Wassily Kandinsky
Also known as: Vasily Kandinsky
Biography
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian-born painter often credited as a pioneer of abstract art, who brought his talents to Weimar's Bauhaus. Though Kandinsky's major Bauhaus period was in Dessau, he joined the faculty in Weimar in June 1922 and taught there until 1925. In Weimar, Kandinsky led the mural painting workshop and taught theory, imparting his deep insights into color, form, and spirituality in art. He refined and published his influential ideas in books like "Point and Line to Plane" (1926) drawing partly on his Bauhaus lectures. Artistically, while in Weimar, Kandinsky moved toward geometric abstraction – for example, his painting "Circles within a Circle" (1923) echoes the balanced, analytical aesthetic encouraged at the Bauhaus. He also contributed to the 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition, designing abstract murals for the exhibition hall. Kandinsky's presence in Weimar solidified the Bauhaus's fine art credentials and offered students a connection to the earlier Blaue Reiter movement he co-founded. After the Bauhaus relocated, Kandinsky continued teaching in Dessau and later lived in Paris. Weimar honors him as part of its Bauhaus heritage, featuring his works in the Bauhaus Museum and celebrating his synesthetic approach to art which enriched the Bauhaus philosophy – the unity of art and design with spiritual expression.
Famous Quotes
“Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammer, the soul is the strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.”
“Every work of art is the child of its age and, in many cases, the mother of our emotions.”
Notable Works & Achievements
Composition VIII (1923)
Point and Line to Plane (book)
Circles within a Circle
Concerning the Spiritual in Art
Der Blaue Reiter (co-founder)
Composition VII
Connected Places in Weimar
Stéphane-Hessel-Platz 1, 99423 Weimar
Contains Kandinsky paintings and prints from Bauhaus Weimar period (when he taught form theory)
Evidence: Museum includes Kandinsky's 1923 abstracts created while teaching in Weimar (per catalog)
Historical Context
Joined Bauhaus in Weimar in 1922 as master of form; enriched Bauhaus's abstract art focus until 1925
Historical evidence: Kandinsky started teaching at the Weimar Bauhaus in 1922, contributing to its curriculum
Weimar was the cradle of the Bauhaus, the revolutionary school of modern art, design, and architecture. In the aftermath of World War I, architect Walter Gropius merged the existing Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School and Arts and Crafts School to found the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar in 1919. Gropius's Bauhaus brought together painters, designers, and craftsmen with the radical aim of uniting fine arts with functional design. During its Weimar years (1919–1925), the Bauhaus faculty included celebrated figures such as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger, and Johannes Itten, who pioneered a curriculum blending avant-garde art theory with hands-on workshops. Students and masters collaborated on innovative works ranging from ceramics and furniture to graphic design and architecture. Notable projects of this era include the Haus am Horn (a model modern house built for the 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition in Weimar), which demonstrated the Bauhaus principles of form following function. Despite its creativity, the Bauhaus faced political hostility from conservative factions in Thuringia. Funding was cut after 1924 amid right-wing pressure. In 1925 the Bauhaus moved to Dessau, ending the Weimar chapter. Though brief, the Weimar period of the Bauhaus fundamentally influenced 20th-century art and design, making Weimar a pilgrimage site for modernist heritage (now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
Read more about this period →Quick Facts
1866
1944
Russian