Houses in Munich by Wassily Kandinsky

Houses in Munich was painted in 1908, by Russia's leading painter and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky. Although he was born in Moscow, he spend his childhood in Odessa, where he graduated and enrolled at the University of Mocscow studying law and economics.

Wassily intended to convey ideas and human emotions by utilizing blocks of vibrant colours. As his painting style developed his paintings became increasingly abstract to transcend both physical and cultural boundaries. Wassily believed sounds could form images in the listeners mind. He also believed the opposite could be achieved, images being able to create sounds and emotions in the viewer’s mind. This was a new and controversial thinking at the time.

Kandinsky created the painting by using bright colours to block in large areas, and then using different tones of the same colour to touch up the original area. This created a patchwork effect of vibrant colours which carry the emotions of the artist and complete the picture. Houses of Munich features a sunset with an effervescent orange sky reflecting sunlight onto the brightened buildings below. Kandinsky uses warm colours for the buildings in the foreground, and cooler colours for the buildings in the background. Houses in Munich by Wassily Kandinsky (1908), is an oil on cardboard painting approximately 33. x 41. Cm and can be found in Wuppertal, Von der Heydt Museum in Germany.

At the age of 30, Wassily gave up a promising career in law and economics. He decided to move to Munich with his wife to enroll at an art school, and pursue his ambition to become an artist. Later in his life in moved to France and became a French citizen in 1939 where he produced some of his most prominent artworks. He died in 1944 at Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Wassily Kandinsky's paintings are widely recognized as some of the first truly abstract art works, and he remains a pioneer of modern art. His technique was to visualize musical compositions with colours and abstract forms. This art piece is classified as expressionism and demonstrates Kandinsky’s early artistic development where colour is offered independently of form.