Merry Structure by Wassily Kandinsky

The Merry Structure is a 1926 painting by Wassily Kandinsky. The painting style is abstract art, and the genre is abstract.

The painting is of high-quality that gives it a sharp and vivid appearance. It was produced on medium weight cover stock, and it is coated with silken finishing that protects the inks from peeling out and gives it an elegant appearance. The artist understood the effect of color on objects and how it can influence the overall form of the painting. The artist used both warm and bright colors in this painting and also used dark colors to give it more meaning.

The artist placed all the objects in the painting in such a way that every item is in harmony with each other. He also used a bright background color to make all the items visible as its color is also in harmony with the colors of the objects. All features were carefully placed in this painting as there is no item that takes the entire composition of the painting. Every item on the painting has its own meaning, and the artist wanted the viewer to see the theme that was being created by the combination of all these items.

Wassily Kandinsky was considered to be the initiator of the original abstract art, and he believed that artwork could easily visualize and express musical compositions. The artist was also an accomplished musician. He visualized color when he heard music, and connected music timbre with music tone, pitch with hue, and the volume of sound with saturation. Like in the Merry Structure and his other works, music was a great contributor when he was putting his ideas on the painting.

A close observation of the Merry Structure painting depicts these unique artistic skills that Kandinsky incorporated in his artwork. All the items in the painting resemble a certain music instrument or technique. The general composition of the painting resembles the paintings that were used in the ancient music arena. Images depicting guitars are visible, and guitar wires are crossing on small bars are clearly visible in the painting. At the bottom on the righthand side, the artist placed a depiction of a piano that is used to generate music codes. The artist wanted the viewer to connect music themes with the items he used in the painting.

The artist was also careful not to over decorate the painting so that it could not lose it meaning and the themes he intended the viewer to see. However, he still maintained the comical aspect of the painting but maintained his intended message on the painting. The artist used space well in the painting as the items are arranged independently on the painting as no item is overlapping each other. The artist also used independent color for each item which makes them easily identifiable by the viewer.

The artist’s main theme in the Merry Structure painting was to connect artwork and musical instruments to depict how these two aspects can produce an overall attractive picture. The items were also not put in any arrangement, but the artist was careful not to make them look clumsy in the final image. The artist used vertical lines, diagonals and parallel line on the items which makes their curves to be in harmony with each other. The tone, shape, color and the overall arrangement of the painting shows the high artistic skills that the artist used to put together this painting.

In his abstract paintings, he used emotion to add more themes to the final work. The artist’s abstract work relied more on shapes, lines, and color that have no real connection to the real world on its effects.

The artist understood the huge impact of color on abstract painting as he defined yellow color as an intense trumpet blast. It has the nature of springing from the page while he defined blue as having a celestial sound that has an impact on depths. These colors are visible in the Merry Structure painting in squares with concentric circles. He termed his abstract painting like Merry Structure, to have single forms and symphonic which influence the overall design of the painting and giving it a certain theme.