Impression III (Concert) by Wassily Kandinsky

Music has for a long time played a role within the visual arts. But the method of turning beautiful sounds into a painting has not been easy to find. Many have tried, but few have been successful.

In other cases, artists have actually concentrated on the tools of music themselves, and depicted the physical items within their work. Georges Braque, for example, was a highly skilled painter who was also a musician and would create cubist still life paintings by re-arranging his own instruments within his studio. This gave us the likes of Violin and Candlestick and Clarinet and Bottle of Rum on a Mantelpiece. Well, in this Kandinsky painting we find sound represented by an audience who have arrived for a concert. They line up along the left side of the painting, formed from abstract shapes and lines which was typical of the artist's style at this point in his career. Classical music also has a strong connection to Russian history and so this was another example of the artist displaying the best qualities of his home country within his work.

Perhaps it is the colour scheme which makes this painting quite so memorable. A huge mass of yellow paint sweeps across the right hand side, without any detail at all. A thick mass of black then sits alongside, providing an eye catching contrast. Further to the left hand side are touches of blues and reds which seem more carefully considered and specific to certain elements that he would have been looking at when making the work. The individual figures are equally abstract, formed from one or two tones for the torso and then a looped curve for the head. One understands these immediately as the audience because of the title of the painting and also that this is how Kandinsky formed his figures in a number of other artworks.

The piece can be found at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau in Munich, Germany. They have perhaps the largest collection of Kandinsky paintings in the world, with the rest dispersed thinly around major art galleries in Europe and North America as well as a number of private collections. A visit to this institution is ideal for those interested in German expressionist art and although Kandinsky was Russian, he certainly left a huge impact on German art himself. Besides his own contributions, you will also be able to see some stunning Franz Marc paintings here, as well as further pieces from Kirchner and Macke, such is the impressive breadth of the gallery's display.