Kandinsky

by Vivian Endicott Barnett, Christian Derouet, Wassily Kandinsky (Artist)

No other artist epitomizes the character of the Guggenheim Museum quite like Vasily Kandinsky, who is closely linked to the history of the museum and has been collected in depth in the permanent collection since its founding. Kandinsky accompanies the first full-scale retrospective of the artist's career to be exhibited in the United States since 1985, when the Guggenheim culminated its trio of groundbreaking exhibitions of the artist's life and work in Munich, Russia and Paris. This presentation of nearly 100 paintings brings together works from the three institutions that have the greatest concentration of Kandinsky's work in the the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; and Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich; as well as significant loans from private and public holdings. This traveling exhibition's final iteration at the Guggenheim Museum will investigate both Kandinsky's formal and conceptual contributions to the course of abstraction in the twentieth century, concentrating on his innovations in painting. Kandinsky traces the artist's vision through thematic motifs such as the horse and rider, mountainous landscapes, tumultuous seascapes, apocalyptic imagery and other religious subjects.

Genres: Art

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jaimie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wassily Kandinsky was my chosen calendar artist for 2024, so I figured that since I don’t know much about him (besides being intrigued by his abstract artworks showcased for 2024) I should probably pick up a book or two and read up. This catalogue from the major retrospective exhibition hosted by the Guggenheim Museum, Centre Georges Pompidou, and Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus looked like the perfect place to begin since it promised a plethora of artworks from the three major museum/gallery collections of Kandinsky’s work. Unfortunately, the text assumed that the reader was well-versed in the Russian expat artist and his life, and dove right into a collection of essays that examined carefully curated sections of his artistic output. I’m sure that for Kandinsky aficionados, scholars, and collectors this book is a lovely addition to their reading list, but I needed a far more grounded approach to get into Kandinsky’s work. The focus on artistic minutia and art world language made me lose interest halfway through most of the essays, and the lack of embedded visuals left me with little to centre on. For a brief moment during Tracey Bashkoff’s essay “Kandinsky and ‘America in General’” I had some familiar subject matter to grasp - as she touches on the Third Reich’s effect on the German art community - but this moment was all to brief before I was thrown once again into the deluge. Not even once I had reached the collection of plates was I able to fully surface and find my bearing with Kandinsky, since the accompanying text lacked any sense of emotional depth and relied on the familiar academic snobbery and expectation of knowledge that so often alienates me while exploring art books. I appreciated the chronological aspect of the section, but left to the finale and without a well-narrated life story it came too late to remedy my disappointment with this book. I’ll take a break from any sort of further exploration of Kandinsky for now, and simply enjoy each month’s artwork as it is presented - and hopefully at some point I’ll stumble upon a more accessible method of understanding his work.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of my favorite paintings is Kandinsky's Several Circles. It looked even more beautiful in person than in any book. This book breaks down Kandinsky's life's work into six essays ranging from Kandinsky's definition of "abstract" - which he preferred the term "concrete" - and his place within that genre of art to his relationship with the publisher Zervos of The Cahiers d'Art to his connection to art in America. The catalogue portion is broken down among the residences of Kandinsky - Moscow, Berlin, Bauhaus and Paris, i.e.

Personally, my favorite period of Kandinsky's works is his Bauhaus period. The more minimal he is, the more I feel his work is un-muddled, clear-minded, concisely expressive. Most often I feel his works are too busy. I don't connect it. I feel like its energy is pushing out towards me rather than pulling me in. I love learning about Kandinsky's theories and philosophies regarding the arts - however, I'm not so certain he was as communicative at expressing those thoughts through his art as he was through language. Interesting book but still left more to be desired, I felt.