Exhibition of Kandinsky Work in Paris

An exhibition displaying more than 90 works of the Russian painter, Kandinsky is running from April 8,2009 at the Georges Pompidou Center and will run until August 10 before heading to New York, where the exhibition will be hosted by the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum this
fall.

The exhibition is jointly organized by the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris and the Guggenheim in New York, features the works of the artist in chronological order, divided into the five major periods of his artistic career, which were marked by the three countries he resided in: Russia, Germany and France.

Starting with pieces from his years as a student in Munich and his travels through Europe (1896-1907), the exhibition debuts with paintings of folklore and legends from his country of birth, Russia. Whether painted in Munich or Paris, these first works show the
influence from his natal city Moscow. At this stage his paintings deal with concrete subjects, such as Russian Scene, painted in 1903.

The second period, Munich (1908 to 1914), marks a turning point in the artist’s work, where he moves away from limited forms and towards abstract art. The use of strong colors becomes more prevalent.

During this period even the titles of his paintings changed, from detailed descriptions such as, Landscape near Murnau with Locomotive, 1909, to the use of terms like “improvisations.” The improvisations, apart from being a reference to music and it’s relation with color,
are what the artist described as “visual translations of strong spiritual moments.”

In 1914, after the declaration of the War, Kandinsky was forced to return to Russia where he spent six years. Leaving Germany, following the breakup of his relationship with Gabrielle Münter, led Kandinsky to a somber unproductive period. The few pieces produced during this time show a return to the naivety that characterized the first years of his career. Paintings such as, Moscow, 1916, show tangible forms and concrete subjects; Moscow again became his principle subject.

Regrettably, the first three compositions were destroyed during World War II. The highlight of the exhibition (and probably of Kandinsky’s career) is the fourth room or fourth period of works dating from the time the artist left the Soviet Union and settled in Germany in 1921.
This was a time of intense creativity, painting, teaching and writing, which gave birth to some of the most representative art of Kandinsky, including Composition VIII and Several circles.

Kandinsky had always expressed a strong dislike for the color black and it is significant that he chose it as the dominating color of his last major artistic statement.Because of Nazi persecution, Kandinsky left Germany in 1933, and settled in Neuilly Sur Seine, in France,
where he died in 1944 as a French citizen.