As part of the Bauhaus 9090 project, which commemorated the 90th anniversary of the Bauhaus, I submitted a painting in the style of Vassily Kandinsky. The following is what I submitted in July, 2009.
This is my version of Kandinsky’s painting “Small Dream in Red,” oil on paper on card, 35.5 x 41.2 cm. I used India ink and watercolor pencils on cold pressed watercolor paper, 8 ½” x 12 ½”.
Kandinsky’s painting shows a “happily animated play of pictorial elements set against a cloud-like ground of earthy colors,” reflecting his concept of a “free play of forms according to strict internal laws.” The painting appeared in the first edition of Kandinsky’s “Point and Line to Plane.” (Reference: “Wassily Kandinsky 1866-1944, The Journey to Abstraction,” by Ulrike Becks-Malorny. Published by Taschen in 2007).
I like “Small Dream in Red” because of the zen-like symbols, dream images, mythological elements, sacred geometries, and merging of a heaven-and-earth quality. Kandinsky combines artistic, design, and architectural elements in a balanced, lively composition.