Composition VI by Wassily Kandinsky

The first impression of Composition VI is that it is mesmerizing. You feel drawn into another world.

The striking use of bold lines and shapes is contrasted with softer images. This assists in drawing you into the piece. If one focuses first on the bottom right, the images are soft, almost blurred with a hint of haze.

The eye is then encouraged up diagonally towards the top left. The images becomes bolder and more striking. One's eye then naturally drifts away to the top right corner and images are seen floating away.

Is it therefore a metaphor for life flowing from that disaster, or a metaphor of life from birth to death? We start off as newly born with little to no understanding and are wrapped up in warm cotton cloth (this being emphasised by the soft colours). Gradually we grow and face all that life throws at us. Eventually we die and our souls are elevated to the sky.

Whatever the painting's original meaning, it is a truly remarkable piece. I can safely say that it is worth more than a passing glance. The more it is studied the more you can see. Indeed, as I do so, I can see human forms - a hand, a posterior.

The artist has not just simply painted this abstract. He has composed it like a musical piece. Indeed there are even hints of harp stings with the bold use of straight lines. The impression is that the artist is or was a thinker, a theorist, intelligent and a has a deep psychological understanding of the world and everything in it. He/she was above all,a very accomplished artist.

Whatever the original intention was, for all of the reasons here to before written, this lovely abstract form was about life.

It has an almost three dimensional quality. I am reminded of the 1990's and the commercially successful Magic Eye books. In those, if one trained their eyes to shift focus and look into / through the paintings, a three dimensional image would appear. The same almost applies with Composition VI. Although no actual image appears, the technique allows you to see the crisp lines which give Composition VI this unique three dimensional quality.

Without compromising on originality, there is a Salvador Dali flavour flowing through the busy and vibrant lines. Was the artist thinking of a dream? The answer to that must surely be no because that would compromise originality.

On greater reflection, there appear to me to be subtle hints of animals. I see aquatic creatures, a horses head and feathered friends. This painting could be about life and the rich tapestry of the world. This is enhanced by the use and vibrant colours liberally applied throughout the painting. The artist has not just painted this. He/she has breathed life into the composition.

In the alternative this could be a composition concerning new life flowing from a disaster. Mankind has been wiped out but evolution is playing its part to restore nature.