My Interview with Germany in the Arts

I:             Hello, so great of you to join us.

K:             Thank you for having me, it’s a pleasure to be here.

I:              You’re too kind Mr. Kandinsky. Say how did such a talented and successful painter like yourself get involved in the arts?

K:             Well I have always been an artist in my own way. I didn’t get fully invested in the arts, though, until the age of thirty. Growing up I was exposed to many different art forms including drawing, music, and poetry.  (Advameg, 2011)  I have always held the arts dear to my heart but my true passion at first was law and economics. I went to the University of Moscow to study in these areas. I thought that was what my life was going to be about, but while I was at the university I got involved in some intriguing studies that led me to the arts.

I went with a group to study the people Vologada. These Finno-Ugric people were amazing to me. Their traditional law systems, their religion and all aspects of their culture just fascinated me. (Advameg, 2011) I got very involved in their traditional folk art. Which was where I “first learned to look at a picture not only from the outside but to enter into it, to move around in it and to take part in it’s life.” (Kandinsky, 99)  It was these works that inspired some of my earliest paintings and what led me to become an artist.

I:              Ah, I see. So you were inspired by other art. Did you ever have a mentor that helped you develop your artistic talents or interests?

       

K:             I never had a true mentor that I studied under. There were my teachers of course. Anton Azbe who forced me to draw figures which I must say I really didn’t like. I don’t value the human figure in art I think objects hinder the beauty of a painting. (Kandinsky) But he also taught me about image composition and instructed me in work with line and form. (Wikipedia) There was Franz Stuck my teacher at the Munich Academy of Arts. He thought I used too much color and made me paint form in only black and white. But my true inspiration and mentor was always other art. Like Wagner’s Lohengrin, John Varley’s illustrations, and I was greatly inspired by Claude Monet. (Kandinsky ’1999)

What truly inspired me to paint in the abstract style was when I went to an exhibition in Moscow and I had the opportunity to see the painting Haystacks in Giverny by Monet. “That it was a haystack the catalogue informed me. I could not recognize it. This non-recognition was painful to me. I considered that the painter had no right to paint indistinctly. I dully felt that the object of the painting was missing. And I noticed with surprise and confusion that the picture not only gripped me, but impressed itself ineradicably on my memory. The painting took on a fairy-tale power and splendor.” (Kandinsky, 1999)  The way Monet valued the color and form over the actual object was astounding to me, almost awe inspiring and my views on art have not been the same since.

I:             It seems as though your world revolved solely around the arts. What was going on in that world when you entered it?

           

K:             I entered the world of art in a time of experimentation. The age of Realism and Naturalism was coming to a close and new avante-garde methods were spreading. My fellow painters were using new, radical techniques. There was Cubism, which is the technique of breaking down objects into geometric shapes like triangle, and other polygons. (Boguslawski ’1998) There was also the technique of Impressionism, like the painting that struck me so powerfully by Monet. Symbolism also began to show up in all art forms not painting alone. But most importantly, at least to me, was Expressionism. This was the idea that the artwork reflects the “inner necessity” of the artist, or the emotion behind the piece rather than objective forms. (art movements)

      These artistic and philosophical advances were sparked when scientists discovered that they could split an atom. This discovery sent all certainty about what is real tumbling down. It allowed people to think and theorize in a whole new way. So many doors were opened up to us artists, nothing was absolute and anything was possible. (Kandinsky ’99)  This scientific advancement also sparked an uprising in color theory, one of my personal favorite subjects. Colors began to be associated with a deeper psychological state, and in my case musical tones instead of just being the hue on the canvas.

I:            Sounds like an exciting time to be getting started! And with the war going on, was there much political, economic, and cultural influence in this period as well?

           

K:        I believe that if you mix politics with art then it is not really art at all. But yes of course you would be influenced. With something that huge going on it is difficult to escape its influence. As for myself the war marked a rough part of my life. I was so poor I had to sell the building I was living in, (Kandinsky ’99) and I had very little money for supplies to paint. Actually the whole world had very little money, but the arts powered through. After World War One there was a turning point in art. Art began to display opinions, like those of the artists on the war. There was an uprising in art created as an opposition to the “system”. (Kandinsky ’99)

In my home in Russia however there was a completely separate political crisis. The Russian Revolution. They said that the goal of the revolution was to bring the power to the people. Art was supposed to help that happen. It was now used to serve society. Due to this and the financial needs I made very little “practical work” during this time. (Kandinsky ’99) Instead I began working with the People’s Commissariat of Enlightenment. Where I began to theorize and write books on the spirituality of art.

I:            So tell me, what were your main accomplishments and methods as an artist?

           

K:            My biggest accomplishment was developing the style of Abstractionism. I was the first person to make an abstract painting. Abstract is the complete lack of form, it has no objective and lacks concrete existence. (Dictionary). Within my work some of my greatest accomplishments were founding Der Blaue Reiter, or in English The Blue Rider, along with Klee, Feininger, and Jawlensky. We sent our paintings to Emmy Scheyer in America and she set up exhibitions there to help spread our artistic ideas. (The Blue Four). I would say that my teaching at the Bauhaus in Germany was also an accomplishment. Especially since we had to move twice due to the war and the eventually we were banned from exhibiting in Germany so I left. I also published books about my ideas and theories of art, such as Point And Line to Plane. Earlier in my life I also was offered a position as a lecturer at Estonia for Law and Economics but I turned that down to pursue painting.

As for my methods I was an Expressionist, Abstract painter. I began by imitating Impressionism with some folk art influence. My earlier paintings had form and objective but they became more and more unrealistic. I really love color so they were almost all bright and colorful. Over time my work grew into a more Expressionist, Impressionism. They still had a form but it was regarded as unimportant in comparison to the color and representation of emotion. And eventually physical reality was no longer present in my work and it became an abstract, expression of line, shape and color. I believe that abstraction is almost like “liberated color”. (Pioch 02)  I divided my paintings into three categories. Improvisations, which are “unconscious expressions of events, impressions of the inner nature.” (Kandinsky ’99) Also Compositions were painted like pieces of music. The flow of the colors and tones inspired by artists like Wagner and Schoenberg. And Impressions were like Expressionist, Impressionism paintings. They eliminated all detail and showed only basic gestures of forms.

           

I:             You are a pretty accomplished man! What opportunities did you have that lead you to your turning points in both your art and in your life?

           

K:             I guess I will start with the most important turning point, going from law to art. The opportunity that led me to that was getting to go to Vologada to study the Finno-Ugric’s. Also the opportunity to see Claude Monet’s painting “Haystacks”. These led me to becoming an artist. After I decided to become an artist I was presented with the opportunity to move to a more artsy town and me and my wife moved to Munich, Germany. Here I was presented with yet another opportunity that taught me so much about art, to study with Franz Stuck at the Munich Academy of Art.

My art also went through some phases. The key turning point in my art was when I moved to Munich and I was exposed to styles like cubism, fauvism, and impressionism. Seeing these paintings and having the opportunity to get to know some of these artists helped me sort out my beliefs on art. Another one of my big opportunities was meeting Rudolf Steiner in Berlin. His theories on the development of human behavior inspired some of my own theories of human emotion and color. And the last turning point in my life was when the Nazi’s shut down the Bauhaus and I had to move to Paris. I guess you could look at that as an opportunity because it brought me to a phase in which I painted more airy, playful and subjective paintings.      -

           

I:            Opportunity plays a big role in becoming successful but what choices did you make that led to your success?

      K:             Well obviously when I chose to leave what was shaping up to be a successful law career and devote myself to art and painting. That decision set my life on a completely new path, to think that I might have been a lawyer today. My decision to leave Russia and to move to Munich also led to my success. I chose Munich over Paris because it had closer relations to Russia. (Kandinsky ’99) While in Munich I founded the Phalanx society, which brought me close to fellow avant-garde artists. It lacked support and I chose to end it so I could continue on with my own work. The choice that brought me the most recognition was probably founding the Blue Rider. It got my work to America and in some top exhibitions.

Choosing to publish a book about my philosophies also brought me quite a lot of recognition. They were cutting edge philosophies and sparked controversy. However, these controversies only brought me more fame. On the philosophical side of things I personally think my most important decision was to paint what I felt. Instead of looking to other artists for my techniques I created my own. I developed my very own and very strong opinions on what art was and what art should be. I think that is what separated me from many other artists and what allowed me to achieve my success.

I:             Where there any hardships or roadblocks that you had to overcome in order to pursue art?

           

K:            Pursuing art as a career is never easy. One has the obvious hardship of struggling financially. And until you make a name for yourself it is difficult to overcome that. Because of the time that I worked I faced an even harder period due to the war. There was a global depression, which put myself as a poor artist even further into poverty. And in Russia it was even worse because of the revolution. But I did overcome that hardship and am now a successful and well-known artist.

The war posed many other hardships besides finances. There were the limitations on what we were allowed to paint. We still managed to express ourselves it became very difficult. I even had to leave Germany. The Nazi’s didn’t support the new advances in technique. They closed the Bauhaus where I was working because of our theories.  So a lot of artists left Germany and I myself went to Paris.  (The Biography)

I:              What kind of limitations did you run into as both an artist and a person?

           

K:        In school my biggest limitation was the lack of interest in figures. I         considered them a constraint on my freedom and that it ruins art to include them. This is one of my personal opinions but in a way it limits me. As for the material world my limitations came in the form of the political and economic circumstances in which I lived. They kept me from being able to work as freely as I would have liked. At this time you had to be careful about what your work represented. If you offended the wrong group of people, or if they thought you were supporting the wrong political movement in your art you could end up in a lot of trouble.

My ideas were controversial and I faced many conflicts where people were critical of me. This was my biggest limitation overall both personally and in my artistic life. This was a problem for it sometimes closed doors on me. I would be working somewhere but there would raise a conflict of opinions and my ideas would get shot down. (Kandinsky ’99)      I faced this limitation most when I went to Paris. In France I faced a new culture. They did not appreciate my art the same way as I was used to back in Russia. (The Biography) This limitation was the hardest for me.

I:             So to wrap up, are there any anecdotes that illustrate how you became successful?

           

K:          I don’t know if this story illustrates my success but it does illustrate my technique. I had a telephone call with a lady named Nina Andreevskaya. It was around the time that my wife Gabriele and I got divorced. I was so struck by Nina’s voice. So smooth, soft and delicate. I immediately went to my studio and painted the most fantastic watercolor for her. The tone and melodiousness of her voice was inspiring to me. We ended up getting married later. (Kandinsky ’99)     

Also people are always amused when I tell them about the first time I experienced an abstract painting. I was in my studio when I saw the most incredible painting. I didn’t recognize it at first. All I saw was the harmony of the color and form. There was no objective and it was beautiful. I was so struck by it that I went over to look at it more intently and I realized it was my own painting. I had put it on the easel upside down!