Feb 232010
Do you see the influence of Pisarro, Cezanne and Picasso in his work?
Do you see the influence of Pisarro, Cezanne and Picasso in his work?
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It really bothers me that certain artists are labelled ‘father’ of a movement. But the reality is that there were and are numerous artists who work in a particular style or on a particular theme that becomes recognised as predominent in their era. Most of these artists became well known because they were exalted as ‘great’ by someone in the know – a bit like the Xfactors today. Not to mention that the world was not as small as it is today and that the artists were very much limited in the art that they were exposed to – relying largely on the major blockbuster type exhibitions for their influences. Popularity grows and their place in history is engraved. The reality is that artists are influenced by everything that is going on around them.
Kandinsky was amongst the many artists who were reacting to a world in turmoil where change was so fast that it became difficult to respond to it. I think that Kandinsky, like so many of the artists moving further and further into abstraction, saw in classical music the opportunity to remove reference to the world and yet evoke powerful, emotional responses in the listener and that this was his ambition. This was far more important to Kandinsky than what other artists had done before. I don’t think he succeeded but he certainly influenced many of the artists that followed who did succeed – such as Rothko.
Your question is worded very strangely. First, you ask if classical music influenced Kandinsky. Then you ask if Pisarro, Cezanne and Picasso, who are fellow artists and not musicians, influenced his work. Perhaps you ought to re-phrase and re-submit the question.
And at the time Kandinsky was born the music he listened to was contemporary, just as Beethoven hearing Mozart playing was contemporary for them. Classical music does not become classical until long after it is first publicly performed.
I know that Kandinsky considered his works to be symphony’s. I don’t think that I notice a connection between Kandinsky and Picasso and Cezanne. He is after all considered the father of Abstract Oil Paintings and Russian, which places him far from these artists.
I’ve written about the influence of Music on Kandinsky in my blog:
http://blog.overstockart.com/2006/07/02/wassily-kandinsky-ability-to-see-sounds-and-hear-color/