Kandinsky, The Odyssey of Abstraction

Hall des Lumières presents a production lasting around ten minutes, created from works executed by the prolife and visionary artist, Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944). A painter, poet, art theorist, and founder of abstract art, Kandinsky revolutionized the history of art with his many compositions, now exhibited around the world. He came to art relatively late in life, at the age of thirty. He was born in Moscow, and after studying law, he traveled around Europe and discovered the work of the avant-garde artists such as Cezanne, Monet and Matisse.

Kandinsky’s study of the symbolism of color and forms echoed Cezanne’s own studies: both artists contested objective perception, focusing instead on the painter’s interiority, the very essence of creativity. "Kandinsky, the Odyssey of Abstraction" focuses on his spiritual quest, via the major artistic phases of his life, from Moscow to Paris.

The immersive exhibition is composed of two distinct parts, split by the advent of abstraction. The first part evokes the artist’s early figurative work, influenced by impressionism, oneiric fauvism, and, to some extent, pointillism. You are initially plunged into Kandinsky’s memories, Russian folklore, and the country’s legendary capital.

The second part is more experimental, highlighting the force of movement and the rhythm of forms and color. Immersed in a chromatic explosion, you will discover the most significant works of this modernist impetus - Composition VIII (1923) and Jaune, rouge, bleu (‘Yellowred-blue’, 1925) - up to the biomorphic works of his later years. Becoming closer to music, his paintings gradually shifted away from representational constraints and no longer used the real world as a reference, but rather the inner self instead.

listen to the playlist of the exhibition