Around the Circle
Assignment written for The London School of Journalism
Photo credits to The Guggenheim Museum
I recently attended the exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, of the Russian abstract artist and theorist Kandinsky, titled “Vasily Kandinsky: Around the Circle.”
Born in Moscow in 1866, Kandinsky advanced the Abstract art movement through his explorations in colour, form, and psychology.
Located within the spiralling ramps of the museum, the show’s curator Megan Fontanella, has organised over eighty pieces of Kandinsky’s work in reverse chronological order, beginning with his later life works through to his earliest. These include a mixture of paintings, watercolours and woodcuttings.
You are taken on a journey, beginning with his final years in France (1934 - 1944), where he combined his interests in the Surrealist movement and Slavic art, depicting colourful, organic forms. This is seen most notably in his piece, Around the Circle (1940, Image 1).
Image 1. Kandinsky, Vasily. Around the Circle. 1940. Oil and Enamel on Canvas. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Following this, are works from Kandinsky’s years of teaching art and theory at the Bauhaus school in Germany (1922 – 1933). His piece Komposition 8 (1923, Image 2) illustrates how geometrical elements became much more prevalent in his work during this time.
Image 2. Kandinsky,Vasily. Komposition 8. 1923. Oil on Canvas. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
The subsequent period (1914 – 1922) reflects the return to his homeland, experiencing the First World War, Russian Revolution and the avant-garde influence in Russia.
Lastly, are his early works whilst living in Munich (1902 – 1914), which are particularly abstract and Expressionist, markedly through his fierce use of colour and fluidity of form. This is most evident in the oil painting Blue Mountain (1908-09, Image 3).
Image 3. Kandinsky, Vasily. Blue Mountain. 1908-09. Oil on Canvas. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
The common theme throughout, is metamorphosis. Each period of work displays a distinct change from the previous, reflecting Kandinsky’s reaction to his continual displacement around Europe. Moving through the exhibition, I see other visitors glancing across the rotunda, comparing his works from different periods and taking in his journey as an artist, capturing the key notion of “Around the Circle.”