Wassily Kandinsky

Life: 1866 – 1944 (1)

Country: France (born in Russia)

Style(s): Expressionism; Bauhaus; Modernism; Abstract

Works: Composition VIII (1923)

              Im Blau (1925)

              Yellow, Red, Blue (1925)

              Composition X (1939)

Quote: “Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.'' (2)

Fun Fact:

             Kandinsky wanted to create a pure painting that had as much emotional power as a piece of music--he even claimed that when he saw color, he heard music (2). 

             His name can also be spelled: Vasilij Kandinskij, Vasilii Kandinskii, or Vasily Kandinski (1).

              Kandinsky used color in a highly theoretical way by associating tone with timbre (the sound's character), hue with pitch, and saturation with the volume of sound (4).

              The name for the Blue Rider Group (Der Reiter), which Kandinsky founded with Munter and Marc, came from Kandinsky’s painting Blaue Reiter (5)

          It is two full days of your precious 14-day time limit before Kandinsky comes home and you can talk to him. You meet him frantically at the door and are exasperated when he won’t answer your questions about Chucky but instead shows you his extensive collection of paintings including Abstract, Expressionism, Bauhaus and Modernism. You are stunned by his wide array of styles. He tells you even more about the Blue Rider group which was named after his painting Blaue Reiter (5).

            Suddenly, Kandinsky starts talking to you about music. For a moment you are thrown off and have no idea what he could be talking about. However, you soon catch on. Kandinsky tells you that when he sees color he hears music and that he wants to create pure paintings that have as much emotional power as a piece of music. His goal is to have other people look at his paintings, and instead of seeing them, he wants them to hear the music (4). Unfortunately, your requests for information about Chucky are useless. Instead, Kandinsky explains how he uses color in a highly theoretical way, associating tone with timbre (the sound's character), hue with pitch, and saturation with the volume of sound (4). You are blown away by Kandinsky’s concepts.

            Finally, once he is done explaining the correlation he sees between music and art, Kandinsky claims that he has never heard of Chucky, but agrees to listen to your story anyway. You tell him all about the note, and time, and how you believe the connection has to do with artists somehow. But all you get in response is a blank look.

            Eventually he tells you that he is sorry but he doesn’t know anything about Chucky and he suggests that you try his teacher from the Munich Academy, Franz von Stuck (3). The same artist Gabriele Münter had suggested days before. You have made a terrible mistake in your quest for Chucky.