Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow, Russia in 1866. Known to many as the first great abstract artist, Kandinsky sought to express emotion in his paintings in a way that music does. In talking about art in his 1911 book, The Effect of Color, he describes the similarities he sees between painting and playing piano: “Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposely, to cause vibrations in the soul.” This ideal is often represented in his works throughout his career, and is what influenced him to abandon painting specific objects or images and instead transfer intangible things, such as soul or spirit, to the canvas.
In July 1923, Kandinsky finished painting Composition VIII (oil on canvas; 140 × 201 cm). At first glance the painting may appear to be chaotic. The painting is composed using line, shape, and color, each adding its own feeling to the overall effect of the painting. Sharp lines stretch out in every direction, some curved but almost entirely straight as a ruler. Circles, squares and triangles are scattered across the canvas, filled with vivid colors, though the background is mostly some shade of eggshell white and beige. Recurring shapes and lines give the painting a certain rhythm that reflects his inspiration of music. However, the painting has no clear motivation — it appears very busy, and although there is no clear emphasis, the eyes fall naturally to the center where all the lines lead. Upon further inspection, the abstract pattern is comparable to a landscape: lines coming to points to form mountains, a large circle to the left representing the sun, stars or maybe clouds above. Order seems to form in the chaos, and the realization is made that each and every line and shape is placed deliberately.
Kandinsky utilizes the elements of line, color, shape and space to create pattern, rhythm and variety in Composition VIII. The painting is abstract and as a result seems quite random — there is no emphasis on any particular point in the work. Instead, straight and curved lines are mixed with triangles, circles and squares of all different colors. Patterns emerge through recurring lines and the frequent use of circles; these patterns repeat across the canvas and give it an undeniable geometric rhythm that can almost be felt. The use of different rhythms and patterns gives the painting a variety that reinforces its impact on the viewer. The elements used to create Composition VIII are very basic — the painting, after all, is two-dimensional — yet the principles give Kandinsky’s work an emotion that almost pulses as you observe it.
Wassily Kandinsky frequently stated that his artworks were inspired by music and aimed to capture the audible feeling it projects and demonstrate it visibly. Composition VIII was created at the peak of his experimenting with this style. The variety of color gives the work an energetic feel, as though setting the tempo of a song; each line and shape can be seen as a note or sound, their varying size and design representing pitch and strength. The painting has no symmetry, and no two places look the same, just as in a symphony the beginning and end are different, and no two parts sound exactly alike. The artist does an excellent job conveying his purpose on the canvas — a tone that could only be created with an abstract painting.
Composition VIII is a large painting, measuring roughly five and a half feet by six and a half feet, and in person is truly a sight to behold. Hanging on a gallery wall, the painting is captivating — each line draws your eye somewhere new. The colors are bright and the lines and shapes sharp, the artist’s hand barely noticeable. The beholder could view it for hours and only begin to grasp the emotion that radiates from the work like music playing in the distance.