Kandinsky's COMPOSITION VIII

Composition VIII ~ 1923

This painting features various geometric shapes...circles, triangles and rectangles...that interact with each other.  Kandinsky regarded Composition VIII as the high point of his postwar achievement.  

The large circle in the upper left corner, with its black, purple and pink rings, boldly announces the importance of circles in Kandinsky's later works.   The geometric forms in this painting create a sense of order alongside the random chaotic arrangement of other shapes and lines.  Composition VIII is colorful and portrays aggressive and quiet at the same time.  He is trying to show a balance between chaos and order.

Notice, again, in the background what might be a triangular blue mountain.  

My perception is music, rhythm, time, space and the universe.  A dance of shapes and colors.  One might call it a visual symphony.  I know now that a painting doesn't need realistic representation to speak to one's soul.  Abstract artistic expression is genius. 

Composition VIII was purchased by Solomon R. Guggenheim in 1930.  It was the first of more than 150 works by this artist to enter the Guggenheim Museum in New York.  Composition VIII is approx. 4.5 feet x 6.5 feet in size.