Tate Modern| Past Exhibitions | Kandinsky: The Path to Abstraction

When Germany declared war on Russia in August 1914, Kandinsky was forced to leave Munich and returned to Moscow. He completed few oil paintings in the next few years, focusing mainly on watercolours, graphic work and preparatory studies for future paintings. The paintings that he did complete often evoke dull weather or dark, threatening skies. Their titles – Twilight (1917), Overcast (1917) and Grey Oval (1917) – also suggest a sombre mood.

After the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 Kandinsky produced no more paintings for two years. This was partly due to lack of funds; but he was also co-operating with the new government by taking on numerous important roles in the new art institutions of the Bolshevik regime. When he did start to paint again in 1919, his paintings show a simplification of form and a more comprehensible structure. Continuing his developments of two years earlier, White Oval (1919) includes both a strong central shape and a dark, enclosing border. The pictorial space is freer than in his earlier work, more open and less physically dense. The painting In Grey (1919) is subdued in colour, and the shapes are starting to become more sharp edged, verging on the geometric – possibly a response to Kandinsky’s contact with the younger artists of the Russian avant-garde, such as Kasimir Malevich and Alexander Rodchenko.

Ultimately, however, Kandinsky was out of sympathy with the new Revolutionary art. Artists like Rodchenko advocated principles of rationalism; they rejected the idea that a painting could communicate a spiritual experience, and they saw Kandinsky’s art as individualistic and typically bourgeois. In 1921, Kandinsky left Russia, never to return.

Room 8

Wassily Kandinsky
Grey Oval 1917
oil on canvas 960 x 1330 mm
The Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts

Wassily Kandinsky
Overcast Trübe 1917
oil on canvas 1050 x 1340 mm
The State Tretyakov Gallery

Wassily Kandinsky
In Grey
Im Grau 1919
oil on canvas 1290 x 1760 mm
Centre Pompidou, Paris. Musée national d'art moderne / centre de création industrielle.
Bequest of Nina Kandinsky 1981

enlarge

Wassily Kandinsky
Blue Arch (Ridge) 1917
oil on canvas 1330 x 1040 mm
The State Russian Museum

Wassily Kandinsky
Twilight 1917
oil on canvas 915 x 695 mm
The State Russian Museum

Wassily Kandinsky
Two Ovals 1919
oil on canvas 1070 x 895 mm
The State Russian Museum

Wassily Kandinsky
White Oval 1919
oil on canvas 800 x 930 mm
The State Tretyakov Gallery

Wassily Kandinsky
Painting with Points 1919
oil on canvas 1260 x 950 mm
The State Russian Museum

Wassily Kandinsky
On White I 1920
oil on canvas 950 x 1380 mm
The State Russian Museum


	About Visiting Information Book Tickets Events & Education Room Guide Shop Teachers' Pack Further Resources Room 8 Room plan Room 1 Room 2 Room 3 Room 4 Room 5 Room 6 Room 7 Room 8 Room 9 When Germany declared war on Russia in August 1914, Kandinsky was forced to leave Munich and returned to Moscow. He completed few oil paintings in the next few years, focusing mainly on watercolours, graphic work and preparatory studies for future paintings. The paintings that he did complete often evoke dull weather or dark, threatening skies. Their titles – Twilight (1917), Overcast (1917) and Grey Oval (1917) – also suggest a sombre mood. After the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 Kandinsky produced no more paintings for two years. This was partly due to lack of funds; but he was also co-operating with the new government by taking on numerous important roles in the new art institutions of the Bolshevik regime. When he did start to paint again in 1919, his paintings show a simplification of form and a more comprehensible structure. Continuing his developments of two years earlier, White Oval (1919) includes both a strong central shape and a dark, enclosing border. The pictorial space is freer than in his earlier work, more open and less physically dense. The painting In Grey (1919) is subdued in colour, and the shapes are starting to become more sharp edged, verging on the geometric – possibly a response to Kandinsky’s contact with the younger artists of the Russian avant-garde, such as Kasimir Malevich and Alexander Rodchenko. Ultimately, however, Kandinsky was out of sympathy with the new Revolutionary art. Artists like Rodchenko advocated principles of rationalism; they rejected the idea that a painting could communicate a spiritual experience, and they saw Kandinsky’s art as individualistic and typically bourgeois. In 1921, Kandinsky left Russia, never to return. Room 8 Wassily Kandinsky Grey Oval 1917 oil on canvas 960 x 1330 mm The Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts Wassily Kandinsky Overcast Trübe 1917 oil on canvas 1050 x 1340 mm The State Tretyakov Gallery Wassily Kandinsky In Grey Im Grau 1919 oil on canvas 1290 x 1760 mm Centre Pompidou, Paris. Musée national d'art moderne / centre de création industrielle. Bequest of Nina Kandinsky 1981 enlarge Wassily Kandinsky Blue Arch (Ridge) 1917 oil on canvas 1330 x 1040 mm The State Russian Museum Wassily Kandinsky Twilight 1917 oil on canvas 915 x 695 mm The State Russian Museum Wassily Kandinsky Two Ovals 1919 oil on canvas 1070 x 895 mm The State Russian Museum Wassily Kandinsky White Oval 1919 oil on canvas 800 x 930 mm The State Tretyakov Gallery Wassily Kandinsky Painting with Points 1919 oil on canvas 1260 x 950 mm The State Russian Museum Wassily Kandinsky On White I 1920 oil on canvas 950 x 1380 mm The State Russian Museum next room back to top