Abstract Expressionism: Analysis of Wassily Kandinsky and Arnold Schoenberg

'Abstract Expressionism' is a term which describes a general movement of largely non-representative painting. Initially it started in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s. Lead by a generation of American artists - strongly influenced by European settlers who had grown up during the Depression and were influenced both by World War II and its Cold War aftermath. Abstract Expressionism encompassed several quite different styles. These paintings share certain characteristics, including the all over use of the canvas, in which the whole canvas is treated with equal importance. Abstract art expressed ideas that concern the spiritual, the unconscious, and the mind.

The painter Wassily Kandinsky was in Munich in January 1911. While there, he went to a music concert of Arnold Schoenberg, which prompted him to start writing to Schoenberg. He wrote: 'In your work, you have realised what I, albeit in uncertain form, have so greatly longed for in music.' Kandinsky was impressed with a new atonal compositional method, which Schoenberg used, and which were not the existing rules of harmony. Inspired by this, Kandinsky attempted to break from traditional figurative modes of painting. When referring to the emotional quality of colour, Kandinsky often used music terminology.

The friendship of Kandinsky and Schoenberg was crucial for the development of both artists. They had similar views about the nature and purpose of art. Their collaboration helped them both reach their full potential as the were inspiring each other. One of many famous quotes of Kandinsky is: “Lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting, and... stop thinking! Just ask yourself whether the work has enabled you to 'walk about' into a hitherto unknown world. If the answer is yes, what more do you want?”

I intend to answer these questions by comparing Kandinsky's art with Schoenberg's music and by analysing Kandinsky's artworks and the effect Schoenberg had on them.

“Circles in a Circle” is a compact and closed composition. Kandinsky began a thoughtful study of the circle as an artistic unit starting from this painting. In his letter to Galka Scheyer he wrote, “it is the first picture of mine to bring the theme of circles to the foreground.” The outer black circle, as if the second frame for a picture, encourages us to focus on the interaction between the inside circles, and two intersecting diagonal stripes enhance the effect, adding a perspective to the composition.

The deeper the blue becomes, the more strongly it calls man towards the infinite, awakening in him a desire for the pure and, finally, for the supernatural... The brighter it becomes, the more it loses its sound, until it turns into silent stillness and becomes white…. (Kandinsky’s quote).

Kandinsky’s paintings would gradually become more and more abstract, and with Murnau, Train and Castle, you can see a stop along the way. Kandinsky painted it in 1909 after he had traveled through much of Europe and then decided to settle in Murnau – a small town in Bavaria. In this painting, you can see how the color plays almost as big of a role as the forms it shapes, although the forms here are still themselves clear; the train and the castle are both evident, as are various elements of the background.

Kandinsky’s artwork and Schoenberg’s music share a similar idea. They both leave the existing rules of music and painting, and take on a new way of expressing themselves. Music becomes so touchable to Kandinsky, that he can paint it. The painting and the music both arose from the inner need of expression.

In conclusion, Kandinsky and Shoenberg, though artists of a different kind, were very similar. They both had a need to express their inner selves, and wanted to do it in a new way which was different from the traditional way of expression. Their passion for expression was heard and seen, and even though not everyone liked it, it made them famous world artists.