Here are some facts about Wassily Kandinsky, the famous Russian artist.
- Wassily Kandinsky was born on 16th December 1866 in Moscow, Russia. His father was a tea merchant
- At the age of 30, Kandinsky decided to go to Munich and attend art school. He turned his back on a career teaching law and economics.
- He was inspired by Claude Monet‘s Haystacks painting, particularly the artist’s use of colour.
- At art school Kandinsky began to shape and form his own painting style. He started to use colours to express his reaction to a subject. He believed that colour could have be both pleasing to the eye in a physical way, and pleasing to the soul in a deeper, emotional way.
- From 1922 to 1933 Kandinsky taught design classes at the Bauhaus art school in Germany. He continued to produce his own works, and he became increasingly interested in geometrical elements (such as circles, half-circles, straight lines and curves).
- In 1923 Kandinsky teamed up with Paul Klee, Lyonel Charles Feininger and Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky to form Die Blaue Vier (the Blue Four). They toured the United States in 1924, lecturing about art and exhibiting their work.
- Kandinsky moved to Paris in the 1930s. He lived in France until his death on 13th December 1944. He produced some of his most accomplished work in Paris, including: Composition IX and Composition X.
- His paintings have sold at auction for more than $20 million.
What next? Discover more facts about other famous artists.
