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  • Essay / Abstract Expressionism: Analysis of Wassily Kandinsky and Arnold Schoenberg

    “Abstract Expressionism” is a term that describes a general movement of largely non-representational painting. This phenomenon began in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. Led by a generation of American artists - heavily influenced by European settlers who grew up during the Depression and were influenced by both World War II and its aftermath. consequences of the Cold War. Abstract Expressionism encompassed several quite different styles. These paintings share certain characteristics, including the integral use of canvas, in which the entire canvas is treated with equal importance. Abstract art expresses ideas that concern the spiritual, the unconscious and the mind. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay The painter Wassily Kandinsky was in Munich in January 1911. There he attended a concert of music by Arnold Schoenberg , which prompted him to start writing to Schönberg. He wrote: “In your work you have achieved what I had so desired, although in uncertain form, in music. » Kandinsky was impressed by a new method of atonal composition, used by Schoenberg, which did not correspond to existing rules of harmony. Inspired by this, Kandinsky attempted to break away from traditional figurative modes of painting. When discussing the emotional quality of color, Kandinsky often uses musical terminology. Kandinsky and Schoenberg's friendship was crucial to the development of both artists. They had similar views on the nature and purpose of art. Their collaboration has helped them both reach their full potential while inspiring each other. One of Kandinsky's many famous quotes is: "Lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting and... stop thinking!" Just ask yourself if the work allowed you to “walk” into a previously 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 analyzing Kandinsky's works and the effect Schoenberg had on them. “Circles in a Circle” is a compact and closed album. composition. Kandinsky began a thoughtful study of the circle as an artistic unit from this painting. In his letter to Galka Scheyer he wrote: “This is the first of my photos which puts the theme of circles in the foreground.” The outer black circle, like the second frame of an image, encourages us to focus on the interaction between the inner circles, and two intersecting diagonal stripes reinforce the effect, adding perspective to the composition. The deeper the blue becomes, the more strongly it calls man towards infinity, awakening in him a desire for the pure and, finally, the supernatural... The brighter it becomes, the more it loses its sound, until it transforms in silence and turn white…. (Quote from Kandinsky). Kandinsky's paintings would gradually become more and more abstract, and with Murnau, Train and Castle we can see a step along the way. Kandinsky painted it in 1909 after traveling through much of Europe and deciding to settle in Murnau, a small town in Bavaria. In this painting you can see how color plays almost as important a role as the shapes it shapes, even though the shapes here are still clear themselves; the train and the castle are both evident, as are various elements of the background. Kandinsky's work and Schoenberg's music share a similar idea. They both abandon the existing rules of music and painting and.