1911
All Saints day II
Wassily Kandinsky
1866 - 1944Location
Lenbachhaus, Munich, GermanyListen to curator's interpretation
Curatorial notes
Wassily Kandinsky made "All Saints Day II" with oil on canvas, and looking at the surface, it’s all about fluidity. The colours swirl and merge, blues bleeding into yellows, reds popping out like flares. It feels like a snapshot of a dream, or maybe a memory trying to take shape. You can almost feel Kandinsky letting the paint lead him, trusting the process. Notice that long brushstroke of ochre, stretching from the top left towards the center. It anchors the whole composition and has a particular energy. You can sense him physically dragging the brush, committing to the movement. Kandinsky's work reminds me of Hilma af Klint, who also chased abstraction but with a mystical rigor. With both artists, there's a sense that they are reaching beyond the visible world, using paint to express something that words can’t quite capture. And isn't that what art is all about, anyway?