Kandinsky and Malevich
Rejection of a recognizable subject does not create a unified artistic language.
Key ideas
Kandinsky explored the interaction of color, line and rhythm, linking it with theoretical ideas about the internal influence of art. Malevich developed Suprematism as a special system of relationships between forms and colors. Their programs and visual solutions vary.
Looking deeper
Comparison is more useful than the general label “abstraction.” One work may be based on a moving interweaving of lines, another on the tension of geometric planes and background. Author's texts help to understand the intention, but they also need to be compared with the visible form.
Kandinsky, "Composition VII"; Malevich, Suprematist compositions.
Find the work in the museum's official catalog and start with a description of the visible details.Make two lists: what you observe and what the author's theory states.
Useful terms
- Abstraction
- A distraction from a recognizable subject or an image in which the relationships of lines, colors and shapes have independent meaning.
External educational material or museum catalogue. The above review is not a literal translation of the source.