Transcription
My name is Anna Nikitina. I am a designer, artist, and a lecturer in the Department of Design at Saint Petersburg State University. And today, our lecture will be dedicated to Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian artist, an abstractionist. Just one second, I will launch the presentation. So, Wassily Kandinsky. Life as points and lines on a plane. My lecture will not provide a precise, complete overview of Wassily Kandinsky's work. This is absolutely impossible, because, well, one can talk about Wassily Kandinsky for much longer than an hour. About each of his periods, about each of his discoveries, pedagogical, creative, theoretical. It is a huge topic. It is a stratum, it is a giant. I just want to draw your attention. Well, and, of course, there is a lot of material on the internet. You have surely watched, listened, seen, and attended exhibitions. I just want to draw your attention to some moments, points in his life, which over time formed into lines and led to serious changes in his perception as an artist. I want to show you how he became an abstractionist, how he came to this at all. I want to show you how he, a lawyer, suddenly became an artist at 30 years old. And I want to show you how his artistic views evolved, and also, how this person managed to live, to go through his life path, to go through all the difficulties, turning points, how, what character qualities helped him in this, where it came from, and how it manifested in his work. I would like to start with a topic like family. Kandinsky's father, and Kandinsky's family in general, along one of the lines, along the father's line. Kandinsky is from Transbaikalia. More precisely, they say that the family is from Western Siberia, but someone in their lineage had some curious incident, he did not give up his horses to a noble dignitary. And he was exiled to Transbaikalia along one of the branches, or more precisely, even if I say more specifically, Kandinsky's great-grandmother was a Mansi princess. A princess from the Kondinsky principality. Who are the Mansi? They are one of the indigenous peoples of Transbaikalia. After Yermak's campaigns and the annexation of Siberia to Russia, they came under the submission of the Russian Tsar. I will show you just a little bit of what this is, who and what kind of climate there is, because, I think, it is very important to understand this in order to understand how Wassily Kandinsky's character was formed. Look at the map. Here is Saint Petersburg, here is Moscow, here is the river Konda, here is Tobolsk, here is Khanty-Mansiysk, and here is this little green area. Green. Not because the map is small, but because there is nothing there. It is taiga. And in such conditions, well, so that you understand, the climate there is continental, which means that snow cover lies for about 7 months. The snow cover can be more than a meter thick, and the summer is short but warm. That is, it is about +16 with frosts down to -2. As you understand, the character of people who lived there from generation to generation in such a place could not be weak. And even if you read about Yermak's campaigns, it is often told that one Cossack detachment did not survive the winter, simply froze to death, another Cossack detachment did not survive the winter. And when a family has lived in a certain territory for a long time, certain qualities are evolutionarily fixed. That is, they are considered important because they led to survival. I think it is the same with Wassily Kandinsky, this strength of character. Some of his artist friends called him a Mongolian prince. So, this strength of character, it comes from there. I will return to another branch. His mother was of Baltic German descent. They spoke German perfectly in the family. Kandinsky spoke German from childhood. And when he was 5 years old, his mother left the family. She had a new family. Kandinsky was raised by his aunt, his mother's sister, and his father. His father was a merchant of the first guild. By that time, the family had moved from Moscow to Odessa. His father traded tea. And, in fact, Kandinsky began his education in Odessa. He studied at a gymnasium and also took music lessons, took painting lessons. Wassily Kandinsky's very first memories associated with color, with paints, date back to his time in Odessa. And the teenager bought his first paints with his saved money. And, of course, here one wants to note that what we will see further, what will later be held against Kandinsky, his entrepreneurial streak, his resourcefulness, his ability to organize an event, to promote that event, as they say now, of course, it is partly a consequence of the fact that his father was a merchant, and a merchant of the first guild. This was a very high position in Russia at that time. It was not easy to join the merchant guild, even the lowest, the third guild. And, of course, this influenced the future artist. The next point, about which I, ah, I will probably tell one more interesting story about Kandinsky's ancestor. He was in hard labor, ended up in hard labor. This was another great-grandfather. And he ended up there because he robbed a church. But later, while in hard labor, he organized his own business, as they would say now, and joined the guild of merchants. In this way. Kandinsky. The surname, by the way, was written as Kondinsky in the 19th century, but later the spelling changed to Kandinsky, because the river Konda, the river Konda is the Kondinsky principality. Remember, there are many different disputes about the etymology of this word, but they say that most likely it is either one of the local Siberian words belonging to one of the Kondi, I think, the local population of Siberia means "long," or this word was introduced by Russian settlers, because they also had a dialect word "kon" meaning a pine tree growing in a dry place. So, Kandinsky. Thus, Kandinsky's great-grandfather, the first cousin once removed, moved to Moscow, and the Kandinsky family, Kandinsky's father, grandfather, already lived in Moscow. The second point, which I would like to show you today, will be a bit of a clip, a fragmented lecture, but I really want to convey the important milestones of his. This is science. Look at this man. Well, even in childhood photos, he is in a suit, in a perfectly white shirt. This photograph is from his school years at Anton Azbe's school, he is simply a dandy. Kandinsky was always like that, he remained so his whole life. He lived his whole life according to a strict schedule. He always had a strict routine. This German meticulousness was always with him. Precision, clarity, meticulousness. And partly, this probably pushed him to enroll in the law faculty of Moscow University. There is an opinion that Kandinsky enrolled there at his father's insistence, that he allegedly could not resist his father, his father pressured him, and Kandinsky had to enroll there. However, Kandinsky himself denies this in his memoirs. He says that Kandinsky Sr., his father, always treated his whims, his jumps from one field to another, with extraordinary patience, spoke to him like an older friend to a younger one, and in the most important circumstances, he did not use any shadow of force against him. Well, be that as it may, 10 years of Kandinsky's life were dedicated to Moscow State University. And, perhaps, this foundation, which science gave him, will later greatly influence Kandinsky the artist. This is Odessa. Kandinsky's childhood city was Odessa. I jumped a bit, I didn't say that. Vasily Vasilyevich's father traded tea in Odessa, was a merchant, but initially the family lived in Moscow. And when it was time to enroll, Vasily also went to Moscow, to Moscow State University. And this is one of the buildings of Moscow State University. Moscow State University had several buildings at that time, but of course, there were no famous skyscrapers yet, which were built later in the Soviet era. This is one of the Moscow State University buildings of that time. Look at the right-hand pictures. This is a mosaic made based on one of Wassily Kandinsky's compositions. It is currently located at the Faculty of Economics, in the inner courtyard of the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University. The fact is that the course on which Kandinsky studied at that time belonged to the legal course. That is, Kandinsky was specializing as a lawyer, but later political economy, but later this course became the basis for the Faculty of Economics. And now the Department of Political Economy and Statistics belongs to the Faculty of Economics. And perhaps, this whole foundation, that is, the period of science, did not pass in vain for Kandinsky, because it is the rigor of the mind, the habit of very clear, strict reasoning. And later, in fact, Kandinsky has three books, but these two basic books that you see before you now, his two basic works, "Point and Line on a Plane" and "Concerning the Spiritual in Art." These are practically, well, for any artist, probably, for any art historian, they are the Bible of working with primary elements, the Bible of working with composition. They were written precisely because Kandinsky had such a very strict scientific foundation. Malevich's essays, Malevich believed, remember, we talked about this in the lecture on Malevich. Malevich believed that he wrote very scientific articles, but in reality, they are, of course, more like essays. They are very interesting, but they do not contain clear practical recommendations for a designer on how to work with form, how to work with color. But Kandinsky's works are absolutely practically strict. As strict as works can be. The third line. In the third line, I would like to show how Kandinsky came to, how he became an artist from a lawyer. And, you know, excuse me, I'll go back a bit, back to Moscow University. I really wanted to draw attention to an interesting moment. Kandinsky later recalled his time studying at Moscow University and said that he remembered his professors very warmly. I will give a small quote. "With heartfelt gratitude, I recall the help of Professor Filippov, full of true warmth and ardor, from whom I first heard about the principle of full humanity, looking at a person, laid down by the Russian people as the basis for qualifying criminal acts and implemented by volost courts. This principle is based not on the external reality of the action, but on the quality of its internal source, the soul of the accused." What closeness to the essence of art? That is, even as a lawyer, he noticed these things, and he had internal movements towards turning to art. Another interesting point is that Kandinsky writes in his memoirs that all subjects came easily to him, except for Roman law. He says that at first this subject struck him with its rigor, beauty, clarity, but then his Russian soul found it simply cramped. And it is precisely this desire to judge a person not formally, but by their soul, by their inner quality, this sensual beginning of Kandinsky, it certainly did not give him peace. And surprisingly, there were no contradictions within him. That is, between his love for order and such precision, German meticulousness, the clarity of a lawyer, a very turbulent, sensual, effervescent nature, with this Mansi blood, very temperamental. It always went together, as if in parallel. Kandinsky. Also, during his studies, another important point happened, which greatly influenced Kandinsky. We will talk about this a little later. He undertook a scientific expedition to the Komi-Zyrians. This is in the North-Vologda region. And it was this expedition, we will talk about it in more detail a little later, it was this expedition that greatly changed his views and was one of the key steps in the formation of his worldview, even on his path to abstraction. But for now, Kandinsky wrote a magnificent dissertation very clearly, precisely, meticulously. And after some time, he got a position, that is, he remained at Moscow University. After some time, he was offered a professorship in Yuryev. This is modern Tartu. And what happened that made Wassily Kandinsky suddenly turn to art? It must be said that at this point, Kandinsky was 30 years old. And by this time, he was already married, he had a family, and yet he makes the decision to refuse the professorship and go to Munich to study art. Anna Chemyakina, his first wife, although she did not experience great delight about this, nevertheless, she was not against it. The family moved to Munich, and Kandinsky enrolled in Anton Azbe's school. I will jump ahead a bit now. Look at these young people. They are simply dandies. It seems to me that modern punks or whatever youth movements there are now, modern fashion could have envied them. Look how they are dressed. These are students of Anton Azbe's school. Wassily Kandinsky, while remaining Germanically clear, precise, collected, with no dishevelment, also looked very stylish. So, what influenced the fact that the lawyer Wassily Kandinsky refused a prestigious professorship and decided to become an artist? There were three key moments. He himself later recalled this. First, he attended an exhibition held in Moscow at the time and saw the painting "Woman in the Sun" by Claude Monet. The painting struck him. At first, he got angry because he couldn't understand what was painted. Just a second. He even had to look up the title of the work in the catalog, and then this feeling, the play of light and color, the beauty of the spot, so captivated him that it was a shock. He realized that as an artist, as a viewer, what interested him much more in this work were the sizes, shapes of the spots, their arrangement, their quality. And it doesn't matter to us that it's Monet or something else. It's so beautiful. And this was new for painting. But in reality, similar things were already known in music. Music itself is abstract, not narrative. Listening to music, we admire the difference between sounds, their pitch, their duration. And essentially, this is also composition. And this connection, this closeness in the perception of music and painting, will arise for Kandinsky more than once. The second impression that influenced Kandinsky and pushed him to become an artist was the impression, his memory of hearing Wagner's opera "Lohengrin." He says that "Lohengrin" became for him the embodiment of his fairy-tale Moscow. What is fairy-tale Moscow? Also, Wassily Kandinsky had many strong visual impressions in his life, which he later seemed to recount, which so overturned his perception, his artistic world, that, well, he could no longer paint differently after that. Listen to how he describes fairy-tale Moscow. "The sun melts Moscow into one piece, sounding like a trumpet, shaking the whole soul with a strong hand. No, this is not a red unity, the best Moscow hour. It is only the final chord of a symphony, developing the highest life in every tone, making all of Moscow sound like the forte of a huge orchestra." This feeling. That is, when he heard Wagner, he experienced in this opera through sounds the same impression that he saw with his eyes, observing the last sunset hour in evening Moscow. And this amazing ability to experience sounds as color was inherent in Kandinsky throughout his life. And the last point, which also greatly influenced him, was a discovery. Kandinsky calls this discovery the decomposition of the atom. But it is likely about the discovery of radioactivity and the proof that the atom is divisible, in 1897 by Thomson. Kandinsky wrote that at that moment, everything seemed to become shaky and soft for him. The most solid, important foundations in science. The entire scientific picture of the world seemed false to him for a second, and what was unshakable turned out to be inaccurate. And it was at this moment that he, well, that is, thanks to this experience, he decides to abandon everything and become an artist. So, he enrolls in Anton Azbe's school in Munich. Soon, he becomes bored there. It was a very interesting place. A huge number of famous artists studied at Anton Azbe's school, including many prominent masters. Among them were many Russians. Grabar, Dobuzhinsky, Petrov-Vodkin, Burliuk studied there. Moreover, many artists in Russia specifically advised each other to go to Munich to study at Azbe's. However, what disappointed Kandinsky was that Azbe was an excellent draftsman. And the excessive focus on drawing from life, the excessive focus, perhaps, on the forms of visible reality, quickly bored Kandinsky. He started skipping classes, going to plein air on his own. And after a year, it was on the second attempt, he enrolled in the Munich Academy in Franz Stuck's class. Franz Stuck was an excellent draftsman and painter, but by nature, he was inclined to restrained, very limited palettes, restrained colors, to symbolism. Well, naturally, Wassily Kandinsky's wild color temperament simply outraged him. He advised Kandinsky to draw exclusively in black paint on white. It cannot be said that Kandinsky was delighted by this. However, he followed his teacher's advice, and this was very important, because it was at this moment that Kandinsky was formed as a graphic artist. That is, during the time he studied with Stuck, he felt the beauty of a black spot on a white background so much that even his later paintings, look, even his paintings, were always very graphic. That is, it is difficult to say whether it is painting or graphics. It is equally good in color and form. The next very important line is the turn from representational to abstract. I will start immediately with the moment that greatly influenced Kandinsky. This is that very expedition to the Komi-Zyrians. It must be said that the Komi-Zyrians are a people belonging to the Finno-Ugric group, just like the Mansi. This is the north of the Vologda region, and Kandinsky was greatly impressed by the ornaments of the Komi-Zyrians. The Russian North in general turned his view of art upside down. He drew a lot, sketched ornaments. Here's how he recalled it. "I often sketched these ornaments and never got lost in details, painted with such power that the object itself dissolved in them." Look, this is what he saw in this. The object dissolved. And further, he recalled that it took him several years to invent a way, to invent a means, to draw the viewer into the picture so that they would move within it as spontaneously as happened in these ornaments. That is, at this moment, that very penetration into the picture, the internal, as he would later say, spiritual interaction with the picture, happened here. But Kandinsky quickly, it must be said, transformed from a student into a teacher. He dropped out of the academy. And with like-minded people, they organized a private experimental art school, "Phalanx." Here is a photograph of one of the classes of this school. One of Kandinsky's students was Gabriele Münter, his friend and like-minded person for the next 10 years. Kandinsky, naturally, enjoyed great success with his female students. He was incredibly charismatic, interesting, handsome, intelligent, and smart. The majority of the students were girls. After some time, Münter received an inheritance and bought a house in Murnau with this money. Murnau is a small village in Bavaria. Kandinsky and Münter moved there and with great pleasure devoted themselves to village life. That is, they planted a garden, grew flowers, painted a lot, painted plein air. And this is one of the most productive periods in Kandinsky's work. Friends from Azbe's school also came to visit them. These are other interesting Russian artists, Marianne von Werefkin, Alexei Jawlensky. And all four of them worked a lot. During this period, Fauvism had a very strong influence on Kandinsky. That is, he, and Werefkin, and Münter, and Jawlensky were fascinated by the Fauvists, discussed, looked at, and tried it themselves. This is the moment when Kandinsky began to perceive the pictorial plane in a completely different way and somewhere deep down he vaguely understood that the plot in a painting is not the main thing at all. Soon, thanks to Marianne von Werefkin. Marianne von Werefkin is a separate, very bright figure, about whom one could give more than one lecture, a very charismatic woman. She and Jawlensky were students of Repin. After some time, she organized an association called "Neue Künstlervereinigung München" (New Artists' Association of Munich), a new association of artists in Munich. And Kandinsky became the chairman of this association. It also included many other European artists. And Burliuk, Franz Marc, Picasso, Laming also exhibited with them. Although they did not belong to the society, local exhibitions were held. Here I want to show you again. Look, these are Kandinsky's landscapes from that time. The influence is indeed very strong. What is the essence of Fauvism? The artists applied paints to the canvas without mixing them on the palette. That is, red, blue, yellow were applied literally pure. But due to the fact that different spots could lie next to each other, small spots next to each other, remember Matisse, Derain, optical mixing gave complex colors. Another point is that Fauvists could paint a face, for example, orange, the sky red. That is, for Fauvists, following the color literally was no longer necessary. That is, they, well, became more liberated, and nature was only a pretext for them. Compare this with Alexei Jawlensky. And here it is very interesting to observe how Kandinsky gradually abstracts, how his works gradually become more and more abstract. Look, the first work from the academy is 1901, this is still the time of his studies. Quite, well, probably impressionistic, but quite academic representational painting. Next, 1908-1909. This is precisely the Fauvist period. Here the colors are already very rich, and the plane becomes vibrating, breathing. It feels like one more step, and it will dissolve and give way to just colored spots. That is, he begins to move towards abstraction. And this is a later work, unfortunately, the year is missing. We see here that it already has a title. It has a completely clear subject, but in fact, it is already simply beautiful in itself. How did this transition happen, how did Kandinsky's transition from representational to abstract occur? In Murnau, throughout his work in Murnau, it seems as if objects gradually lost their relevance for him. This work from 1910 is called "Cow." And we see that in fact, the artist was not interested in the cow at all, neither as an animal nor as the space around it. He is interested in color, light, tonality, rhythm, the mutual arrangement of spots, balance, the amount of spot, the volume of the color plane, and its quality, warmer, colder. And finally, the moment comes when he finally turns to the abstract. What caused this? Look, this is a work by Kandinsky. I have turned it upside down. Now I will illustrate his memoirs for you, how it happened. He recalls, saying: "It was the time of approaching twilight. I came home, still distracted and mentally immersed in the work I had done." when suddenly I saw an indescribably beautiful picture. At first, I was stunned, then I quickly approached this mysterious picture, on which I saw nothing but forms and colors, and a content that was impossible to understand. I immediately found the key to this riddle. It was a painting I had done, which was standing on its side, leaning against the wall." Here I have turned his work upside down. You see, nothing has changed at all, it has even become more interesting. And finally, in 1910, he painted his first abstract watercolor. It must be said that many artists were vying for the title of father of abstractionism at that time. This, of course, includes Kandinsky, oh, and Malevich, and Mondrian, and many others. Kandinsky, as his friends called him, the Mongolian prince, did not enter this struggle, he considered himself above all this. But once in an interview, he said that in fact, he had been painting abstract works since 1911, and later, after their emigration, taking out his old works from one of the suitcases, he found this watercolor. This is according to Nina Kandinsky's memoirs, and she says, well, this is my first abstract watercolor. That is, probably, when giving the interview, he simply forgot about the existence of this piece. In general, it should be noted that Kandinsky's path to abstraction was never linear. For him, figurative and abstract always went side by side. He tried, retreated, and returned to abstraction again. Some of his works are abstract, but at the same time very biomorphic and zoomorphic. He did not have what Malevich had, a linear path. With Malevich, remember the last lecture? He had the Black Square, and that was it. Malevich is a man of manifestos. Kandinsky, on the other hand, is a scientist who tries, doubts, tries again, observes. And he never completely abandoned this. But what happened next? The association, the New Munich Artists' Association, broke up. Or rather, Kandinsky left it, well, as he says, because their views on art diverged, and he took Franz Marc with him. And this is Franz Marc's painting. And in the same year, the friends organized a new association, they called it "Der Blaue Reiter" (The Blue Rider). Kandinsky later recalled how this happened. He said that they came up with the name "Blue Rider" over coffee. We both loved blue. Marc loved horses. And I loved riders, the name came by itself. A new artistic association, new goals, new interests. The group included Marianne von Werefkin, Münter, and other close friends, as well as dancers, composers, and various art figures. In addition to painting, "Der Blaue Reiter" published an almanac. This was very important. Kandinsky was actively involved in educational activities. He said that before this, all books about art were written not by artists. And he really wanted to fill this gap. He wanted to talk about art to artists from the perspective of an artist. And in the same year, Kandinsky's first solo exhibition took place. Well, naturally, due to such active artistic and educational organizational activities, Kandinsky was a target for the German press. Moreover, he was criticized very insultingly and simply rudely. But he stoically endured all the attacks, did not react to them in any way. However, his friends often defended him, and often famous international art figures, not only artists, who had a reputation, defended him. For example, Klee, Lye, Delaunay, Apollinaire. The Blue Rider period is generally adored by European art historians. It is extensively documented, probably because it is the moment of formation, and also because there is a huge collection of works from the Blue Rider period that was preserved thanks to Gabriele Münter. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, she miraculously saved this collection in her house. As she recalls in her book, a cupboard stood very conveniently, covering the door to the cellar. In the cellar were the works of Kandinsky and many other participants of the Blue Rider.
The rider, because, well, the Nazis declared it degenerate art. And thanks to this, in Munich, at the Lenbachhaus museum, where she later donated them, there is a huge collection of his works. As, by the way, there are many works by Franz Marc. What else is important to say is that this period was also very fruitful. Yes, this is Kandinsky's painting from this period, that is, from the Blue Rider period. This period of Kandinsky's creativity is called abstract lyricism. Look how soft and lyrical the forms are. Look how melodious, how alive they are. There is absolutely nothing cold, clear, and thought-out here. It gives the impression that it, well, it just sounds. It comes from the soul.
And one more important point is that in 1911, Kandinsky's book "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" was published. And also his book of memoirs, which in its German translation is called "Looking Back," and in its Russian translation is called "Steps." It will be published in Moscow only in 1918, by chance. And in "Concerning the Spiritual in Art," Kandinsky discusses the foundations of art in the first part. He acts as an art historian, and in the second part, he examines the language of forms and colors from the position of these foundations. I will explain a little what Kandinsky meant by "spiritual," because this word is frightening at first glance and may be associated with religion. He said that we cannot feel like the ancient Greeks, nor live their inner lives. For example, attempts to apply Greek principles to contemporary art can only create forms similar to Greek ones, but the work will remain soulless for all time.
And another quote about primitive artists. These pure artists, like us, sought to convey only the internally essential in their works. Moreover, there was a rejection of external randomness. That is, Kandinsky in this period and in this book follows, he tries to understand what is internally essential in art. When you draw abstractly, he believed that you leave the internally essential and remove everything secondary. That is, when he moved towards the abstract through the representational, this transition was very soft, evolutionary; he gradually removed everything non-essential and left only the essential in the perceived impression. This is what is spiritual for him, the essential, artistic color-forms, composition. Spiritual is the inner content that the work carries. Plastic characteristics.
The Blue Rider period ended with the outbreak of World War I. Kandinsky had to leave for Russia, and very soon Franz Marc died at the front. The next point is Moscow. Malevich versus Kandinsky. Moscow met Kandinsky very differently. Many changes had occurred since he was last there, although he never left it forever. Kandinsky considered Moscow his mother. And it was a very difficult time, shortly before and immediately after the revolution. And this was later, before that was World War I. He began to work actively, exhibit. He exhibited with the Jack of Diamonds. Remember, we talked about this in the lecture on Malevich. He engaged in administrative and organizational activities, taught at VKhUTEMAS, and became an honorary professor at Moscow University.
There were many stars in Moscow's art scene, and they all considered Kandinsky German, although in Germany he was considered Russian. Naturally, there were many contradictions. For example, students, it must be said that Malevich and Kandinsky knew each other. Moreover, Kandinsky owned a work by Malevich. It was in his collection. Malevich visited the Bauhaus when Kandinsky worked there. And most likely, they had a normal relationship. However, Malevich's students actively engaged in polemics with Kandinsky. In this photograph, you see his closest students, Suetin and Chashnik. So, Suetin actively criticized him for mysticism. Chashnik participated in various discussions about the so-called spiritual. Lazar Khidekel also defended the Suprematist approach and criticized Kandinsky for symbolism and musicality. El Lissitzky said that his abstractionism was too painterly. The main complaints were that Kandinsky was too psychological and symbolic.
Let's compare. This is a work by Kazimir Malevich from 1910 and Kandinsky from 1914. It is obvious that Malevich and Kandinsky are different. Malevich is very strict, geometric, he is hollowed out. For Malevich, abstractionism was a window into a new world, and the door to the old world was closed forever. For Kandinsky, it was not like that. Malevich is a man of manifestos. Kandinsky is a complex man, full of doubt, experiencing reality very subtly. Look at how the artists work with objecthood. This is also completely different. And I want to recall, of course, quotes. He spoke about his transition to the abstract. I transformed into a zero form and pulled myself out of the abyss of academic art. I transformed into a zero form, I entered zero. Kandinsky said that non-objective painting is not the erasure of all previous art, but only an extraordinary, paramount division of the old trunk into two main branches, without which the formation of the crown of the green tree would be unthinkable.
What else is most interesting is that their polemic continued after some time, and it was already expressed in the works, remember? Malevich's work, "Black Square," 1915. And in 1923, Kandinsky will write a work "In a Black Square." At that time, perhaps, they thought they were opponents and somehow contradicted each other. But in reality, it seems to me that there is no opposition of positions. Malevich manifested the advent of a new era. He shows, look, everything here is flat, flatness. And Kandinsky breaks through this flatness. It's like, you know, when you're in a theater, there's a stage in front of you, and the lights go out, everything is black. This moment is the black square. And then the lights come on, and a new world appears on stage, something completely different. This is the world created by Kandinsky. Look, here it is. In general, Kandinsky disliked the word abstractionism. He said that he was engaged in concrete art, because he said that art is the construction of a new world. It is not copying the world of nature and transferring it to canvas, but constructing an absolutely new, but at the same time concrete world. Therefore, he called his art concrete.
Well, in Moscow, another very important point in Kandinsky's life also occurred. This is the meeting with Nina Kandinsky, his second wife. It was a completely accidental event. Nina called him to help a mutual acquaintance organize a meeting with Kandinsky. Nina was acquainted with his nephew. And Kandinsky himself, Vasily Vasilyevich, picked up the phone. At first, he was surprised, but then, learning that the nephew had given him the contacts, he immediately softened and spoke very kindly. In the end, Nina, according to her memoirs, wanted to formally, politely say goodbye, but unexpectedly Kandinsky said that he wanted to meet her in person. The meeting, however, he had to wait quite a long time for. Nina went on vacation, and they met only in the autumn of 1916. Before that, Kandinsky painted a watercolor dedicated to an unknown voice. Her voice charmed and intrigued him. It is interesting that Nina recalls that in that year she and her friends, there was almost a 30-year age difference between them. We cannot say exactly, because Nina Kandinsky hid her age until the end of her life. And she recalls that that year she and her friends were fortune-telling. There is such a Russian tradition of fortune-telling for a future husband. Girls go out onto the street and ask the first person they meet for a name. She says that she got Vasily, and the evening was ruined, because the most fashionable name in Moscow at that time was Georgy.
What happens with Yes, it must be said that the contradictions with like-minded artists continued to grow for Kandinsky, and the tension increased more and more. He behaved independently. He was heavily involved in organizational work, he was also in state service, but nevertheless, on the one hand, state policy was changing, and there were more and more persecutions of abstract artists. On the other hand, well, essentially, he was always a loner. He never had an army of fanatical students like Kazimir Malevich. He was always on his own. And he was a bit of an outsider among his own, and an insider among outsiders. He was German in Russia, and Russian in Germany. And all this, plus certain financial matters, led to the fact that by the end of the 1920s, the decision to leave Russia gradually matured in him.
As for his works, probably, I think that partly under the influence of the Russian avant-garde, other artists of the Russian avant-garde, with whom he undoubtedly communicated, interacted, exhibited together, they became more geometric. Look at this slide. That is, this is no longer lyrical abstractionism, these are much more clearly defined planes, these are very contrasting gradients. Remember Malevich, the luminescence of color, Malevich's gradients. I think the influence here is quite strong. Here is another work I will show. Look, much more geometric, much fewer clear, soft, smoothly transitioning forms. And thus, in 1921, Kandinsky, together with his wife, received permission to leave and went to Berlin.
The late period, this is the last part of our lecture, the late period from abstract to concrete. Well, honestly, it's a huge period, there are even two: the Bauhaus period and the Paris period. I will just highlight the most important points, in my opinion, for you. Kandinsky went to Berlin and literally, well, he had a small embarrassment there. He gave more than 150 of his works to a gallery, hoping that they would sell them in a German gallery in Berlin and he would have means of subsistence. But during this time, due to inflation, all the money the gallery earned from his works, well, it turned into nothing. And Kandinsky faced the fact that he needed to earn money actively. And then his acquaintances from the academy, former acquaintances, invited him to the Bauhaus. There was, of course, one second. There was, of course, an invitation from Gropius. And his friend, an old friend, Paul Klee, his close old friend, also worked there. Look on the left. This is Kandinsky's certificate at the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus was initially located in Dessau. It's a small town, a village in Germany. But after some time, um, it moved, it was first in Weimar, Weimar, and then after some time it moved to Dessau. In Dessau, Gropius obtained permission to build his own building. The Bauhaus Museum is still located there today. A very beautiful building. If possible, take a look, there is an amazing museum.
It must be said that the Bauhaus immediately, even in Weimar, began to acquire a reputation as a rather scandalous place. His students, students, manifested in every way that they were artists. Well, they behaved like modern bohemians. They wore long hair, old military uniforms, which they painted over with paints as a sign that they were pacifists. And there was even a case where several students shaved each other's heads and drew a black square on the back of their heads as a sign of unity with Malevich. And in this form, they went for a walk around Weimar. Well, naturally, the residents of Weimar scared their children with the Bauhaus, saying that if you misbehave, I'll send you to the Bauhaus. In Dessau, the situation, in general, continued. Well, it's completely normal that new trends in art are not accepted by everyone immediately. It's new, it's unusual, it's strange. And it's a completely normal story that such things cause surprise.
What else is important to note is that in Dessau, Kandinsky's book was published, his second, very important work, "Point and Line on a Plane." This happened in 1926. And it is a key book on the theory of composition. It is a large-scale study of the psychology of perception, color, and form. In general, in my opinion, every designer should read it. And the book is based on experiments that Kandinsky conducted at the Bauhaus with students. He taught both theoretical and practical disciplines there. In general, at the Bauhaus, the system itself, I will say just a couple of words about it, one could give a separate lecture on this too. The system itself was built in such a way that there was a constant dialogue. All teachers exchanged their points of view with each other. All students exchanged with each other and with the teachers. It was truly a house of construction, it was a collaborative creation, an incredibly productive period for Kandinsky. And when now, well, at least in Russia, Itten's book "The Art of Color," even two, "The Art of Color," "The Art of Form," is very well known, when you read Kandinsky's theoretical works, well, especially "Point and Line on a Plane," I have a clear feeling of strong mutual influence. Itten, who led the Vorkurs, was naturally acquainted with Kandinsky. And surely they adopted some ideas from each other. And Kandinsky also brought some developments of our Suprematists, Russian Suprematists, to the Bauhaus. Well, and besides, Malevich visited the Bauhaus and also gave several lectures there.
How do Kandinsky's works from this period look? They become very geometric and even architectural. That is, this connection with architecture, with space, the synthesis of arts that the Bauhaus advocated, makes itself known. Look at these works. Here is the blue circle. An absolutely geometric work, very uncharacteristic of early Kandinsky.
What happens next? The Nazis come to power in 1933, they close the Bauhaus. It already had a scandalous reputation before that. They organize an exhibition of degenerate art. Here is a photograph from this exhibition. Moreover, look, it says "Exhibition of Degenerate Art," "Free Admission," and such a crowd at the entrance. In general, difficult times are coming. Kandinsky understands that he needs to emigrate. He manages to get, I think, a Swiss visa for himself and his wife. Then he also helps his Bauhaus comrades with emigration, but ultimately he ends up in Paris. The Paris period, especially its beginning, was very difficult for Kandinsky, because he was left without friends, without connections, without contacts. The greater part of his creative life is connected with Russia, with Germany. And one of the works, this work "Round Poetry," unfortunately, I couldn't find a photograph of the work I want to talk about, one of the watercolors he painted is called "Every Man for Himself." And it seems to me that this characterizes very well the feelings he experienced. There are many artists, many people, but he doesn't form close relationships with anyone. In general, Kandinsky's entire Paris period is a hermit's life. He travels, he holds many exhibitions, his life is very active. He tries to attract Russian émigrés to these exhibitions, but, as a rule, he doesn't form the warm, fruitful close creative relationships that he had in Germany before.
Moreover, there is a very interesting moment. He recalls that at one of the exhibitions, among other Russian émigrés, he invited Alexander Benois, remember the polemic between Benois and Malevich? Benois, apparently, found it difficult to perceive new trends in art. And Benois sincerely wrote to him later, I will quote: "I admit that in principle, in theory, such art can exist as truthful art, as when we talk about certain types of music, calling them pure music. But this does not align with my understanding and enjoyment of such art. And if art does not bring pleasure, I simply do not understand it, I do not accept it. I am an incorrigible connoisseur of things. I must feel a special tremor from them. I need representations that are comprehensible to my mind or at least to my consciousness or subconscious. This is exactly what I did not find in your works." Benois, in general, remained true to himself.
The last period of Kandinsky's life is the works from the 1930s to 1944. Usually, art historians dislike this period. And they even hint a little that Kandinsky's genius somehow declined in this period, but I cannot agree with them. It seems to me that this is an amazing time and an amazing world. And the most interesting thing about this period is that what he postulated in his work, that his abstractionism is concrete art, he realized it most vividly precisely in the last Paris period. He constructed absolutely new worlds. He no longer gradually abstracted from the forms of reality. He constructed new worlds, and these worlds were very baroque. They became very anthropomorphic and zoomorphic. He gradually began to move from the abstract back to the concrete, from the abstract to a completely holistic, very detailed constructed world. This was the world of art. Look at what interesting forms. And he also has descriptions of his works, and they are simply mesmerizing and stunning. That is, he says that he describes abstract forms, but as if they were living beings.
Vasily Kandinsky died in 1944 from a stroke. Nina Kandinsky dedicated the rest of her life to promoting his legacy, systematizing his works. Moreover, she managed, well, to obtain all exclusive rights to publish his works. She compiled a catalog of works and a catalog of fake works by Kandinsky. Thus, in general, she became a de facto monopolist. Vasily Kandinsky's legacy tragically died in her estate in Switzerland. She was a very wealthy woman, as Kandinsky's works greatly increased in price after his death. And how she died, this whole story is completely unrevealed. They say, well, she bought diamonds, she loved diamonds. They say that perhaps she was killed for her jewelry. An intruder broke into her house, and not a single work was lost. Some say that some diamonds were lost, some art historians say that nothing was lost. And in general, there are many different versions and rumors here. There are completely fantastic versions. Some say that ill-wishers, to whom Nina Kandinsky did not grant, did not recognize, being a monopolist, the authenticity of Kandinsky's works that they owned, wanted her death. Well, in general, this has remained a mystery.
I want to end with the thought that abstractionism has undoubtedly completely changed the 20th century. And abstractionism can be maximally different, it was very different. I hope that today I have managed to show you how many different languages abstract art can have, using the example of a single artist, Vasily Kandinsky. And how many possibilities, how many plastic, artistic, expressive possibilities this movement has. Well, and of course, I will return to the thought, it seems to me that design as a form of human activity would be completely impossible today if we did not have such artists. Thank you very much.