I applied streaks and blobs of color onto the canvas with a

Wassily Kandinsky

palette knife and I made them sing with all the intensity I could...

Who is Wassily Kandinsky?

Wassily Kandinsky was born on December, 16th in Moscow 1866. He was a Russian painter, printmaker and art theorist. He was one of the most famous 20th-century artists, he is credited with painting the first modern abstract works.

Kandinsky & his early training

He was 30 before he went to Munich, Germany and began to truly study art. He focused, at first, on creating sketches and studies of human bodies. He settled in Germany after World War I where he taught art at the Bauhaus school and painted until the Nazis came into power. At that point (1933), he went back to France where he remained for the rest of his life.
Farewell 1903

Colorful Life 1907

Realistic to Abstract
Picture with Archer 1909

Kandinskys earliest paintings were quite realistic. Then he moved into a style similar to that of the Impressionists before he began creating completely abstract paintings.

Improvisation 26 (Oars) 1912

Color, Color, and More Color!

Kandinsky was especially interested in color, even as a child. Beginning in his earlier, more realistic paintings, Kandinsky used color to show emotion rather than to make objects look real. As he grew as an artist, Kandinsky became more concerned with the power of Composition color in describing what he X was feeling. He wanted to 1939. use color to make his viewers feel emotion, too.
Picture XVI, The Great Gate of Kiev 1928

He Preferred Abstract
Gradually, Kandinskys work became more abstract.
He began to paint objects as patches of color instead of painting perfect details such as facial features or individual leaves on trees.

He liked the abstract more than the realistic.

As he grew as an artist, his figures became less realistic until the viewer could no longer identify known objects in his paintings.

Kandinskys Legacy
Kandinsky was trying to create the same effect on a viewer of his paintings as a beautiful piece of music has on a listener. Kandinsky Died December 13, 1944 in France Kandinskys ideas about art are possibly more important than even the paintings he created. He wrote three books about his ideas.

Ways to Teach Kandinsky Art

What's left in art when you take away anything that looks like something? Kandinsky did it---leaving color, line, shapes, and angles!

Kandinsky Colorweaver
Wassily Kandinsky made a beautiful painting called "Color Studies" back in the early 1900's that is fun to imitate with oil pastels instead of watercolor.

Kandinsky Geometry

The purpose of the activity is for kids to learn to measure diameter, radius, and circumference of a circle. This activity is good for 3rd and 4th graders.

CIRCLES IN CIRCLE 1923

A LITTLE KANDINSKY
Students explore the expressive qualities of line and color through the study of Wassily Kandinsky. They will also become more familiar with the painting process, as well as different kinds of colors and lines.
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) Composition VIII 1923

Grade: K-2 (adaptable for other grades) Age: 4-6

Responding to Music with Paint!

Music was very important to Kandinskys beliefs about art. This lesson can be used to incorporate music into your students art.

Kandinsky Circles
Introduce students to the artwork of Wassily Kandinsky. Students create their own circle drawing using oil pastels making sure to color in slowly and carefully.

Good for 1st Grade

The End
Created By Sara Pittack Art Methods Fall 2012