Wassily Kandinsky - Artist

Wassily Kandinsky played a pivotal role both as a theorist and artist in the development of abstract art. Kandinsky was born in 1866 in Moscow, he went onto study in Munich, Germany from 1896 to 1900 at the Academy of Fine Arts. Prior to 1909 his early paintings were created in a naturalistic style, it was after a trip to Paris and viewing the works of the postimpressionists and the Fauves that his paintings became more colourful and looser. It was from 1913 that his works were considered the first abstract paintings in modern art. The inspiration for these works was derived from music probably due to fact that Kandinsky was born into a very musical family. He formed a group with Franz Marc and other German Impressionists in 1911 called 'The Blue Rider' group, in this time he produced dramatically coloured and complex patterned, abstract and figurative paintings. Kandinsky was a pioneer in the exploration of 'pure' abstraction and his activities as a teacher and theorist had a great influence on the course of 20th century art. Kandinsky paved the way for abstract expressionism and continued painting up until his death in December 1944.

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