The Guggenheim Museum

Wassily Kandinsky. Several Circles. 1926. Oil on canvas. 140 x 140 cm. The Solomon R. Guggebheim Museum, New York, NY, USA.

Circe circle, dot dot.  This is what Kandinsky‘s…not.  While this particular rap lyric is true to the shapes that the Russian artist would explore later on in his career, those circles can’t be summarized in so many words.  No, the circumference of each round shape was deliberate, its placement on the canvas was planned and the color transparency was carefully pondered by Wassily.  He started from a point -  a desire to raise art to the level of music – and expanded it outward, into a whorl of tints, tones and thrilling compositions.  Perhaps, Euclid’s definition of a point could be applied to Kandinsky’s beginning: “A point is that which has no part.”  Kandinsky took that bottomless point and gave it a part while setting it apart – the point became a site for the compass tip, from which the circle could be drawn. [click to continue…]

Tagged as: The Guggenheim Museum

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