Has the snow touched your town yet? If not yet, or your country belongs to a tropical area where there is no snow, don’t worry, Wassily Kandinsky has monumentalized winter scenes for us! Wassily Kandinsky was a Moscow-born artist who becomes one of the key figures of abstraction. Here are some winter depictions by Wassily Kandinsky:
1. Winter Landscape (1909)
This is one of the famous winter scene paintings from Kandinsky. It depicts a colorful winter landscape in the mountains. This painting represents the unique character of Kandinsky that usually involves bright colors and non-representative forms. For Kandinsky, winter is not identical to white, but it could be pink, yellow, blue, or purple. The light effects on the snow make this painting is so incredible.
2. Winter Study with Mountain (1908)
Credit Picture: Winter Study with Mountain (1908) by Wassily Kandinsky. Courtesy of the Artist. https://www.wassilykandinsky.net
This painting was made by Kandinsky a year before the famous Winter Landscape. It shows a house with a mountain as a background in the winter. We can see obvious continuity between this painting and 1909’s Winter Landscape, for example, the pinkish or yellowish snow sparkles and the deep blue mountain. The strong dabs and colors in this painting remind me of fauvism.
At the age of 30, Kandinsky moved to Munich. He then traveled across Europe, before decided to live in Murnau, with his lover, Gabriele Münter. Murnau is located in the foothills of the Alps. In this town, Kandinsky began to paint his local townscape and surrounding landscape. Among the works is this winter scenery painting.
3. Winter Landscape with Church (1910–11)
Credit Picture: Winter Landscape with Church (1910–11) by Wassily Kandinsky. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Solomon R. Guggenheim Founding Collection, By gift. https://www.guggenheim.org
Kandinsky remained to improve his skill on depicts his surrounding. In 1910, he painted a winter scenery again, in a residential area with church and mountains as background. A figure in the middle looks like a man walks through the snow. Compared with the two previous works in winter, this work is more detailed without losing Kandinsky’s style.
4. Studie Winter II (1910)
Credit Picture: Studie Winter II (1910) by Wassily Kandinsky. Courtesy of the Artist. https://commons.wikimedia.org
In the same year (1910), Kandinsky made another winter scene. He simplifies the townscape and reduces them into basic shapes. In this painting, he embraces fauvism, impressionism, and abstractionism. The bright color shows that winter is not just about cold, but about the mixed pleased feeling on it. Kandinsky is also famous for portraits of glimpses of the spiritual realm on his paintings. Kandinsky believes that “abstract colors and forms can be used to express the “inner life” of the artist”. He wrote it In his treatise Concerning the Spiritual In Art (1910).
5. Winter Landscape (1911)
Credit Picture: Winter Landscape (1911) by Wassily Kandinsky. Courtesy of the Artist. https://commons.wikimedia.org
Kandinsky was an artist who was tireless in looking for a new painting style. This painting portrays his local surrounding during the winter season that dominated by white and deep-blue colors. His painting is simple and does not distract the viewer’s mind with complicated feelings. Actually, this painting is almost close to an abstract painting but with some clues to the real world.