abstract art online course

Jodi Ohl Art Workshops

Absolutely abstracts.

Stretch Your Wings & Explore the Mesmerizing World of Abstract Art Online. Join Jodi Ohl in her self-study course, Absolutely Abstracts, using acrylic paint to create amazing Abstract Paintings.

The Art of Texture and Expressive Acrylic Painting Techniques

What to Expect

Quick overview.

Explore Abstract painting through multiple video lessons, guided discussions, PDF overview, and live support through Facebook Groups. Approximate duration of Video content will be 5 hours. *This class is suitable for the beginner artist through the more advanced.

Learn how to utilize texture, add contrast, line work, and mark-making to create gorgeous layers within your abstract works of art. By the end of the course, students will have 4 or more completed works of art and be exposed to a wide array of material and surfaces to use in their own practice. Take the guess work out of what to use and when.

Overcome and Enhance

Students will discover ways to contend with the fear of the unknown when painting in an abstract manner through deliberate, but flexible exercises and projects. Deepen and enhance overall compositions by editing, finalizing details , and add finishing touches to preserve their work of art for years to come.

Enjoy over 6 hours of video content

Who Is This Class For

Is Absolutely Abstracts the Right Choice For You?

You are an artist who is open to exploring abstract painting or wishes to learn more about the genre of art.

You have a basic understanding of navigating online classes and can work independently,

You enjoy challenges and are willing to put in the work to overcome your own fears and insecurities as an artist.

You are an artist who has a positive attitude and will work to encourage others in the community as well as engage in discussions as time permits.

You are open to exploring the unknown. We will not have any representative subject matter as a focus of our compositions in this course. You will be asked to represent feelings, moods, and experiences however.This can be challenging. If you interested in discovering ways to paint loosely and perhaps outside of your comfort zone, this class is for you!

Testimonial:

Fantastic Course!

Meet your instructor.

Instructor Jodi Ohl

More great courses.

We are constantly working on new courses. Click the button here to see what else is available.

Try our Advanced Abstracts Course

Abstract interactive!

Abstract Interactive - SELF STUDY!

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Composition Design for Abstract Art

A course by hola lou , artist, muralist, and graphic designer.

Learn to conceptualize ideas by combining art and design to create unique pieces with markers, acrylic paint, and digital tools

• Best seller English, Spanish
• 95% positive reviews ( 166 )
• 4423 students
• Information

Want to paint minimalist, abstract art brimming with color? In this online course, explore the limits of your imagination by fusing art and design alongside Hola Lou , Mexican artist, muralist, and designer who has collaborated with brands like Apple, Samsung, Nike, Spotify, WWF, LinkedIn, and more.

Learn to conceptualize ideas and transform them into hand-painted compositions. Create a piece of modernist abstract art step by step to sell through social media or your website, or simply liven up the walls of your home or studio.

What will you learn in this online course?

14 lessons & 15 downloads

• 14 lessons (1h 50m)
• 15 additional resources (2 files)
• Online and at your own pace
• Available on the app
• Audio: English, Spanish
• Spanish , English , Portuguese , German , French , Italian , Polish , Dutch
• Level: Beginner
• Unlimited access forever

What is this course's project?

Hand paint a modernist, abstract work of art to showcase on your social media, either as a personal decoration piece or to potentially sell online.

Projects by course students

By nelatgym

By mea_dix_mea

By livier.jara

Who is this online course for?

Graphics designers, students, architects, all types of creatives, artists, art and design enthusiasts, and interior designers and decorators.

Requirements and materials

Basic notions of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Lightroom, or a similar photo editing program (for desktop or mobile), are essential for this course.

In terms of materials, you need drawing supplies like pencils and markers, as well as paintbrushes and acrylic paint for your final artwork.

muy buen curso

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Very good course!!

cuervobenitez7

Asombroso! No pense que me gustaria tanto! La profesora es una genia y enseña muy bien. Lo recomiendo.

Great course for getting your head around abstraction.

Amazing course!

• More reviews

Hola Lou A course by Hola Lou

Hola Lou is a Mexican artist, muralist, and graphic designer. Characterized by a modern, minimalist style, her paintings and digital illustrations are a delicate balancing act between abstract memories, feelings, and music.

She enjoys experimenting with art in all its forms, from traditional mediums such as paint to creating physical and digital objects and even cryptoart. She has collaborated with many big-name brands including Apple, Samsung, Nike, Complex, Spotify, WWF, and LinkedIn.

Introduction

It all starts with what you already have around you.

• Composition in art and design
• Perception exercises: scouting
• Initial sketch
• From chaos to order

Composition games

• The materials
• Digital color
• The strokes and the paintings
• Painting technique
• End detailing

Content for web and social media

• Behind the scenes
• Final product

Final project

What to expect from a domestika course, learn at your own pace.

Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.

Learn from the best professionals

Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

Meet expert teachers

Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

Certificates Plus

If you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.

Get front-row seats

Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.

Share knowledge and ideas

Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.

Connect with a global creative community

The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.

Watch professionally produced courses

Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.

Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.

All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.

The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.

You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.

• Digital Design
• Graphic Design
• Traditional illustration

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Abstract Painting: 8-Week Online Course

€ 240.00

8-Week ONLINE COURSE 1 April – 20 May 2024

Class Time: Mondays 7 – 9pm (UTC+1), starting 1st April 2024 Medium: Oil, Acrylic & Mixed Media Format: Live Streaming Zoom Class & Video Recording Level: All levels

All online classes are recorded, so you can replay and watch at any time from one week to the next!*

What makes an abstract painting good?

All too often artists approach abstract painting from a belief that ‘anything goes’ or that ‘anyone can do it.’ This 8-week course quickly dispels these notions as we explore the origins and development of Abstract Art, learn and practise the painting techniques and materials that are used (which equal any representational style of painting), and embrace the challenge of creating original art work.

The course follows three vital strands that underpin good abstract painting:

• Technical Execution
• Originality
• Relevance (or Art Historical Context)

Each week, you will study the different elements or building blocks of pictorial representation, and how these elements combine to form a painting composition. This will also help you to formally analyse and evaluate your own work.

Weekly painting projects and assignments are designed to develop both your technique and your creativity. Oil and acrylic painting techniques are practised in technical exercises, which will also give you a hands-on appreciation of the technical production of famous abstract paintings. The creative projects will give you an opportunity to produce original work that employs the skills, techniques, and art historical knowledge that you are learning week-to-week.

In summary, this course will provide you with a myriad of ideas, inspiration and technical know-how that you can apply to your own paintings, boosting their originality and maximising self-expression while preserving good artistic judgement.

* Each class recording will be available for 7 days from the date of that class.

See full description, what’s included, what’s required, and other important information in the tabbed sections below.

• Description

Requirements

• Terms & Conditions

Painting Techniques

The technical execution of an abstract painting is vital in terms of making it stand out from the crowd. You will learn and practise the main oil and acrylic painting techniques, which are transferrable to any other genre, for example, representational or realist painting. The techniques covered include:

• Knife-Painting
• Colour Mixing
• Paint Application & Textures (Impasto, Encaustic, Glazing)
• Action Painting
• Use of Mixed Media

Developing Your Visual Vocabulary

Painting successful abstract art takes practice and an understanding of many different art elements, concepts, and principles. Unlike mimesis (i.e. copying reality), there is arguably a greater need to understand how pictures work in order to create a painting that is abstract and from the imagination.

You will learn about the key elements that make up a painting (or any picture), and how they combine to form a composition:

• Perspective

This understanding and practical application will also help you formally analyse and evaluate your own work, giving it greater substance and strength.

Generating Ideas with Intent

Without a tangible subject to copy, just where and how should we begin an abstract painting? Will it be ‘art for art’s sake’ or will it be inspired by something real or imagined? This course offers a myriad of ideas, inspiration, and ways of thinking to help you generate and develop your abstract paintings, and to help you translate your thoughts and emotions into a visual art form.

Weekly Painting Assignments & Projects

Each week, you will be given a technical assignment which focuses on a specific technique and style within the Abstract Art genre. You will gain a deep understanding and appreciation for how famous abstract paintings were created by reproducing works by artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, Gerhard Richter, and others.

Each week, there will also be a creative project where you will produce your own original work following guidelines that reflect what you’re learning on a given week and which will help to focus your work and objectives.

Abstract Art

What is Abstract Art and what makes a good abstract artwork? Alongside the technical and creative aspects of this course, you will learn about the origin and development of Abstract Art and how we define this genre. Within Abstract Art, you will be introduced to the main representatives and characteristics of its different movements:

• Suprematism
• Constructivism
• Expressionism
• Abstract Expressionism
• Minimal Art
• Conceptual Art
• Post-Painterly Abstraction
• Neo-Expressionism
• Contemporary Abstract Painting

Included on this course:

• Live demonstrations
• Weekly recorded class (available for 7 days from the time of the class)
• Detailed study notes available to download from Google Drive
• Digital reference images

This course is suitable for beginners as well as more advanced artists. Please download materials list below.

Terms & Conditions

Please read carefully before enrolling and paying for this course. By paying for this course you are agreeing to the terms and conditions below:

Oil paints, solvents and mediums (such as mineral spirits, turpentine and linseed oil) will be used on this course, and these have a small and safe degree of toxicity but can emit strong fumes, which may cause headaches, drowsiness and skin irritations.

FEES, CANCELLATIONS & REFUNDS

Fees are non-refundable and non-transferrable. Adrian Cooke Artist reserves the right to cancel this course at any time if the minimum number of students required is not reached. In such cases, your fee will be fully refunded.

This is just the sort of painting course I have been looking for. Never having had a proper lesson, I have been painting with limited success for more than 30 years. This course provides a very clear methodical approach, good sample pictures for copying, patient explanation and all delivered in a pleasant atmosphere. I highly recommend it. – Jimmy

Clear instructions delivered so professionally. Location and company lovely and enjoyable. – Gerry

As someone who has never painted, I’m finding this course excellent. The class is in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, and the instruction is second to none. Highly recommended. – Stuart

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Free Abstract Painting Lessons

In these free abstract painting lessons I'll provide you with an enthusiastic introduction to this art using original techniques that encourage creativity.  You'll learn how to paint and how to use brushes, knives, charcoal or acrylics to create your own works. Get free access to dozens of video demonstrations to help you improve your skills. Follow my lead using whichever tools you have on hand. By training with me, you will learn the necessary theory and practices to improve your skills

Follow the stroke of my brush with my free abstract painting lessons

For me, abstract art is a way to express one's feelings with true intensity. It allows me to capture a moment in time with unique emotion. It's this moment that I will personally show you during my painting courses, by allowing you to follow me step by step in the creative process.

Developed at the beginning of the 20th century, abstract painting is commonly associated with the artist Kandinsky. Created during a time of violence and trouble, his works express a certain mood, even anguish. This state of mind is expressed through abstract representation.

For 10 years, I have tirelessly projected my fantasies, fears and emotions onto canvases which have been widely acclaimed by critics. I want to share this passion with you by making available to you all the techniques I am exploring.

On my site you'll find completed works Follow my lead using whichever tools you have on hand. By training with me, you will learn the necessary theory and practices to improve your skills.

Free Abstract Painting Demonstrations

For more than 15 years, I have been tirelessly projecting my fantasies, fears and emotions on canvases that are highly appreciated by critics. My demonstrations of abstract paintings are at the origin of many vocations of Artists and are already followed by more than 800 000 people! I invite you to discover my last 6 videos by clicking on the thumbnails below.

Would you like to receive my free abstract painting demonstrations directly in your mailbox? Subscribe to my free newsletter and receive in addition to my videos many tips on abstract painting

Your Online Painting School - Abstract Painting Training from A to Z

If you enjoy my demonstrations and would like to learn more, please visit  Paintinglesson.tv , my website dedicated to learning how to paint, with complete, step-by-step courses accompanied by audio explanations to precisely guide you.

How To Bring The Spark Back Into Your Art…

Even if you haven’t painted for days, months or years..., ...or if you’re a total beginner.

Get immediate access to this amazing deal below!

All prices are in USD.

Lesson 1- Small bits of beauty

Lesson 2- Mark Making

Lesson 3- Happy Accidents

Lesson 4- From Little Things

Lesson 5- The Bold Shift

(Value $150)

BONUS: FB Support Community

BONUS: Stories of a She-Tribe Online Tutorial (value $37)

BONUS: Abstract Approaches Online Tutorial (value $37)

BONUS: Downloadable videos (value $85)

BONUS: Lifetime access (value $100 but truly priceless)

Today’s Price $27

“Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.”

- John Lubbock (1834-1913), “The Pleasures of Life”

Overcome artistic blocks and jump into my online abstract art classes

Jump into abstract painting ensures you can paint with ease and get back into that creative flow you desire so much..

Hey, I'm Tracy!

I bet you thought a painting would be easy enough to create. Others seem to make it look easy.  It seems that all these amazing artists on Instagram simply pick up a brush and create magic.

The problem? Day after day, your ideas just don’t flow. Canvas after canvas, your works don’t look like you want them to look. You feel like you don’t have the correct supplies or you simply don’t know how to use them properly. You feel discouraged and uninspired with the work you create.

If you had known how much frustration would come from this, you might have chosen to read a book with a glass of wine in one hand instead!

In my early days of painting, no matter how much Googling I did, or how many YouTube videos I watched, I couldn’t find a method to really break through with my own style. I had stacks and stacks of unfinished artworks gathering dust and NO IDEA how to move forward with them! 

Have you ever felt like this?

• Have you given up because your mind becomes as blank as that canvas in front of you as soon as you sit down to paint?
• Do you you keep comparing yourself to other artists and think you’ll never be as good as them so why bother?
• Have you thrown away so many artworks you think it’s now just a big waste of supplies and $$$?

don't worry...

EVERYONE can be an artist.

“For years, I’ve longed to take a painting workshop from Tracy Verdugo. Tracy is a beautiful and generous soul and a wonderful artist, who has a special gift for teaching visual art to people who don’t consider themselves visual artists... I’ve admired her devotion to teaching for YEARS. Tracy, you are a gift. Thank you for this day. I’m going to sleep with my fingernails caked with paint, and my imagination full of color.”

- Elizabeth Gilbert

always having a piece of work you can come back to with brand new ideas and techniques to get in the artistic flow.

that your biggest problem is TOO MANY inspiring possibilities instead of not enough.

never wasting supplies again and learning that something amazing can always come out of your work.

feeling confident in your creative voice and happy to share your work with the world.

Students around the world kept asking me to help them to get unstuck and so I decided to create an online abstract art class to help you break through with your artmaking and get the inspiration flowing once more.

Introducing...

A 5-part video course to help bring the spark back into your art.

The perfect online abstract art class for artists of all levels who want to get in the flow and get inspired.

You’ll learn how to:

• Jump start your art making and create in new styles

       (so you can show off your amazing progress to your friends)

• Start craving creativity again in your life

       (so you can stop making excuses not to paint)

• Push through the difficulties of starting a blank canvas

       (without pulling your hair out)

• Transform old or stagnant works into something new

       (no more throwing away those “failed” artworks)

• Ignite new ideas that will keep you painting for years!

       (perfect for people who just want to paint, paint paint!)

“Your course was one of the best creative things I’ve ever done. It has opened me up expressively and helped me to come unstuck. It’s allowed me to work freely and intuitively, bringing together all that I have learned over the years.”

- Joanna Bishop

What’s Inside the Jump Into Abstract Painting online class?

This lesson gives a new perspective to help jumpstart four abstract artworks from a single reference image. 

This tutorial explores working with a harmonious color palette and reveals unique ways of creating marks to produce a compositionally pleasing artwork based on a cruciform shape.

This video opens up the idea that any mistake can be rectified and shows the benefits of using oil pastels and glazing techniques to help you move forward when you're in a stuck place with any painting.

This online lesson is designed to help jump-start the beginning of a larger canvas by using one of your own smaller artworks as reference; working with similar color palettes, composition and showing tips on adapting from small to large.

The final abstract art lesson could just be a gamechanger for you as Tracy demonstrates her FAVORITE tip on how to bring life back to an old artwork… in one swift bold move.

As a student you'll gain access to the Tracy Verdugo Alumni Facebook community, "The Mojo Dojo" where you will be surrounded by a supportive community of past and current students as well as gaining the opportunity to ask and receive support directly from Tracy.

Once you purchase Jump into Abstract painting you'll gain bonus access to one of Tracy's online lessons "Stories of a She-Tribe". In this tutorial you work through creating a poem and bringing abstract figures to life on canvas or paper.

An additional bonus upon signup is access to Tracy's Abstract Approaches 2-part mini course where you learn how to create multiple small artworks using Tracy's "Embracing the Contrasts" technique.

All lessons in this course are downloadable to your computer for offline access.

Access this class FOREVER via our classes website. No need to fret about time limits or having a busy schedule, this class will always be here waiting for you.

For a one-time payment of $27USD.

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Jump Into Abstract Painting is 100% Risk-Free!

“My eyes are wide open, I am seeing art wherever I go, looking for new ideas for creating marks and textures. I have some fabulous new inks on their way and cannot wait to get my hands on them…  Art is my motivation to get up when I am struggling, when all I want to do is stay in bed. I think of the colours and wonderful possibilities and I just cannot deny myself my artistic time. Thank you, Tracy.”

- Jennifer Anne Scott

Don't wait too long...

I've created this abstract art class to reach and help as many creatives as possible and this price won't be available forever. This is YOUR time to find your creative voice, YOUR time to get out those supplies you've been hoarding OR make your first order of art supplies! Your time to shine and grow in confidence and ability. Jump in NOW!

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time is required?

Each video tutorial is between 5 to 20 minutes long so they are perfect to watch at any time during the day. However as the goal is to be as creative as possible, you’ll be wanting hours in your studio by the end of this!

I don’t have many art supplies. Can I still do these lessons?

Absolutely! While Tracy always has her favorite supplies, we want you to be open and adaptable and use what you have. Don’t have acrylic paints? Try doing the same tutorial with colored pencils and see what unique results you can get!

Having said that, here is a list of all the supplies Tracy uses in this art course:

• Watercolor paper, masking tape, pencil, acrylic inks, paints, acryla gouache, various paint brushes, various mark making tools (bamboo skewers, twigs etc.), gel pens, oil pastels or candles (something that is water resistant but can draw), paper towel, patterned napkins, gel medium, spray bottle with water, paint pens.

I already bought another one of your online courses. How is this different?

All of Tracy’s online classes are unique and completely different from one another. This course is both for artists who feel stuck in their practice and for those starting out. Tracy's aim is to provide inspiration and possibility thinking for all creatives!

What kind of support and feedback is available?

We always are happy to offer email support at [email protected] OR would love for you to ask any questions in our Alumni Facebook group, where Tracy pops in often and you can gain the help and perspective from other students too.

Is everything available immediately?

Yes! Once you purchase the class your login details will be sent to you within the hour (make sure to check your junk and add [email protected] to your contacts list). 

Do I need a special program to access the materials?

All you need for this course is a device such as a laptop, tablet or phone and an internet browser (we recommend Chrome).

Can I share this with a friend?

Once you purchase this class it is for your eyes only. Please keep your login details to yourself but feel free to share our website and this offer if you think a friend would enjoy.

Can I exhibit or sell the work I create in this workshop?

One of the main intentions in my courses is to help you find ways to connect with a style all of your own. So, with this in mind, I’m happy for you to show and sell original, innovative work created. If, however, you feel that you want to follow along more closely and produce pieces very similar to those within the projects that is all good, but I would ask that you don’t put those pieces out to exhibit or sell if they are close copies of my work. I trust that your heart will tell you what is too close. We also ask that you understand that these are Tracy's copyrighted techniques and may not be taught or packaged as a class by any individual other than Tracy without express consent. ♥

Can I teach these tutorials in my own classes?

I love sharing generously in my classes but please respect my intellectual property and remember that these tutorials, including all video and written content are copyrighted material and not to be shared or taught by others without specific consent.

Can this be accessed without the internet?

To access this class you will initially need internet access, however as a bonus we provide downloadable files for each of the five lessons so you can watch offline later.

Can I get a refund?

If you feel like you don’t get 10x the value from this online art course and additional bonuses, you can email us at [email protected] anytime within 30 days, show us your works from the lessons and we will happily refund your full $27.

“Your method of teaching is both gentle and explosive, you share lovingly from your heart giving your students such a sense of freedom while providing direction. You manage to gently coax your students while encouraging them to soar and find their own way. I have taken others classes and enjoyed most but have to say that working under your tutelage has been my most enjoyable and has opened me up not only in my approach to my art but also in my life as a whole.”

- Diva Odete Kreszl

LESSON 1- SMALL BITS OF BEAUTY

LESSON 2- MARK MAKING

LESSON 3- HAPPY ACCIDENTS

LESSON 4- FROM LITTLE THINGS

LESSON 5- THE BOLD SHIFT

PLUS BONUSES!

Are you ready to Jump into Abstract Painting?!

Here’s the truth, you KNOW the value of creativity. You KNOW how beneficial art can be for your own mental health, well being and maybe even a little bit of extra cash in your wallet. 

It’s time to stop procrastinating and start recognizing and valuing your unique creative gifts to the world.

Reignite your love for art, end the struggle to find inspiration with techniques and processes Tracy uses in her own daily art making. 

Not only that, but if you learn an approach that you LOVE then you can reap the endless benefits of that technique for years to come and blend it with ways you are currently working to come up with some entirely new!

Let's jump in!

“I have really appreciated this online course, which in many ways has been ‘life changing’ – at least from the point-of-view of my emerging art practice.  Despite being ‘short’, this course is packed with invaluable tips on the techniques and processes that can be used to create interesting and meaningful abstract art.

I have learned more about creating abstract works from this course than I have with all my other courses (online and face-to-face), ‘how to’ books and DVDs on abstract art combined. Tracy’s use of the well-established teaching technique of ‘thinking aloud’ enables students to follow, learn about, consolidate and importantly internalise the creative process of ‘making art’.

I will be eternally grateful for this learning and to Tracy for being such a generous soul... Thank you.”

- Megan Johnstone

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Wassily Kandinsky

Russian Painter

Summary of Wassily Kandinsky

One of the pioneers of abstract modern art, Wassily Kandinsky exploited the evocative interrelation between color and form to create an aesthetic experience that engaged the sight, sound, and emotions of the public. He believed that total abstraction offered the possibility for profound, transcendental expression and that copying from nature only interfered with this process. Highly inspired to create art that communicated a universal sense of spirituality, he innovated a pictorial language that only loosely related to the outside world, but expressed volumes about the artist's inner experience. His visual vocabulary developed through three phases, shifting from his early, representational canvases and their divine symbolism to his rapturous and operatic compositions, to his late, geometric and biomorphic flat planes of color. Kandinsky's art and ideas inspired many generations of artists, from his students at the Bauhaus to the Abstract Expressionists after World War II.

Accomplishments

• Painting was, above all, deeply spiritual for Kandinsky. He sought to convey profound spirituality and the depth of human emotion through a universal visual language of abstract forms and colors that transcended cultural and physical boundaries.
• Kandinsky viewed non-objective, abstract art as the ideal visual mode to express the "inner necessity" of the artist and to convey universal human emotions and ideas. He viewed himself as a prophet whose mission was to share this ideal with the world for the betterment of society.
• Kandinsky viewed music as the most transcendent form of non-objective art - musicians could evoke images in listeners' minds merely with sounds. He strove to produce similarly object-free, spiritually rich paintings that alluded to sounds and emotions through a unity of sensation.

The Life of Wassily Kandinsky

Modernist abstraction could not have asked for a more charismatic and visionary theorist than Kandinsky - the highest ideals he pursued through his many travels and friendships.

Important Art by Wassily Kandinsky

Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider)

This breakthrough work is a deceptively simple image - a lone rider racing across a landscape - yet it represented a decisive moment in Kandinsky's developing style. In this painting, he demonstrated a clear stylistic link to the work of the Impressionists, like Claude Monet, particularly evident in the contrasts of light and dark on the sun-dappled hillside. The ambiguity of the form of the figure on horseback rendered in a variety of colors that almost blend together foreshadow his interest in abstraction. The theme of the horse and rider reappeared in many of his later works. For Kandinsky this motif signified his resistance against conventional aesthetic values as well as the possibilities for a purer, more spiritual life through art.

Oil on canvas - Private Collection

Der Blaue Berg (The Blue Mountain)

In this work, the influence of the Fauves on Kandinsky's color palette is apparent as he distorted colors and moved away from the natural world. He presented a bright blue mountain, framed by a red and yellow tree on either side. In the foreground, riders on horseback charge through the scene. At this stage in Kandinsky's career, Saint John's Book of Revelation became a major literary source for his art, and the riders signify the four horsemen of the apocalypse. The horsemen, although an indicator of the mass destruction of the apocalypse, also represent the potential for redemption afterward. Kandinsky's vibrant palette and expressive brushwork provide the viewer with a sense of hope rather than despair. Further, the brilliant colors and dark outlines recall his love of the Russian folk art. These influences would remain part of Kandinsky's style throughout the rest of his career, with bright colors dominating his representational and non-objective canvases. From this figurative and highly symbolic work, Kandinsky progressed further towards pure abstraction. The forms are already schematized from their observable appearance in the surrounding world in this canvas, and his abstraction only progressed as Kandinsky refined his theories about art.

Oil on canvas - The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Composition IV

Hidden within the bright swaths of color and the clear black lines of Composition IV , Kandinsky portrayed several Cossacks with lances, as well as boats, reclining figures, and a castle on a hilltop. As with many paintings from this period, he represented the apocalyptic battle that would lead to eternal peace. The notion of battle is conveyed by the Cossacks, while the calm of the flowing forms and reclining figures on the right alludes to the peace and redemption to follow. In order to facilitate his development of a non-objective style of painting, as described in his text Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1912), Kandinsky reduced objects to pictographic symbols. Through his elimination of most references to the outside world, Kandinsky expressed his vision in a more universal manner, distilling the spiritual essence of the subject through these forms into a visual vocabulary. Many of these symbolic figures were repeated and refined in later works, becoming further and further abstracted as Kandinsky developed his mature, purely abstract style.

Oil on canvas - Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfallen, Düsseldorf

Composition VII

Commonly cited as the pinnacle of Kandinsky's pre-World War I achievement, Composition VII shows the artist's rejection of pictorial representation through a swirling hurricane of colors and shapes. The operatic and tumultuous roiling of forms around the canvas exemplifies Kandinsky's belief that painting could evoke sounds the way music called to mind certain colors and forms. Even the title, Composition VII , aligned with his interest in the intertwining of the musical with the visual and emphasized Kandinsky's non-representational focus in this work. As the different colors and symbols spiral around each other, Kandinsky eliminated traditional references to depth and laid bare the different abstracted glyphs in order to communicate deeper themes and emotions common to all cultures and viewers. Preoccupied by the theme of apocalypse and redemption throughout the 1910s, Kandinsky formally tied the whirling composition of the painting to the theme of the cyclical processes of destruction and salvation. Despite the seemingly non-objective nature of the work, Kandinsky maintained several symbolic references in this painting. Among the various forms that built Kandinsky's visual vocabulary, he painted glyphs of boats with oars, mountains, and figures. However, he did not intend for viewers to read these symbols literally and instead imbued his paintings with multiple references to the Last Judgment, the Deluge, and the Garden of Eden, seemingly all at once.

Oil on canvas - Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Moscow I (Red Square)

At first the move to Moscow in 1914 initiated a period of depression and Kandinsky hardly even painted at all his first year back. When he picked up his paintbrush again in 1916, he expressed his desire to paint a portrait of Moscow in a letter to his former companion, Munter. Although he continued to refine his abstraction, he represented the city's monuments in this painting and captured the spirit of the city. Kandinsky painted the landmarks in a circular fashion as if he had stood in the center of Red Square, turned in a circle, and caught them all swirling about him. Although he refers to the outside world in this painting, he maintained his commitment to the synesthesia of color, sound, and spiritual expression in art. Kandinsky wrote that he particularly loved sunset in Moscow because it was "the final chord of a symphony which develop[ed] in every tone a high life that force[d] all of Moscow to resound like the fortissimo of a huge orchestra."

Oil on canvas - The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Composition VIII

The rational, geometric order of Composition VIII is a polar opposite of the operatic composition of Composition VII (1913). Painted while he taught at the Bauhaus, this work illustrates how Kandinsky synthesized elements from Suprematism, Constructivism, and the school's own ethos. By combining aspects of all three movements, he arrived at the flat planes of color and the clear, linear quality seen in this work. Form, as opposed to color, structured the painting in a dynamic balance that pulses throughout the canvas. This work is an expression of Kandinsky's clarified ideas about modern, non-objective art, particularly the significance of shapes like triangles, circles, and the checkerboard. Kandinsky relied upon a hard-edged style to communicate the deeper content of his work for the rest of his career.

Several Circles

Kandinsky painted this work in his sixtieth year and it demonstrates his lifelong search for the ideal form of spiritual expression in art. Created as part of his experimentation with a linear style of painting, this work shows his interest in the form of the circle. "The circle," claimed Kandinsky, "is the synthesis of the greatest oppositions. It combines the concentric and the eccentric in a single form and in equilibrium. Of the three primary forms, it points most clearly to the fourth dimension." He relied upon the varied possibilities of interpretation for the circle to create a sense of spiritual and emotional harmony in this work. The diverse dimensions and bright hues of each circle bubble up through the canvas and are balanced through Kandinsky's careful juxtapositions of proportion and color. The dynamic movement of the round forms evokes their universality - from the stars in the cosmos to drops of dew; the circle a shape integral to life.

Composition X

Influenced by the flowing biomorphic forms of Surrealism, Kandinsky later incorporated organic shapes back into his pictorial vocabulary. Executed in France, this monumental painting relies upon a black background to heighten the visual impact of the brightly colored undulating forms in the foreground. The presence of the black expanse is significant, as Kandinsky only used the color sparingly; it is evocative of the cosmos as well as the darkness at the end of life. The undulating planes of color call to mind microscopic organisms, but also express the inner emotional and spiritual feelings Kandinsky experienced near the end of his life. The uplifting organization of forms in contrast with the harsh edges and black background illustrates the harmony and tension present throughout the universe, as well as the rise and fall of the cycle of life. Last in his lifelong series of Compositions , this work is the culmination of Kandinsky's investigation into the purity of form and expression through nonrepresentational painting.

Oil on canvas - Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Biography of Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily (Vasily) Wassilyevich Kandinsky was born in 1866 in Moscow to well educated, upper-class parents of mixed ethnic origins. His father was born close to Mongolia, while his mother was a Muscovite, and his grandmother was from the German-speaking Baltic. The bulk of Kandinsky's childhood was spent in Odesa, a thriving, cosmopolitan city populated by Western Europeans, Mediterraneans, and a variety of other ethnic groups. At an early age, Kandinsky exhibited an extraordinary sensitivity toward the stimuli of sounds, words, and colors. His father encouraged his unique and precocious gift for the arts and enrolled him in private drawing classes, as well as piano and cello lessons. Despite early exposure to the arts, Kandinsky did not turn to painting until he reached the age of 30. Instead, he entered the University of Moscow in 1886 to study law, ethnography, and economics. In spite of the legal focus of his academic pursuits, Kandinsky's interest in color symbolism and its effect on the human psyche grew throughout his time in Moscow. In particular, an ethnographic research trip in 1889 to the region of Vologda, in northwest Russia, sparked an interest in folk art that Kandinsky carried with him throughout his career. After completing his degree in 1892, he started his career in law education by lecturing at the university.

Early Training

Despite his success as an educator, Kandinsky abandoned his career teaching law to attend art school in Munich in 1896. For his first two years in Munich he studied at the art school of Anton Azbe, and in 1900 he studied under Franz von Stuck at the Academy of Fine Arts. At Azbe's school he met co-conspirators such as Alexei Jawlensky, who introduced Kandinsky to the artistic avant-garde in Munich. In 1901, along with three other young artists, Kandinsky co-founded "Phalanx" - an artist's association opposed to the conservative views of the traditional art institutions. Phalanx expanded to include an art school, in which Kandinsky taught, and an exhibitions group. In one of his classes at the Phalanx School, he met and began a relationship with his student, Gabriele Munter, who became his companion for the next 15 years. As he traveled throughout Europe and northern Africa with Munter from 1903 until 1909, Kandinsky familiarized himself with the growing Expressionist movement and developed his own style based on the diverse artistic sources he witnessed on his travels.

Kandinsky painted his breakthrough work, Der Blaue Reiter (1903) during this transitional period. This early work revealed his interest in disjointed figure-ground relationships and the use of color to express emotions rather than appearances - two aspects that would dominate his mature style. In 1909, he was one of the founding members of Neue Kunstlervereinigung Munchen (NKVM, or New Artists Association of Munich), a group that sought to accommodate the avant-garde artists whose practices were too radical for the traditional organizations and academies of the time. His paintings became more and more abstracted from the surrounding world as he gradually refined his style. He began titling works Improvisation , Composition , or Impression to further stress their distance from the objective world and continued to use similar titles throughout the rest of his career.

Mature Period

In 1911, in response to the rejection of one of Kandinsky's paintings from the annual NKVM exhibition, he and Franz Marc organized a rival exhibition and co-founded "Der Blaue Reiter" ( The Blue Rider ) - a loose association of nine Expressionist artists that included August Macke, Munter, and Jawlensky. Though their aims and approaches varied from artist to artist, in general the group believed in the promotion of modern art and the possibility for spiritual experience through the symbolic associations of sound and color - two issues very near and dear to Kandinsky's heart. Despite the similarities between the group's moniker and the title of Kandinsky's 1903 painting, the artists actually arrived at the name "Der Blaue Reiter" as a result of the combination of Marc's love of horses and Kandinsky's interest in the symbolism of the rider, coupled with both artists' penchant for the color blue. During their short tenure, the group published an anthology (The Blue Rider Almanac) and held three exhibitions. Additionally, Kandinsky published Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1911), his first theoretical treatise on abstraction that articulated his theory that the artist was a spiritual being that communicated through and was affected by line, color, and composition. He produced both abstract and figurative works at this time, but expanded his interest in non-objective painting. Composition VII (1913) was an early example of his synthesis of spiritual, emotional, and non-referential form through complex patterns and brilliant colors. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 led to the dissolution of Der Blaue Reiter, but, despite their short tenure, the group initiated and deeply inspired the highly influential German Expressionist style.

After Germany declared war on Russia, Kandinsky was forced to leave the country. He traveled to Switzerland and Sweden with Munter for almost two years, but returned to Moscow in early 1916, which effectively ended their relationship. In Moscow he courted and married Nina Andreevskaia, the young daughter of a Czarist colonel. While there, he not only became familiar with the art of Constructivists and Suprematists like Vladimir Tatlin and Kazimir Malevich , but also lived in the same building as Aleksander Rodchenko , and met other avant-garde luminaries like Naum Gabo , Lyubov Popova , and Varvara Stepanova . With the October Revolution in 1917, Kandinsky's plans to build a private school and studio were upset by the Communist redistribution of private wealth and instead, he worked with the new government to develop arts organizations and schools. Despite his participation in the development of the officially sanctioned new institutions, he felt increasingly removed from the avant-garde. His search for spirituality in art did not meld with the utilitarian aesthetic advocated by the young government and the artists it embraced.

In 1921, when architect Walter Gropius invited Kandinsky to Germany to teach at the Weimar Bauhaus, he accepted and moved to Berlin with his wife, gaining German citizenship in 1928. As a member of the innovative school, Kandinsky's artistic philosophy turned toward the significance of geometric elements - specifically circles, half-circles, straight lines, angles, squares, checkerboards, and triangles. In 1926, he published his second major theoretical work, Point and Line to Plane that outlined his ideas about a "science of painting." In both his work and theory he shifted from the romantic, intuitive expression of his pre-war canvases to an emphasis on constructively organized compositions.

Late Period and Death

When the Nazis closed the Bauhaus school in 1933, Kandinsky was forced to leave his adopted home in Germany and moved to France, where he remained for the rest of his life. He and his wife Nina settled in a small apartment in a suburb of Paris, Neuilly-sur-Seine, and were granted French citizenship in 1939. While in France, his style again shifted and he experimented with biomorphic forms, which were more organic than the harsh geometric shapes of his Bauhaus paintings. Although he continued to paint until his last year, Kandinsky's output slowed during the war and his art fell out of favor as the referential images of Cubism and Surrealism came to dominate the Parisian avant-garde. Despite his distance from the aesthetic forefront, Kandinsky continued to refine his style and revisited many of his previous themes and styles during this period, synthesizing elements of his entire oeuvre into vast, complex works. His late style combined the expressive palette of his earliest non-objective Compositions from the early 1910s with the more structured elements he investigated while at the Bauhaus as well as the biomorphic forms popularized by the Surrealists, like Joan Miró and Jean Arp .

The Nazis confiscated 57 of his canvases during their purge of "degenerate art" in 1937, but despite the Fascist proscription against his art, American patrons - notably Solomon R. Guggenheim - avidly collected his abstract work. His works became key to shaping the mission of the museum Guggenheim planned on opening dedicated to modern, avant-garde art. With over 150 works in the museum's collection, Kandinsky became known as the "patron saint of the Guggenheim." He died in December of 1944 in relative, but serene, isolation.

The Legacy of Wassily Kandinsky

Kandinsky's work, both artistic and theoretical, played a large role in the philosophic foundation for later modern movements, in particular Abstract Expressionism and its variants like Color Field Painting. His late, biomorphic work had a large influence on Arshile Gorky's development of a non-objective style, which in turn helped to shape the New York School's aesthetic. Jackson Pollock was interested in Kandinsky's late paintings and was fascinated by his theories about the expressive possibilities of art, in particular, his emphasis on spontaneous activity and the subconscious. Kandinsky's analysis of the sensorial properties of color was immensely influential on the Color Field painters, like Mark Rothko , who emphasized the interrelationships of hues for their emotive potential. Even the 1980s artists working in the Neo-Expressionist resurgence in painting, like Julian Schnabel and Philip Guston , applied his ideas regarding the artist's inner expression on the canvas to their postmodern work. Kandinsky set the stage for much of the expressive modern art produced in the 20 th century.

Influences and Connections

Useful Resources on Wassily Kandinsky

• Kandinsky By Vivian Endicott Barnett, Christian Derouet, Tracey Bashkoff
• Kandinsky Our Pick By Ulrike Becks-Malorny
• Wassily Kandinsky: 1866-1944 a Revolution in Painting By Hajo Duchting
• Kandinskyin Munich, 1896-1914 (1982) By Peg Weiss
• Kandinsky: Russian and Bauhaus Years, 1915-1933 (1983) By Clark V. Poling
• Kandinsky in Paris, 1934-1944 (1985) By Christian Derouet
• Watercolors by Kandinsky By Vivian Endicott Barnett
• Concerning The Spiritual In Art By Wassily Kandinsky
• Point and Line to Plane By Wassily Kandinsky
• Kandinsky: Complete Writings on Art Our Pick Edited By Kenneth C. Lindsay, Peter Vergo
• The Blaue Reiter Almanac By Klaus Lankheit, Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc
• Kandinsky at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Our Pick Website for the 2009 Kandinsky retrospective, with in-depth information on the artist, his work, and his career
• Kandinsky at the Museum of Modern Art Features images of the museum's extensive holdings of Kandinsky's paintings and prints
• Return of a Giant By Karen Wilkin / The Wall Street Journal / September 21, 2009
• The Angel in the Architecture Our Pick By Roberta Smith / The New York Times / September 17, 2009
• Sound and Vision Our Pick By Gerard McBurney / The Guardian / June 23, 2006
• Mysteries and Mush By Adrian Searle / The Guardian / June 20, 2006
• The Man Who Heard His Paintbox Hiss By Ossian Ward / The Telegraph / June 10, 2006

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Content compiled and written by Eve Griffin

Edited and published by The Art Story Contributors