Kandinsky and Klee
Kandinsky, who was Russian, a pioneer of modern abstract art and Klee, a Swiss born painter, printmaker and draughtsman of German nationality, were both associated with the German expressionist group Der Blue Reiter and the Bauhaus.
To Kandinsky, painting was deeply spiritual. He is thought to have synesthesia - an ability to hear colours and see sounds. He listened to music as he worked and viewed music as the most transcendent form of non-objective art - musicians could evoke images in listener’s minds merely with sounds.He strove to produce similarly object free, spiritually rich paintings that alluded to sounds and emotions through a unity of sensation. “Lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting and . . . .stop thinking”
Klee believed that the material world was only one among many realities open to human awareness. His use of design, pattern, colour, and miniature sign systems all show his efforts to use art as a window onto that philosophical principle. He was a musician for most of his life, playing the violin as a warm up for painting. he saw the analogies between music and visual art. He challenged traditional boundaries - arrows, letters, musical notation, ancient hieroglyphs or a few black lines could stand in for for a person or object in his work.He painted on a variety of everyday materials such as burlap, cardboard and muslin.
We enjoyed looking at both artist’s work, but sometimes found it somewhat baffling! However, as usual, it provoked a lively discussion and I think we are all learning something new!