Kandinsky’s abstract art evolves at Guggenheim exhibition

The world as envisioned by Vasily Kandinsky is one full of verve and motion, bright blocks of color, rapid brushstrokes, and abstract forms as complex and colorful as a grand symphony. Indeed, Kandinsky’s vision was that “painting should aspire to be as abstract as music,” and that idea is fully realized at the Guggenheim Museum’s new retrospective of the artist—Kandinsky’s philosophy of abstract art is what carved him his piece of art history.

The Guggenheim was founded upon the idea that it was to be a “temple to the spirit,” and this idea is perhaps no better expressed and explained than through the work of Kandinsky. For this reason, it comes as no surprise that the museum, which has been an avid collector of his work over the years, has chosen a Kandinsky retrospective for its 50th Anniversary.

The exhibit is a highly comprehensive, chronologically ordered journey through the artist’s wide-ranging works. It is easy to see the evolution of his style—his early works feature heavy influences of the deep, bright colors and blurred brushstrokes of impressionism and a tendency towards landscapes that evoke the grandiose brilliance of nature.

Works like “Blue Mountain” are vaguely representational but on a clear path to outright abstraction. Because the exhibit starts at this early point in his career, the viewer can easily understand how Kandinsky progressed in his style and his philosophy. The exhibit commentary explains that “through colors, shape, and lines, he believed that the ‘inner necessity’ of an artist could be translated into universally acceptable statements that could offer a regenerative view of the future.”

Kandinsky delved into abstraction slowly to avoid alienating the public, but by 1914 his works became highly abstract images that represent what he considered to be the purest art form: music. The pieces from this time period are some of the most engrossing in the exhibit. “Improvisation 28” is as captivating and consuming as a piece of music, as the vibrato seems to flow right off the canvas.

When the viewer really looks, steps up close, and lets Kandinsky’s varying forms, long strokes, and dynamic colors guide the eye around the composition, it is arresting. If the viewer takes the time to be absorbed, by say “Painting with White Border” (1913), it becomes clear what Kandinsky meant by making his paintings a spiritual experience.

Curator Tracey Bashkoff exclaimed that Kandinsky is the “artist most associated with the Guggenheim,” though it is one of three current world exhibitions, which Alain Seban, president of the Pompidou, called the “kind of exhibition that can only happen once every 25 years.”

The Kandinsky retrospective is a comprehensive and impressive exhibition. The artist’s paintings are arranged in a way that make the artist’s evolution clear and easily understandable. In the end, the works themselves are entirely infatuating when the viewer takes the time to really look and be swept up in them.

The Kandinsky exhibition is currently at the Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue and 89th Street, and runs Sept. 18 through Jan. 13. Admission is free with CUID.