“Painting is like a thundering collision of different worlds that are destined in and through conflict to create that new world called the work. Technically, every work of art comes into being in the same way as the cosmos – by means of catastrophes, which ultimately create out of the cacophony of the various instruments that symphony we call the music of the spheres, the creation of the work of art is the creation of the world.”
Vassily Kandinskiy
Introduction
Vassliy Kandinskiy (1866-1944) is a Russian painter, theoretician of fine art, and one of the abstract founders. Abstractionism- an abstract genre of art; artistic content depends on internal form rather than pictorial representation. Abstraction produces dramatic visual effect with colors and contrast that are difficult for the eye to resolve. Many of Kandinskiy’s works are cause association with a cosmos, universe. They are full of obscure abstract images situated in chaotic movement. Kandinskiy considered “The Composition” to be the highest form of creativity. For his abstract compositions, Kandinskiy assigned serial numbers. Of ten “Compositions”, only seven survive. Composition VII is one of the best known canvases. In preparation for it, the artist did many pencil drawings, water color etudes and sketches in which he worked out both the details and general intent. Like the Old Masters, he transposed the composition to canvas using a preliminary drawing on the canvas. Composition VII is amazing in terms of its combination of emotional expression and well thought out structure of the whole. The logic center of the composition is a rotation of forms, expressed by a violet spot and black lines and strokes of paint next to them. Kandinskiy dreamed of revealing some new “spirit of the times” via his art, which would embody the oncoming age of Great Spirituality. He believed that the task of art is to scrape away the material covering from the human soul. Composition VII was pointed in 1913, the media used is oil on canvas, and Composition VII belongs to Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia today.
Elements
For Kandinskiy, line, color, and shape were subjects in themselves. They were often rendered with a spontaneity born of the psychological process of free association.
The line is at once the simplest and most complex of the elements of art. It serves as a basic building block around which an art form is constructed and, by itself, has the capacity to evoke thought and emotion. In the Composition VII, lines play an important role because line outline shapes, to evoke forms and movement. Kandinskiy uses a few types of lines. The first is an actual line that shows the movement from the top left corner to the bottom left corner. It is a thin red line that become thicker as it goes down and changes shape to look like an eagle or hawk with open wings. This shape looks harmonically because parallel to it is a yellow zigzag line. In the bottom left third part of the picture is a counter line which accepts movement by the broad red stripe that ended with a right angle. Red angle is a focus of the composition. Implied lines in the composition make a spiral which gives the illusion of motion. Psychological line is a center of the composition where Kandinskiy shows a certain image of all-seeing eye.
Shape is another element that defines areas within a composition that has boundaries that separate them from what surround them; shapes make these areas distinct. Shapes are formed when intersecting or connected lines enclose space. Kandinskiy uses organic shapes which have unity with micro and macro world where a black bug in the lower left corner looks almost the same size as an eagle on the right side of the bug. Some shapes look like a butterfly, birds, flowers, a boat, and many others. Moreover, each person defines their own shapes because according to Sigmund Freud (the founder of psychoanalysis), human unconscious mind gives people free associations that follow to their personality. Dynamics and more clear lines are in a middle. They define positive shapes where Kandinskiy focuses his point of view. The sides of the picture are blurred and are not as clear as in the middle. Also, Kandinsky creates many amorphous shapes that can’t be clearly defined as being derived from nature or the laws of geometry.
Color is the central element. The color in works of art can also trigger strong emotional responses in the observer, working hand in hand with line and shape. For Kandinskiy, music and color were inextricably tied to one another. So clear was this relationship that Kandinskiy associated each note with an exact hue. The greatest intensity of color saturation is in a middle of composition where the artist defines pure black color. Black color in the middle looks aggressive and hard, compared to the soft edges of the composition. Kandinskiy defines movement by color accents. He uses primary colors that overlap and create secondary colors. Often he uses analogous colors such as yellow and orange, red and orange, blue and green. Analogous colors give the Composition VII a sense of harmony. The color unity creates overall yellow tonality to this work of art. Yellow dominates the composition even though other colors are clear in the work. The dramatic tension is created by collision of color tones that do not complement each other. They create a contrast and highlight the emotion of the picture.
Reaction.
Composition VII gave me two ambiguous feelings. My first reaction to Composition VII was confusing. I think any person who has not dealt with art in their past would be confused looking at the canvas with unclear abstract lines painted without any idea and clear realistic forms. I looked at the Composition VII, and it did not give me any positive or negative feelings because I was confused. I liked colors, but I did not understand the idea of it. However, I was interested to solve this puzzle and to find out what the idea of the Composition VII is.
My second feeling appeared after researching what abstract art is, and what the philosophy of Kandinskiy’s art is. After research, I understand the essence of the Composition VII. As I look at the center of the composition, I feel hypnotized, and as a funnel it sucks my attention inside the picture where new forms and silhouettes appear. Now I am able to see the movement, a chain of psychological and emotional vibration. Colors guide me through the abstract forms and influence my soul. I like the way the artist uses the motion from the outside to inside where an all-seeing eye appears. I like how the shapes and colors complement each other. I like the emotions in the picture. It gives me positive feelings because of the light, warm colors, and bizarre forms that give to my unconscious mind all kinds of imagination. Composition VII is a universe for me because I can see everything in there- singing birds, sunrise on the river, and nature in all its beauty, angels, God, music, and something else that is very hard to explain with words, may be because the universe is impossible to explain.