Murnau am Staffelsee 1908

Wassily Kandinsky painted this landscape, Murnau am Staffelsee, using oil on board. Kandinsky applies the paint with varied pressure, to produce a range of textures; thick impasto in some areas, and translucent washes in others. There's a feeling of immediacy; the work's gestural strokes giving it the quality of a spontaneous sketch. He’s not using traditional materials in a traditional way. The intensity of the mark-making and vibrant colors create a sense of the artist's active involvement. Of course, all this freedom didn't come from nowhere. Advances in the manufacture of paints in tubes made it easier than ever before to paint 'en plein air', a practice that was only possible due to the division of labor in factories, and advancements in the science of color. Kandinsky, like many artists of his time, enjoyed new expressive possibilities, thanks to the transformations wrought by industrialization. Paying attention to materials and processes helps us to understand how social and technological shifts shaped art itself.