Wassily Kandinsky
| Full Name: | Vasili Vasílievich Kandinski. |
|---|---|
| Birth: | 1866, Moscow, Russia. |
| Death: | 1944, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction | Expressionism. |
Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) was a painter and visionary born in Moscow, Russia, whose work radically transformed the understanding of modern art. Considered the pioneer of lyrical abstraction, he freed color and form from any obligation to represent the visible world. In his works, tones and shapes—geometric or intuitive—seem to breathe and convey strength, emotion, and rhythm.
The expressive power of his compositions and improvisations was recognized as brilliant by his contemporaries. His paintings are true explosions, where silhouettes constantly transform before the viewer’s eyes. Kandinsky aspired for art to transcend the limits of sight, to be heard as well, and to evoke emotion—much like a musical symphony.
Among his most decisive influences were Claude Monet—especially after seeing his painting "Haystacks", which revealed to him the "autonomy of color"—and the Fauvist painters, admired for their chromatic boldness and compositional freedom. These inspirations, combined with his background in music, philosophy, and psychology, made his work a unique creative fusion for his time.
Kandinsky believed that each color possessed an inner vibration capable of resonating within the viewer’s soul: blue evoked spirituality, yellow expansive energy, and red vital strength. His admiration for the music of Richard Wagner led him to experiment with synesthetic art, where sounds turned into shapes and musical tones became patches of color. This fusion between hearing and sight formed the core of his artistic pursuit.
Kandinsky’s Works
1. Composition VIII
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1923 |
| Located: | Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York |
"Composition VIII" is one of the most representative works by Wassily Kandinsky, created in 1923 during his period at the Bauhaus. This painting marks a turning point in his career, where the artist consolidated his abstract language based on geometric precision, mathematical harmony, and the dynamic interaction between shapes and colors.
Read more
2. Yellow-Red-Blue
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1925 |
| Located: | Centro Pompidou, París |
3. Transverse Line
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1923 |
| Located: | Museo Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Alemania |
Work by Wassily Kandinsky, the painting Transverse Line was painted in 1923, and today is part of the collection of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen museum in the city of Düsseldorf, Germany.
4. Color Study, Squares with Concentric Circles
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Watercolor and Wax |
| Support: | Paper |
| Year: | 1913 |
| Located: | Museo Lenbachhaus, Munich |
Collection of squares and concentric circles in vivid colors. A masterpiece of Russian abstract art by Wassily Kandinsky.
5. Arch and Point
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Ink, watercolor, and pencil |
| Support: | Paper |
| Year: | 1929 |
The painting titled "Arch and Point" by Wassily Kandinsky was painted by the artist in Moscow in 1929. The original work was done with ink, watercolor, and pencil on paper. At Artwork-Vault, we offer a hand-painted replica in oil on canvas.
6. Black and Violet
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Schwarz und Violett |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1923 |
7. Blue Sky
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Himmelblau |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1940 |
| Located: | Centro Pompidou, París |
Decorative painting by Wassily Kandinsky, a hand-painted reproduction of the work. The original is currently on display at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France.
8. Upward (Empor)
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1929 |
| Located: | Museo Solomon R. Guggenheim, Nueva York |
Work of the Russian painter, the painting consists of geometric figures on a background of bluish-green shades.
9. Merry Structure
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Structure joyeuse |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1926 |
Painting of abstract figures, where the colors red and yellow predominate. Two-dimensional composition. Lyrical abstract style of the painter Wassily Kandinsky.
10. Soft Hard
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Weiches Hart |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1927 |
| Located: | Galerie Maeght, París |
Work in which the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky has aimed to express the contrast between the soft and the hard, using geometric figures and an electric blue background.
11. The Great Tower of Kiev
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Großer Turm, Kiew |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
Two-dimensional composition that displays an image of the world with the tower at its peak. The colors employed are vivid, widely used in other works by the painter. Painting by Wassily Kandinsky.
12. On the Points
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1928 |
| Located: | Museo de Arte Moderno de París |
Painted by Wassily Kandinsky in 1928. The painting displays a triple horizontal base, upon which several acute angles ending in circles are positioned. The colors operate independently of the shapes, creating an effect of transparency, a characteristic of Kandinsky's paintings.
The original painting is currently displayed at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.
13. For and Against
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
Artistic composition by Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. A painting of red hues, ideal for bold decorations in workspaces, offices, and homes.
14. Murnau with Church I
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1910 |
| Located: | Museo Lenbachhaus, Múnich |
Painting Murnau with Church I by Wassily Kandinsky, painted in 1910. The original is exhibited in Lenbachhaus, Munich.
15. Fixed Flight
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1932 |
Painted towards the end of the artist's life, in the year 1932. The work features colorful shapes distributed in small pieces over a navy blue background. The painting marks the beginning of the painter's final artistic period in Paris.
16. Heavy Red
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Schweres Rot |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
Work by Wassily Kandinsky in which one can appreciate circular shapes and squares colored in vivid tones; the painting is a good representative of lyrical abstraction, a style of which the artist was one of the initiators.
17. Floors
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1929 |
The particular name of this painting is due to the shape of its figures; indeed, at the center there is a sort of skeleton with multiple levels of height. The work was painted by Wassily Kandinsky in 1929.
Due to its dark blue tones, this painting is ideal for decorating walls illuminated in warm pastel colors.
18. Munich-Schwabing with the Church of St. Ursula
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | München-Schwabing mit Ursulakirche |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1908 |
| Located: | Museo Lenbachhaus, Alemania |
The painting Munich-Schwabing with the Church of St. Ursula by Wassily Kandinsky was painted in 1908. Oil on canvas replica, ideal for wall decoration in spaces with more subdued colors.
19. Interior (My Dining Room)
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Innenraum (mein Esszimmer) |
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Cardboard |
| Year: | 1909 |
| Located: | Museo Lenbachhaus, Múnich |
Oil on cardboard, painted by Wassily Kandinsky in 1909. It is characterized by the explosion of colors, which the artist is able to rescue from the grayest spaces, in this case the dining room of the painter himself. The painting currently belongs to the collection of the Lenbachhaus gallery, Munich.
20. Improvisation 19
| Author: | Wassily Kandinsky |
|---|---|
| Type: | Painting |
| Style: | Lyrical Abstraction |
| Medium | Oil |
| Support: | Canvas |
| Year: | 1911 |
| Located: | Galería Lenbachhaus, Múnich |
Although the title of the painting is "Improvisation 19," it was also named by the artist as "Blue Tone," due to the prominence of this color in the canvas. The technique used to spread the color is dry brush gliding, in this way the painter achieved those coarse and vivid blues at the same time.
Order it in the Kandinsky oil paintings section.
Related famous painters:
See how to decorate with abstract art
↑Back to top