Aquarell mit Strich 1912

Here's a Kandinsky watercolour, all washes and lines, kind of floating in space. It's a real head-scratcher, isn't it? I imagine him, back in the day, bending over the paper, trying to nail down something that’s just out of reach. There’s this big blue splodge at the top, and it's grounded with some scratchy black lines. The colours are so translucent and washy, like memories fading at the edges. There are touches of red and yellow that pull the eye around the surface, making it all sing. It’s like he’s trying to orchestrate a feeling, not just paint a picture. It reminds me of other painters, like Paul Klee, who were also chasing after the invisible, trying to make music with color and line. When you look at the whole body of Kandinsky’s work, it’s a conversation, each piece chatting with the others, building on ideas, pushing things further. Painting's like that, we’re all just borrowing and stealing from each other anyway! And it’s always about trying to figure out how to make something that hasn’t been seen before.