Wassily Kandinsky 1866–1944・Russia (worked in Germany and France)
音楽のように色を響かせた抽象画のパイオニアA pioneer of abstract art who made colors sing like music.
モスクワに生まれ、大学で法律と経済を学んで教える立場にありましたが、30歳でその道をすて、ミュンヘンで絵を学びはじめます。何を描いたかわからない、色と形だけの「抽象画」を最も早く描いた画家の一人です。フランツ・マルクと「青騎士」をつくり、のちにドイツの美術学校バウハウスで教えました。
Kandinsky was born in Moscow. He studied law and economics and taught at a university. But at 30, he gave it up and went to Munich to study painting. He was one of the first artists to paint abstract pictures, made only of color and shape. With Franz Marc, he started the Blue Rider group. Later he taught at the Bauhaus art school in Germany.
1896年、モスクワの展覧会でモネの《積みわら》を見たカンディンスキーは、最初は何が描いてあるかわからず、それでも心を強くゆさぶられたと自分で書き残しています。
In 1896, Kandinsky saw Monet's Haystacks at an exhibition in Moscow. He later wrote that at first he could not tell what it showed, but it still moved him deeply.
ある夕方、アトリエで横だおしに置かれた自分の絵を見て、何の絵かわからないのに美しいと感じた。カンディンスキーは、これが抽象画へのきっかけの一つだったと回想しています。
One evening, Kandinsky saw one of his own paintings lying on its side in his studio. He could not tell what it showed, yet it looked beautiful. He later said this helped lead him to abstract art.
