These artists have been very influential to my art practise you are able to see the close relation to my work and how these artists methods have been some what connected to my work . Christo’s use of covering I have applied although incorporated my own personal idea what I’ve done is unlike Christo and Jeanne Claude I have clearly identified what the object I’m covering is … by not covering but rather making a connection by wrapping the buildings. Yin Xiuzhen has been influential through her approach to model making and her unreal playfulness. Lastly Wassily Kandinsky , has been quite influential to my painting as I quite enjoyed experimenting with compostion and how the shapes and colours respond and interact with the black background .
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My painting inspired by Wassily Kandinsky .
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
“Third Street, Gedachutniskirche, Berlin”, 2001, 85 x 130 cm, C-print
Yin Xiuzhen’s work
I feel this research assignment has great relevance to all my practical work as it has given me in-depth knowledge to help me gain a better understanding of the methods and practice artists have used also it was interesting to see how artists from all kinds of areas have been influential to him such as Richard Wagner , a musician. Claude Monet, a painter and H.p Blavatsky a spiritual influence. Wassily Kandinsky is a great example of how such a range of aspects of his personal life can contribute to his artistic works .
The artist I’ve chosen to discuss is Wassily Kandinsky known not only as a painter but also for his love for music and how he has expressed his passion for music in his works , best referred to as a synesthete , meaning he could see sound as colour and vice versa.[1]. Monet, Richard Wagner, H. P. Blavatsky are a few of his main influences , I find it quite interesting that they Inspire him and contribute to different personal aspects of his life.
Is one of the most original and influential artists of the twentieth –century , his inner necessity to express his emotional perceptions led to the development of an abstract style painting that was based on non representational properties of colour and form .
Kandinsky experimented with colour and minimal composition eschewing reality from his work and was involved with many movements, learning and experimenting with words, music and painting. “I applied streaks and blobs of colour onto the canvas with a palette knife and I made them sing with all the intensity I could.”[1] Kandinsky viewed the compositions as major statements of his artistic idea.
Kandinsky was inspired and influenced by many things but artists that stood out the most were Richard Wagner, Monet and H. P. Blavatsky. I found that these artists were a perfect example of how many different aspects of his life came to be a part of his work.
Wagner was multitalented with his love for poetry, theatre design, and film although operatic works was his primary artistic legacy. Kandinsky took a liking to Wagner making him a significant musical influence, the “Lohengrin” was a work Kandinsky practically favoured because he felt, it pushed thelimits of music and melody beyond standard lyricism[1]. Some of his other works are;
- Das Liebesverbot (The Ban on Love) is an early opera in two acts by Richard Wagner
- A valkyrie (from Old Norse valkyrja “chooser of the slain”)[2]
Richard Wagner was an influential icon for many people setting benchmark for Bruckner, Berg, Schoenberg, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.
Claude Monet was very influential in his approach to his take on expressionism. What made Monet’s style interesting was how he had a powerful sense of colour independent of the objects themselves. This is what Kandinsky found appealing. In some of Kandinsky’s works you are able to identify how he has incorporated this idea yet modified it and combined his own style and ideas. Monet’s “Impression: Sunrise “is known for making him the first Impressionist in the 1880’s, having built an international reputation widely[3]. This could have possibly drawn Kandinsky to him as an influential icon
Kandinsky was inspired and influenced by many things but artists that stood out the most were Richard Wagner, Monet and H. P. Blavatsky. I found that these artists were a perfect example of how many different aspects of his life came to be a part of his work.
Wagner was multitalented with his love for poetry, theatre design, and film although operatic works was his primary artistic legacy. Kandinsky took a liking to Wagner making him a significant musical influence, the “Lohengrin” was a work Kandinsky practically favoured because he felt, it pushed theH. P. Blavatsky
Kandinsky was also spiritually influenced by H. P. Blavatsky, the most important exponent of Theosophy in modern times. ‘Theosophical theory suggests that creation is a geometrical progression, beginning with a single point.[1]’ The creative aspect of the forms is expressed by a descending series of circles, triangles, and squares. Here we can see how aspects of Kandinsky have come to be a part of his works. In a lot of Kandinsky’s work he has used shapes which are representational for other objects or emotions.
Blavatsky was a woman of great intellect and phenomenal output Who was quite different to your average being, she was able to make things appear and slow down time she was able to prove this .In her years of travelling she was able to further develop her psychic abilities I feel H.P Blavatsky may have been influential to Kandinsky through her teachings which would have been effectively inspiring as her approach was to synthesize a global spirituality. K Paul Johnson the Author of ‘Masters Revealed’ was my source for this fact.[2] I thought this was an interesting person for Kandinsky to be influenced by which is why I thought his overall selection of influences were unique. This just proves as an artist influences can come from anywhere because Kandinsky proved his to be from a variety of groupings.
Two of Her Most Famous Works.
- Isis Unveiled and her magnum opus,
- The Secret Doctrine, published in 1888.
She also wrote The Key to Theosophy, a general introductory work.
Kandinsky is very much drawn to the Impressionists style, this evidently seen as his work is very abstract and it seems its intentions are rather to allow people to interpret his works as they please. His work is quite interesting because he not only experiments with colour but he eschews reality from his work rather than embracing it. “Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, and the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is in the hand that plays, touching one key then another to cause vibration in the soul.”[1] This quote is spoken by Kandinsky himself here he clearly states how his passion for music is a strong inspiration to his work .He seems to know how to create a relationship between the two. I’m personally drawn to this artist because I feel he is very successful in communicating different emotions without incorporating representational elements.
It’s evident that the artist has communicated his main ideas; this is shown by the use of his colour and the way in which he presents it. Very free flowing, he seems to explore the way he places the blotches of colour compositionally. In painting number three (one of his earlier works) it’s a very strong example of how Kandinsky has applied the style of one of his main influences Monet, yet incorporated is own unique approach to it. However as his work develops you see how he begins to evolve more and his work becomes more original and complexity takes place.
Monet, H.P Blavatsky and Richard Wagner have greatly influenced the works of Kandinsky, It’s evident in the use of subject matter; Shapes. H.P Blavatsky makes references to the use of shapes and how they symbolise a different meaning .At First glance it may seem like an abstract composition that shows how the objects have no restriction and make a connection, it seems to be about the relationship between the lines, colour and shapes and the space they appear to be in. However once I researched further into the artists who were influential to Kandinsky it was evident to see how he had a more in-depth meaning and in fact it came from H.P Blavatsky’s spiritual teachings.
Monet’s influence within Kandinsky’s work is evident to see in image 3 the use of colour and how it isn’t a refined object. Also the use of colour and how it’s experimented with, how colour acts as a powerful subject matter on its own is something that definitely stands out with Monet and makes his work appealing to Kandinsky also because of its independent with the objects themselves.
In some of Kandinsky’s works he uses fine lines shaped slightly like a musical instrument (my personal observation) in my opinion he does this in representation of his musical passion.
The media and format help communicate the issues I’ve identified in the artist work in the way it’s clear and identifiable. After having researched and highlighted key issues it’s easy to understand why the artist has chosen to do and include certain aspects.
The information I have researched has supported my statements and personal interpretations I’ve carefully referenced information so the sources are clearly identifiable.
[1] http:www.blavatsky.net
I have chosen this monument as one of my selected artworks beacause I feel it has been a very experimentational project. This monument is very important because the twisted world idea evovled from it. This monument also has a relationship with the thread which supported the idea and it demonstrates how the two materials correspond and work effectively with one another.
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