Wassily Kandinsky
Leise Deutung (Gentle Hint), 1929
Signed with the artist's monogram 'K' and dated '29' (lower left); signed with the artist's monogram 'K,' dated '1929', titled '"Leise Deutung,"' and inscribed 'no. 484' (on the reverse)
Oil on canvas
52 by 34 cm (20½ by 13½ in.)
68724
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Painted in December 1929. A pioneer of abstraction in Western art, Kandinsky firmly believed in a non-objective art form that transcended the traditional meaning of art. His experimentations with formal...
Painted in December 1929. A pioneer of abstraction in Western art, Kandinsky firmly believed in a non-objective art form that transcended the traditional meaning of art. His experimentations with formal autonomy and color theory are made visible in his vibrant and geometric compositions that favor the symbolic and rely on intuition to communicate meaning. Characteristic of the Bauhaus school of art which he taught at from 1922 to 1933, Kandinsky's use of geometric shapes, varying lines, and intersecting angles exposes the underlying structures and essential elements of architecture and technological design. These elements are repeated and emphasized to establish rhythm and harmony and to express meaning through pictorial relationships and symbiotic connections.
In Leise Deutung (Gentle Hint), Kandinsky focuses on the color blue which for him carried profound meaning. In Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1912) – one of the most influential art writings of the 20th century – he refers to the relationship between art and music and writes, “In music a light blue is like a flute, a darker blue a cello; a still darker a thunderous double bass; and the darkest blue of all – an organ.”
In Leise Deutung (Gentle Hint), Kandinsky focuses on the color blue which for him carried profound meaning. In Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1912) – one of the most influential art writings of the 20th century – he refers to the relationship between art and music and writes, “In music a light blue is like a flute, a darker blue a cello; a still darker a thunderous double bass; and the darkest blue of all – an organ.”