Wassily Kandinsky
1866-1944 · Russian (Moscow; worked in Germany/France) · Abstract Art / Expressionism
Known for: Pioneer of pure abstract painting who believed colors had sounds and art should express inner spiritual states
Kandinsky abandoned law at 30 and became the first painter to create purely abstract works - paintings with no recognizable subject, only color, line, and form expressing inner spiritual states. His Concerning the Spiritual in Art provided the intellectual foundation for abstraction.
He co-founded Der Blaue Reiter, taught at the Bauhaus, and experienced synesthesia - literally hearing colors and seeing music.
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