Monday, November 30, 2009

Art and Science: Kandinsky



Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (English pronunciation: /kənˈdɪnski/; Russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Канди́нский, Vasilij Vasil'evič Kandinskij; 4 December [O.S. 4 December] 1866 – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter, and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first modern abstract works.

I had the pleasure of seeing a large exhibition of his work yesterday at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City (89th St. and Fifth Avenue) with my 18-yr-old Art School daughter. I'd never heard of him (in spite of being the son of two artists who met at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute) and boy was I impressed. His use of color is extraordinary, and indeed he studied the Science of Color (the Electromagnetic Spectrum for those of us Science-minded), and it shows.

Good show. Here is a sampling of his works:










 





 

 

 








4 comments:

PlatoHagel said...

Hi Steven,

His use of color is extraordinary, and indeed he studied the Science of Color (the Electromagnetic Spectrum for those of us Science-minded), and it shows.

I have another blog post brewing in relation to your article and the aspect of science.

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Best,

Steven Colyer said...

Thanks for that, Plato, and for your cool website.

In the weeks and months agead I intend to bring in other artists whose works are inspirational to Physicists and Mathematicians, and remind us of same.

M.C. Esher is too easy, of course, how wonderful was he? Roger Penrose both befriended and encouraged him, I recently learned. Cool.

Others include Salvador Dali (5 dimensions), Vincent Van Gogh, Lewis Carroll, and George Harrison.

Andrew Thomas said...

I really like Kandinsky, but he is not well regarded in this country as all too often his prints end up on the wall of Pizza Hut. They seem to love him.

Steven Colyer said...

You let Pizza Hut into the United Kingdom ?!

I grieve for your country, then. I hate that stuff. Tastes like chemicals. Yuck.