It was in June 2009 at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza when I fell in love with a piece of art for the first time: Vasily Kandinsky´s "The Ludwigskirche in Munich" had me at first glance. The assembled crowd consisting of many non-figurative small patches of colour, its vibrant brushstrokes and spots in gleaming oil in contrast to the dark background riveted me. This picture is one of Kandinsky´s earlier works before he began to paint in an abstract manner.
When I went to the exhibition Kandinsky Before Abstraction at the Guggenheim Museum last week I fell in love with a different painting by Kandinsky.
Vasily Kandinsky, Amsterdam—View from the Window, 1904
In terms of technique, this painting is a decent Impressionist imitation. The view is from an upper window in Amsterdam, showing the bridge over a gracht, the towers of the Lido, the Vondelpark, and the Park Hotel. Although it is very small in size there are countless details to discover. What is most impressive is how Kandinsky composes a whole crowd of nothing more than small, swishy brushstrokes. Out of simple flicks of the wrist he forms a wide range of different, abstract silhouettes. This is simply brilliant. Also worthmentioning are the reflections in the water and the color-curls in the trees.
The Kandinsky exhibition at Guggenheim is intimate and includes early landscape studies in rather muted colors, woodcuts and abstract paintings seized by colors. For me "Amsterdam--View from the Window" is the exhibition's crown jewel.
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