Improvisation 19
Artwork by Vassily Kandinsky • 1911
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About this artwork - painting analysis
Improvisation 19 by Wassily Kandinsky marks a decisive turning point in the history of European abstraction. Painted in 1911, this work bears witness to the Russian artist's gradual transition towards a pictorial language freed from any figurative representation. Enigmatic forms unfold across the canvas: on the left, a schematic silhouette in vibrant colours – orange, yellow, blue – vaguely evokes a human presence, while on the right rise vertical black lines topped with pink masses that perhaps suggest dematerialised trees or figures. A broad black arc crosses the top of the composition, creating an upward dynamic. The background is dominated by a monochromatic range of blues and violets that lends the whole work an atmospheric depth, whilst touches of red, yellow and white punctuate the space with an almost musical energy.
The technique employed by Kandinsky reveals his mastery of colour and spontaneous gesture. The visible brushstrokes, affirmed black outlines and vibrant flat areas create a tension between construction and improvisation. The painter, then based in Munich and co-founder of the Der Blaue Reiter movement, theorises at this time the correspondences between painting and music. His Improvisations – of which this is one – are born from inner impulses, spontaneous expressions of the unconscious, in contrast to his more elaborate Compositions. This approach falls within German Expressionism while prefiguring the lyrical abstraction that would flourish throughout the twentieth century.
Held at the Lenbachhaus in Munich, an institution that houses the most important collection of Kandinsky's works, Improvisation 19 illustrates the artist's spiritual quest. In 1911, he published Concerning the Spiritual in Art, a manifesto in which he defends the idea that painting must touch the soul through the sole power of forms and colours. This canvas perfectly embodies this revolutionary vision which would durably influence modern art, making Kandinsky the undisputed pioneer of abstraction.
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Image license: faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional public domain work of art.
