into the workings of Kandinsky the artist from beginning until his very end. How he carried and spread this beliefs. How they wove into every piece of his work. And how to this day, his ideas and ideologies continue to have an impact on the art world.
September 30, 2024
"Общо взето , цветът представлява средство за осъществяване на непосредственото влияние върху душата.Цветът е клавиш,окото чукче,душата е многострунен роял.А художникът е ръката,която свирейки,чрез един или друг клавиш целенасочено привежда човешката душа в трептене."
April 15, 2018
Compact boekje over Kandinsky en zijn werk. Mooie kleurenfoto's.
May 11, 2019
An idiosyncratic genius, once in a lifetime colorist and abstractionist.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews