The Rebellious Curator

Concentric Circles by Vassily Kandinsky 1913

Russian painter Vassily Kandinsky wanted to explore the effect of placing different colours next to each other to find out which colours stand out and which ones blend together. From this, he would decide how to balance colours in his work to create a bold attractive pattern. Kandinsky believed that colour could express feelings the same way music did, and even claimed that when he looked at colours, he heard musical notes. 

Kandinsky was born in Russia in 1866 into a musical family. He started off as a lawyer, but later took up painting as a full time profession. He was one of the first artists along with Cezanne and others, to develop abstract art. One day, when he found one of his paintings had toppled over - his direction in art changed forever. He could not see if his painting was up or down. Instead, he saw an arrangement of shapes and colours, and found that to be most interesting. That is abstract art!