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KANDINSKY  IN  MUNICH 


KANDINSKY  IN   MUNICH:   1896-1914 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum  Library  and  Archives 


http://www.archive.org/details/kandinskyinmunicOOkand 


KANDINSKY  IN  MUNICH 

1896-1914 


This  exhibition  is  supported  by  Philip  Morris  Incorporated 
and  the  National  Endowment  for  the  Humanities,  a  Federal  Agency 


The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum,  New  York 


Published  by 

The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Foundation,  New  York,  1981 

ISBN:  0-89207-030-- 

Library  of  Congress  Card  Catalog  Number:  81-83561 

c  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Foundation,  New  York,  1982. 

Cover:  Kandinsky,  Improvisation  VI  (African).  191 1  (cat.  no.  z6i) 


THE  SOLOMON  R.  GUGGENHEIM  FOUNDATION 

president       Peter  O.  Lawson-Johnston 

vice-president       The  Right  Honorable  Earl  Castle  Stewart 

trustees       Anne  L.  Armstrong,  Michel  David-Weill,  Joseph  W.  Donner,  Robin  Chandler  Duke,  John 
Hilson,  Harold  W.  McGraw,  Jr.,  Wendy  L.-J.  McNeil,  Thomas  M.  Messer,  Frank  R. 
Milliken,  A.  Chauncey  Newlin,  Lewis  T.  Preston,  Seymour  Slive,  Albert  E.  Thiele,  Michael 
F.  Wettach,  William  T.  Ylvisaker 

honorary  trustees       Solomon  R.  Guggenheim,  Justin  K.  Thannhauser,  Peggy  Guggenheim 
in  perpetuity 
advisory  board       Elaine  Dannheisser,  Susan  Morse  Hilles,  Morton  L.  Janklow,  Barbara  Jonas,  Bonnie  Ward 
Simon,  Stephen  C.  Swid 

staff       Henry  Berg,  Counsel 

Theodore  G.  Dunker,  Secretary-Treasurer;  Aili  Pontynen,  Assistant  Treasurer;  Barry  Bragg, 
Assistant  to  the  Treasurer;  Margaret  P.  Cauchois,  Assistant;  Veronica  M.  O'Connell 

director       Thomas  M.  Messer 
THE  SOLOMON  R.  GUGGENHEIM   MUSEUM 
Diane  Waldman,  Director  of  Exhibitions 
Catherine  Grimshaw,  Secretary  to  the  Director 
Cynthia  M.  Kessel,  Administrative  Assistant 

STAFF       Louise  Averill  Svendsen,  Senior  Curator;  Vivian  Endicott  Barnett,  Research  Curator; 
Lisa  Dennison  Tabak,  Assistant  Curator;  Carol  Fuerstein,  Editor;  Sonja  Bay,  Associate 
Librarian;  Ward  Jackson,  Archivist;  Philip  Verre,  Collections  Coordinator;  Susan  B. 
Hirschfeld,  Exhibitions  Coordinator;  Lucy  Flint,  Curatorial  Coordinator;  Cynthia  Clark, 
Editorial  Assistant 

Margit  Rowell,  Curator  of  Special  Exhibitions 

Orrin  H.  Riley,  Conservator;  Elizabeth  Estabrook,  Conservation  Assistant;  Harold  B. 
Nelson,  Registrar;  Jane  Rubin,  William  J.  Alonso,  Assistant  Registrars;  Marion  Kahan, 
Registrar's  Coordinator;  Saul  Fuerstein,  Preparator;  William  Smith,  Preparation  Assistant; 
Scott  A.  Wixon,  Operations  Manager;  Tony  Moore,  Assistant  Operations  Manager; 
Takayuki  Amano,  Head  Carpenter;  Carmelo  Guadagno,  Photographer;  David  M.  Heald, 
Associate  Photographer;  Holly  Fullam,  Photography  Coordinator 

Mimi  Poser,  Officer  for  Development  and  Public  Affairs;  Carolyn  Porcelli,  Ann  Kraft, 
Development  Associates;  Susan  L.  Halper,  Membership  Associate;  Jessica  Schwartz,  Public 
Affairs  Associate;  Cynthia  Wootton,  Development  Coordinator;  Michele  Rowe-Shields, 
Public  Affairs  Coordinator;  Linda  Gering,  Public  Affairs  Assistant;  Susan  Berger- Jones, 
Membership  Assistant 

Agnes  R.  Connolly,  Auditor;  James  O'Shea,  Sales  Coordinatot ;  Robert  Turner,  Restaurant 
Manager;  Rosemary  Faella,  Assistant  Restaurant  Manager;  Darrie  Hammer,  Katherine 
W.  Briggs,  Information 

David  A.  Sutter,  Building  Superintendent;  Charles  Gazzola,  Assistant  Building  Superintend- 
ent; Charles  F.  Banach,  Head  Guard;  Elbio  Almiron,  Marie  Bradley,  Assistant  Head  Guards 

life  members       Eleanor,  Countess  Castle  Stewart,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Werner  Dannheisser,  William  C.  Edwards, 
Jr.,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  P.  Fuller,  Mrs.  Bernard  F.  Gimbel,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peter  O. 
Lawson-Johnston,  Mrs.  Samuel  I.  Rosenman,  Mrs.  S.  H.  Scheuer,  Mrs.  Hilde  Thannhauser 

corporate  patrons       Alcoa  Foundation,  Atlantic  Richfield  Foundation,  Exxon  Corporation,  Mobil  Corporation, 
Philip  Morris  Incorporated 

government  patrons       National  Endowment  for  the  Arts,  National  Endowment  for  the  Humanities,  New  York  State 
Council  on  the  Arts 


LENDERS  TO  THE   EXHIBITION 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benjamin  J.  Fortson,  Fort 
Worth 

Felix  Klee,  Bern 

Kenneth  C.  Lindsay,  Binghamton,  New  York 

Heirs  of  Dr.  \V.  Macke,  Bonn 

Professor  J.  A.  Schmoll-Eisenwerth,  Munich 

Lawrence  Schoenherg,  Los  Angeles 

Thomas  P.  Whitney 

Siegfried  Wichmann 


Architektursammlung  der  Technischen 
Universitat,  Munich 

The  Art  Museum  of  the  Ateneum,  Helsinki 

The  Art  Reference  Library,  The  Brooklyn 
Museum,  New  York 

Badisches  Landesmuseum  Karlsruhe 

Bayerische  Staatsbibliothek,  Munich 

Bayerische  Staatsgemaldesammlungen, 

Munich 

Deutsches  Theatermuseum,  Munich 

Gallen-Kallela  Museum,  Espoo,  Finland 

The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Museum, 
New  York 

Hessischses  Landesmuseum  Darmstadt 

Kunsthalle  Bremen 

Kunstmuseum  Bern 

Kimstmuseum  Hannover  mit  Sammlung 
Sprengel 

Graphische  Sammlung,  Kunstmuseum  St. 
Gallen 

Kupferstichkabinett,  Kunstmuseum  Basel 

Special  Collections,  Library  of  Congress, 
Washington,  D.C. 


Mittelrhcinischcs  Landesmuseum,  Mainz 

Miinchner  Stadtmuseum,  Munich 

Gabriele  Miinter-  und  Johannes  Eichner- 
Stiftung,  Munich 

Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne,  Paris 

Museum  of  Applied  Arts,  Helsinki 

Museum  Bellerive,  Zurich 

Museum  Boymans-van  Beuningen, 
Rotterdam 

Museum  Folkwang,  Essen 

Museum  fur  Kunst  und  Gewerbe,  Hamburg 

The  Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New  York 

Museum  Villa  Stuck,  Munich 

Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana 

The  New  York  State  Library,  The  Univer- 
sity of  the  State  of  New  York,  Cultural  Edu- 
cation Center,  Albany 

Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 

Price-Gilbert  Library,  Georgia  Institute  of 
Technology,  Atlanta 

Princeton  University  Libraries,  Princeton, 
New  Jersey 

Schiller-Nationalmuseum/ Deutsches 
Literarturarchiv,  Marbach 

Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 

Staatliche  Museen  Preussischer  Kulturbesitz, 
Nationalgalerie,  Berlin 

Staatliches  Museum  fiir  Volkerkunde, 
Munich 

Graphische  Sammlung,  Staatsgalerie  Stuttgart 

Stadtbibliothek  mit  Handschriftensammlung, 
Munich 

Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbachhaus,  Munich 

Stadtisches  Museum  Flensburg 


Special  Collections,  LIniversity  Library,  State 
University  of  New  York  at  Binghamton 

Stiftung  Preussischer  Kulturbesitz,  Staatliche 
Museen,  Kunstbibliothek  Berlin 

Stiftung  Saarlandischer  Kulturbesitz, 
Saarbriicken 

Wachtersbacher  Keramik,  Brachttal, 
Germany 

Wiirttembergische  Landesbibliothek, 
Stuttgart 

Wiirttembergisches  Landesmuseum  Stuttgart 

Music  Library,  Yale  LIniversity,  New  Haven 

Davlyn  Gallery,  New  York 
Galerie  Gunzenhauser,  Munich 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS 


8  Sponsor's  Statement 

9  Preface  and  Acknowledgements     Thomas  M.  Messer 
13  Foreword     Carl  E.  Scborske 

17  Munich  as  Cultural  Center:  Politics  and  the  Arts     Peter  Jelavicb 

28  Kandinsky  in  Munich:  Encounters  and  Transformations     PegWeiss 

83  Catalogue 

303  Chronology     Peg  Weiss 

307  Selected  Bibliography     PegWeiss 

310  Index  of  Artists  in  the  Catalogue 

311  Photographic  Credits 


SPONSOR'S  STATEAAENT 


Philip  Morris  was  introduced  to  the  work  of  Vasily  Kandinsky  at  the  Guggenheim 
Museum  a  little  more  than  a  year  ago  when  we  sponsored  the  exhibition  Expres- 
sionism—a German  Intuition  1905-1920.  We  return  now  to  become  better 
acquainted  with  this  artist  who  was  one  of  the  originators  of  abstract  art  in  the 
early  years  of  our  century. 

One  of  a  striking  series  of  exhibitions  undertaken  by  the  Guggenheim,  Kandinsky 
in  Munich  reflects  the  audaciousness  of  this  adventurer  who  searched  tirelessly  for 
a  new  way  to  express  the  enduring  human  spirit  in  a  world  fraught  with  turbulence 
and  change.  Philip  Morris  is  proud  to  be  associated  with  the  Museum's  sweeping 
presentation  of  the  art  of  Kandinsky  and  bis  contemporaries  in  Munich,  which  offers 
insight  into  the  environment  and  times  of  this  courageous  innovator  who,  with  his 
personal  vision  for  compass,  discovered  a  new  world.  What  seems  most  instructive 
to  us  is  not  so  much  that  Kandinsky  found  this  new  world,  which  he  populated  with 
original  and  challenging  imagery,  but  that  he  dared  to  think  such  a  world  must 
exist  and  resolutely  set  out  to  render  it  visible. 

And  he  knew  the  way.  In  the  course  of  evolving  his  first  total  abstraction,  perhaps 
the  first  pure  abstraction  ever  painted,  Kandinsky  told  his  eager  colleagues,  "there 
is  one  [answer]  ivhich  art  can  always  employ  to  any  question  beginning  with  'must': 
there  is  no  'must'  in  art,  because  art  is  free."  In  Kandinsky' s  studio,  said  jean  Arp, 
"speech  and  form  and  color  fused  and  were  transmuted  into  fabulous,  extraordinary 
worlds."  He  led  them  to  a  place  where  no  one  had  been  before,  and  pioneered  in 
shaping  the  landscape  of  our  new  cultural,  social  and  psychological  environment. 
Our  institutions— industry  significant  among  them— have  made  their  most  radical 
advances  since  Kandinsky  set  foot  on  the  new  shore.  I  am  not  suggesting  that  par- 
allels may  easily  be  drawn  among  artistic,  social  and  technological  developments, 
but  perhaps  a  strong  kinship  wrought  by  change  prevails. 

Because  he  pressed  toward  a  new  realm,  Kandinsky  continues  to  inspire  us  today. 
Philip  Morris,  I  hope,  will  never  cease  to  pay  homage  to  those  who  dare  to  move 
beyond  their  environment  and  time.  By  their  creative  example,  they  beckon  us  for- 
ward. Human  enterprise  advances  best  when  it  is  least  encumbered  and  most  in- 
spired. This  they  knew  in  every  age  of  history,  those  explorers  of  the  future.  In  their 
vanguard  is  Kandinsky . 

george  weissman,  Chairman  of  the  Board 
Philip  Morris  Incorporated 


PREFACE   AND   ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


Vasily  Kandinsky,  it  may  be  stated  fairly,  lived  at  least  three  lives  in  one.  In 
the  course  of  his  seventy-eight  years,  despite  an  exceptionally  late  start  as  an 
artist,  his  work  encompassed  three  stylistic  phases  which,  though  ultimately 
comprehensible  as  a  unity,  nevertheless  are  more  than  ordinarily  separable 
from  one  another.  Each  of  these— in  Munich  before  World  War  I;  at  the  Bau- 
haus  during  the  postwar  years;  and  in  Paris  from  the  rise  of  Nazism  through 
World  War  II— represented  a  major  episode  which  was  more  or  less  self- 
contained.  In  each  Kandinsky  developed  a  style  that  corresponded  to  a  par- 
ticular insight,  and  each  reflected  an  advanced,  visionary  sensibility. 

Various  retrospectives  at  the  Guggenheim  and  at  many  other  museums 
around  the  world  have  rendered  visible,  through  chronological  presentation 
of  his  work,  the  stages  of  Kandinsky's  stylistic  development,  thereby  provid- 
ing the  necessary  background  which  is  a  precondition  for  a  more  detailed, 
analytical  investigation  of  his  oeuvre.  This  probing  and  extensive  investiga- 
tion is  now  being  attempted  in  a  sequence  of  three  exhibitions  beginning  with 
Kandinsky  in  Munich  and  projected  to  take  place  over  a  period  to  last  beyond 
the  first  half  of  this  decade. 

It  is  of  course  not  by  happenstance  that  so  ambitious  and  demanding  an 
undertaking  concerning  Kandinsky's  art  should  have  taken  shape  at  the 
Guggenheim  Museum;  for  if  institutions  may  lay  claim  to  patron  saints  and 
may  be  said  to  issue  from  and  be  propelled  by  single  identifiable  impulses, 
mitigating  influence  of  stylistic  crosscurrents  notwithstanding,  Kandinsky 
and  the  Guggenheim  exemplify  such  an  interrelationship.  In  this  context  it  is 
sufficient  to  recall  that  the  Guggenheim  Museum's  original  name,  which  it 
bore  from  its  creation  in  1937  until  1952,  was  the  Museum  of  Non-Objective 
Painting  and  that  among  the  artists  who  provided  the  basis  for  a  designation 
derived  from  this  stylistic  attribute,  Kandinsky  was  preeminent.  Throughout 
the  decades  succeeding  its  initial  phase,  the  Museum's  focus  upon  Kandinsky 
has  continued,  so  that  the  concentration  of  his  works  in  the  collection  and 
the  frequency  of  their  exhibition  surpasses  that  of  all  other  artists. 

But  it  is  obviously  not  merely  because  of  the  large  quantity  of  Kan- 
dinsky's works  in  our  holdings  that  such  an  emphasis  could  have  been  estab- 
lished and  sustained;  rather  it  is  Kandinsky's  enduring  relevance  to  thought 
and  art  in  our  era  that  has  justified  the  frequent  and  prominent  exposure  of 
his  oeuvre  and  has  invited  constant  reevaluation  of  its  meaning.  It  is,  in  fact, 
at  a  moment  when  the  connotations  of  "abstraction"  are  changing  quite 
radically  that  we  have  approached  Dr.  Peg  Weiss,  Adjunct  Professor  at  Syra- 


cuse  University,  New  York,  and  author  of  the  recent  volume  Kandinsky  in 
Munich:  The  Formative  Jugendstil  Years,  to  act  as  guest  curator  and  make 
the  selection  for  an  exhibition  similar  in  title  and  concept  to  that  of  her  book. 
At  the  same  time  we  have  asked  Ian  Strasfogel,  former  Director  of  the  Wash- 
ington Opera  at  Kennedy  Center,  Washington,  D.C.,  to  produce  Kandinsky's 
opera  The  Yellow  Sound  (Der  gelbe  Klang). 

The  two  related,  simultaneously  scheduled  enterprises  demarcate  the 
sizeable  scope  of  our  Kandinsky  projects,  particularly  in  the  context  of  the 
future  exhibitions  in  the  series.  Both  call  for  capabilities  beyond  those  nor- 
mally at  our  disposal— the  exhibition,  because  its  documentary  emphasis 
requires  the  installation  of  a  great  many  heterogeneous  objects;  Der  gelbe 
Klang,  because  of  the  problems  inherent  in  the  production  of  an  unfinished 
musical  score,  as  well  as  the  many  circumstances,  unfamiliar  to  us,  associated 
with  theatrical  presentations  in  general.  Dr.  Weiss  and  Mr.  Strasfogel,  there- 
fore, depended  upon  expert  help  on  many  levels.  Thus  Gunther  Schuller  un- 
dertook to  arrange  Thomas  de  Hartmann's  incomplete  score  and  Hellmut 
Fricke-Gottschild  assumed  responsibility  for  the  choreography  of  the  opera. 
Two  teams  of  designers,  Robert  Israel  and  Richard  Riddell  for  Der  gelbe 
Klang  and  Charles  B.  Froom  and  Richard  Franklin  for  Kandinsky  in  Munich, 
fulfilled  creative  roles  in  the  area  of  stage  design  and  exhibition  installation 
respectively. 

The  demands  of  the  project  throughout  its  conception,  selection,  docu- 
mentation and  staging  involved  many  individuals  in  addition  to  the  princi- 
pals, and,  therefore,  much  credit  is  due  to  virtually  the  entire  Museum  staff 
—members  of  its  curatorial,  technical  and  public  affairs  divisions  who  assured 
the  punctual  presentation  of  exhibition  and  publication.  The  Museum's  Re- 
search Curator  Vivian  Barnett  coordinated  all  aspects  of  the  undertaking; 
she  is  the  primary  link  between  the  current  Munich-centered  phase  of  our 
sequence  and  the  two  subsequent  installments  in  preparation.  Susan  Hirsch- 
feld,  Exhibitions  Coordinator,  conscientiously  served  as  the  Guggenheim's 
liaison  with  authors  and  Guest  Curator,  while  Carol  Fuerstein  edited  the 
catalogue  with  her  usual  precision. 

The  publication  as  a  whole  and  its  principal  essay  in  particular  benefit- 
ted from  Dr.  Weiss's  extensive  research  and  the  catalogue  is  further  enriched 
by  two  essays  written  for  the  occasion  by  Dr.  Carl  E.  Schorske  and  Peter 
Jelavich.  We  are  most  grateful  to  these  authors  for  providing  conceptual 
clarifications  and  for  establishing  a  historical  context  for  the  Kandinsky  in 
Munich  exhibition. 

Neither  the  scholarship  brought  to  bear  upon  Kandinsky's  art  nor  the 
expertise  of  the  technicians  charged  with  the  staging  of  the  exhibition  would 
have  fully  accomplished  their  objectives  had  we  not  also  profitted  from  the 
extraordinary  generosity  of  the  lenders  who  are  listed  in  a  separate  section 
of  this  catalogue.  The  need  to  secure  particular  works  of  art  in  order  to  make 
specific  stylistic  and  historical  points  allowed  us  to  make  very  few  substitu- 
tions for  our  original  choices.  Our  persistence  as  borrowers  increased,  there- 
fore, as  options  for  replacements  diminished  and  deeply  felt  gratitude  is  due 
to  the  many  generous  owners  who  responded  to  our  entreaties  and  allowed 


us  to  incorporate  their  precious  objects  in  the  present  exhibition.  Among  the 
lenders  we  are  indebted  to  numerous  public  and  private  collections  in  Mu- 
nich for  making  many  crucial  works  available  to  us.  Special  mention  and 
thanks  are  extended  to  the  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbachhaus,  Munich,  for 
the  loan  of  over  one  hundred  works;  in  particular,  we  would  like  to  thank 
Dr.  Armin  Zweite,  Director,  and  Dr.  Rosel  Gollek,  Curator,  for  their  efforts 
on  our  behalf.  We  would  also  like  to  single  out  the  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum 
and  Prof.  Dr.  Siegfried  Wichmann  for  their  numerous  and  invaluable  loans. 
The  exhibition  has  benefitted  from  important  works  borrowed  from  the 
Gabriele  Munter-Johannes  Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich.  We  are  grateful  to  Jean- 
Claude  Groshens,  President  of  Centre  Georges  Pompidou,  Paris,  and  Christian 
Derouet  of  the  Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne,  Paris,  for  their  assistance  re- 
garding works  from  the  Estate  of  Nina  Kandinsky,  the  artist's  widow. 

The  demanding  nature  of  this  endeavor  was,  of  course,  felt  in  the  area  of 
finances.  Fortunately,  the  National  Endowment  for  the  Humanities  displayed 
an  enlightened  interest  in  the  exhibition  at  an  early  moment  and  provided 
initial  funding,  enabling  us  to  secure  the  essential  additional  resources.  Philip 
Morris  Incorporated  first  matched  the  initial  grant  of  the  National  Endow- 
ment for  the  Humanities  and  subsequently  donated  the  necessary  funds  for 
the  production  of  Der  gelbe  Klang.  By  so  generously  affirming  their  confi- 
dence in  the  Guggenheim's  project,  Philip  Morris  Incorporated  and  its  Chair- 
man George  Weissman  have  once  again  demonstrated  their  leading  position 
among  the  country's  corporate  supporters  of  cultural  events.  The  far-reach- 
ing assistance  received  from  the  complementary  sources  of  government 
agency  and  corporate  sector  has  exemplary  value,  of  course,  as  well  as  tan- 
gible worth  in  the  present  circumstances. 

In  closing,  I  should  like  to  thank  my  colleagues  Henry  T.  Hopkins, 
Director  of  the  San  Francisco  Museum  of  Modern  Art,  and  Dr.  Armin 
Zweite,  Director  of  the  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbachhaus,  Munich;  much 
to  the  benefit  of  the  exhibition,  they  have  participated  in  the  lengthy  prep- 
arations for  the  presentation  of  Kandinsky  in  Munich:  1896-1914  at  the 
Guggenheim  and  their  own  museums. 

thomas  m.  messer,  Director 

The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Foundation 


Munich  was  radiant.  Over  the  festive  plazas  and  white  columned  temples, 
the  neodassic  monuments  and  Baroque  churches,  the  springing  fountains, 
palaces  and  public  parks  of  the  Resident,  spanned  a  heaven  shimmering  as 
blue  silk,  and  the  broad  and  light,  green-surrounded  and  ivell-proportioned 
perspectives  lay  in  the  sunshine  of  a  first  beautiful  June  day. 

Birdsoug  and  secret  joy  in  every  little  street .  .  .  and  on  plazas  and  walks 
the  unhurried  and  amusing  business  of  the  lovely  and  comfortable  city  rolls, 
strolls  and  churns.  Tourists  from  all  nations  drive  about  in  the  little  slow 
droshkies.  .  . .  and  climb  the  wide  steps  of  the  museums.  .  .  .  Many  windows 
stand  open,  and  from  many,  the  sounds  of  music  reach  the  streets,  exercises 
on  the  piano,  the  violin  or  the  cello,  sincere,  well-intentioned  dilettantish 
efforts.  At  the  Odeon,  however,  one  notices  there  is  much  serious  study  going 
on  at  the  grand  pianos.  .../;/  front  of  the  academy  of  art,  which  stretches  its 
white  arms  between  the  Tiirkeustrasse  and  the  Siegestor,  halts  a  court  car- 
riage. And  at  the  top  of  the  balustrade,  the  models  stand,  sit  and  lounge  in 
colorful  groups,  picturesque  old  men,  children,  arid  women  in  the  costume 
of  the  Albanian  mountains.  .  .  .  Young  artists  with  round  caps  on  the  backs 
of  their  heads,  neckties  loosened,  without  walking  sticks,  careless  fellows, 
who  pay  their  rent  with  color  sketches,  stroll  around,  allowing  this  pale  blue 
morning  to  work  upon  their  mood,  and  watching  the  young  ladies. .  .  .  Every 
fifth  house  with  its  atelier  windows  blinking  in  the  sun.  Occasionally  an 
aesthetic  facade  breaks  the  row  of  middle-class  houses,  the  work  of  an  imag- 
inative young  architect,  wide  and  flat-arched,  decorated  with  a  bizarre  orna- 
ment, full  of  wit  and  style.  .  .  . 

It  is  always  a  new  pleasure  to  linger  before  the  windows  of  the  cabinet- 
makers and  the  shops  for  modern  luxury  items.  What  fantastic  comfort,  what 
linear  humor  in  the  forms  of  all  these  things! .  .  .  Look  around  you,  see  the 
windows  of  the  bookshops!  Your  eyes  meet  titles  like  The  Art  of  Interior 
Design  Since  the  Renaissance,  The  Education  of  the  Color  Sense,  The  Renais- 
sance in  Modern  Arts  and  Crafts,  The  Book  as  Work  of  Art,  The  Decorative 
Arts,  The  Hunger  for  Art;  and  you  must  realize  that  these  provocative  pam- 
phlets are  sold  and  read  by  the  thousands,  and  that  evenings  these  very  sub- 
jects are  the  focus  of  many  a  lecture  to  packed  halls.  .  .  .  Art  blossoms,  art 
reigns,  art  stretches  her  rose-wound  scepter  over  the  city  and  smiles.  .  .  .  a 
guileless  cult  of  line,  of  decoration,  of  form,  of  sensuousness,  of  beauty  reigns 
—Munich  was  radiant. 

Thomas  Mann 

"Gladius  Dei,"  1901 


FOREWORD 


Carl  E.  Schorske 


Kandinsky  in  Munich:  the  very  title  of  this  exhibition  suggests  a  convergence 
of  a  person  and  a  place,  an  artist  and  a  city.  It  is  a  convergence  too  of  two 
kinds  of  art  exhibit  usually  held  apart.  One  of  these  has  become  almost  a 
dominant  form  of  exhibition  in  our  century:  the  one-man  retrospective,  such 
as  the  great  Picasso  show  of  1980.  This  form  arose  as  handmaiden  to  an  im- 
portant mode  of  intellectual  understanding  of  art  in  modern  times.  Under  it, 
art  is  viewed  as  the  creation  of  single  developing  minds,  the  achievement  of 
which  can  best  be  grasped  in  the  temporal  sequence  of  its  products.  In  the 
1970s,  however,  another  form  of  exhibition  kindled  the  public  imagination, 
one  that  focuses  on  the  collective  artistic  production  of  a  single  time  and 
place.  The  Philadelphia  Museum's  Art  of  the  Second  Empire  was  one  variant 
of  this  refreshed  historical  approach  to  visual  culture.  It  compelled  the  viewer 
to  place  his  present-day  conceptions  of  artistically  valid  mid-nineteenth  cen- 
tury French  art  (i.e.,  an  aesthetic  derived  from  the  Impressionists  and  Post- 
Impressionists)  into  the  historical  context  of  the  culture  that  produced  it,  a 
culture  with  quite  different  canons  of  critical  judgment,  wider  stylistic  con- 
tent and  long-forgotten  modes  of  displaying— and  therefore  seeing— works  of 
art.  Another  variant  of  this  new  historical  approach  to  art  explores  and  ex- 
ploits the  city  as  a  cultural  unit.  The  Centre  Pompidou  has  developed  the 
city  exhibition  to  new  heights,  placing  the  visual  arts  of  Paris  in  an  interna- 
tional perspective  by  comparison  with  other  urban  cultures:  Paris-Netv  York, 
Paris-Berlin,  Paris-Moscoiv.  Not  only  are  the  plastic  arts  of  France  clarified 
in  these  exhibitions,  but  they  are  illuminated  in  a  context  of  artistic  and  in- 
tellectual expression  in  other  media,  especially  literature. 

Even  as  they  demonstrate  the  power  of  their  contrasting  perspectives, 
these  two  types  of  exhibition— the  individual-textual  retrospective  and  the 
cultural-contextual  or  city  exhibition— have  dwelt  far  apart  and  ignored  each 
other's  virtues.  The  concentration  on  the  single  painter's  oeuvre  has  tended 
to  detach  it  from  its  social  and  cultural  environment.  The  concentration  on 
a  cultural  context,  on  the  other  hand,  has  tended  to  blur  the  vision  of  the 
special,  often  isolated  values  of  the  individual  artist's  product.  Thus  we  con- 
front, on  the  one  side,  text  without  context;  on  the  other,  context  without 
text. 

Behind  this  polarization  in  exhibiting  practice  lies  a  division  of  view  that 
developed  over  the  last  century  concerning  the  nature  and  function  of  art 
and  its  place  in  society.  As  painting  ceased  to  be  produced  primarily  on  com- 
mission to  embellish  a  church,  a  public  building  or  a  residence,  the  artist  won 
independence  from  traditional  value  systems.  It  was  an  ambiguous  freedom, 


13 


combining  imaginative  opportunity  with  cultural  rootlessness.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  artist  became  free  to  devise  his  own  code  of  meanings,  to  project 
his  individual  vision  onto  his  canvas,  independent  of  any  ultimate  social  use 
or  destination.  On  the  other  hand,  he  became  dependent  on  a  public  art 
market  to  find  an  anonymous  patron  who  might  share  his  personal  vision. 
France  set  the  tone  for  nineteenth-century  Europe  in  organizing  the  art  mar- 
ket in  the  form  of  the  "salon,"  where  the  artists  adjudged  qualified  might 
display  their  wares  collectively  for  the  perusal  of  potential  buyers.  The  salon 
was  a  form  of  exhibition  appropriate  to  the  era  of  democracy  and  economic 
laissez-faire,  where  the  individualistic  artist-producer  and  the  connoisseur- 
consumer  could  find  each  other  as  seller  and  buyer.  Although  traditional  cri- 
teria of  judgment  of  aesthetic  worth  still  exercised  a  restraining  influence  on 
what  works  the  salon  accepted  for  display,  two  important  new  principles  of 
modern  culture  surfaced  in  the  salon  in  uneasy  interaction:  "art  for  art's 
sake"  and  "business  is  business." 

It  was  only  logical  that  the  artist  who  produced  no  longer  on  commis- 
sion but  out  of  his  own  powers  should  separate  himself  from  the  values,  both 
in  subject  matter  and  in  form,  traditionally  assigned  to  painting  by  society. 
But  he  could  do  this  in  two  different  ways,  one  individual,  the  other,  social. 
The  "modern"  artist  who  followed  the  more  individual  course  formulated 
new  and  highly  personal  pictures  of  the  world,  devising  his  own  visual  lan- 
guage for  the  purpose.  To  the  degree  that  his  sense  of  individuation  estranged 
him  from  society,  his  art  became  less  concerned  with  representation  of  the 
world  of  nature  and  inherited  culture  than  with  the  presentation  of  a  per- 
sonal vision,  sometimes  of  his  own  feeling,  sometimes  of  the  shaping  or  ab- 
stracting powers  of  art  itself. 

The  retrospective  exhibition  of  a  single  artist  arose  as  a  logical  reflection 
in  display  practice  of  this  process  of  artistic  individuation,  the  process  by 
which  the  very  life  of  art  became  the  expression  of  a  personal  vision  rather 
than  a  shared  cultural  one.  For  such  an  artist  as  Vasily  Kandinsky,  who  em- 
bodied in  his  own  development  the  passage  from  "representation"  to  "pres- 
entation," from  realism  to  abstraction,  the  temporal  array  of  his  oeuvre 
seems  a  particularly  suitable  form  of  exhibition. 

But  is  it  enough?  To  answer  the  question,  one  must  turn  to  the  other 
strand  of  artistic  thought  and  practice  that  arose  in  response  to  the  emergence 
of  the  autonomy  of  art  in  the  nineteenth-century  world  of  commerce:  the 
social  strand.  In  Europe's  intellectual  community  there  were  those  who  could 
not  accept  the  separation  of  the  artist  from  the  moral  and  social  functions 
that  by  tradition  had  been  his.  They  criticized  the  artist  from  a  social  point 
of  view  while  they  castigated  the  society  from  an  aesthetic  point  of  view. 
Above  all,  they  sought  to  engage  the  artist  in  the  task  of  regenerating  society 
and,  in  the  process,  of  closing  the  gap  that  had  opened  between  culture  and 
society,  between  art  and  public  life. 

Where  France  led  the  way  in  the  development  of  a  pluralized  and  indi- 
viduated modern  art,  England  and  Germany  pioneered  in  the  creation  of  an 
art  endowed  with  redemptive  social  functions.  In  England,  under  the  inspi- 
ration of  John  Ruskin  and  the  leadership  of  William  Morris,  the  Arts  and 


'4 


Crafts  Movement  mobilized  the  arts  to  restore  beauty  to  the  daily  life  of  an 
England  made  ugly  by  industrialism  and  socially  irresponsible  by  capitalism. 
The  movement  aimed  to  reunite  the  imagination  of  the  artist  with  the  skill  of 
the  artisan,  thus  to  reinvest  the  use-objects  of  the  common  life— from  houses 
and  furniture  to  printed  books  and  pots  and  pans— with  the  simplicity  and 
elegance  of  medieval  design.  The  painter  became  a  decorator  of  surfaces— 
of  walls  or  three-dimensional  use-objects— with  a  resulting  tendency  to  re- 
place three-dimensional  perspective  with  flat,  two-dimensional  forms  and 
unnuanced  color  juxtapositions.  Both  in  style  and  in  idea,  art  was  trans- 
formed by  its  purposive  application  to  the  world  of  utility  to  redeem  it  with 
beauty. 

While  the  English  medievalizing  avant-garde  moved  toward  transform- 
ing the  outer  environment  through  the  applied  arts,  the  Germans,  under  the 
vigorous  leadership  of  Richard  Wagner,  sought  to  fight  the  materialism  of 
the  age  through  a  different  medium:  the  theater.  Exalting  in  classic  German 
fashion  the  example  of  ancient  Greece,  Wagner  sought  to  create  a  theater 
which  would  perform  for  his  age  two  functions  at  once:  to  restore  the  broken 
unity  of  the  arts  by  bringing  all  the  arts  together  in  music  drama;  and  to  pro- 
vide hyper-individuated  and  divided  modern  society  with  a  model  of  com- 
munity. "Art  for  art's  sake"  and  "business  is  business"  would  both  be  over- 
come by  means  of  a  theater  critical  of  the  anomic  present  and  formative  of  a 
communitarian  future. 

Morris  and  Wagner,  both  anti-capitalist,  both  extolling  medieval  crafts 
and  medieval  poetry,  both  espousing  political  radicalism,  radiated  their  re- 
spective forms  of  redemption— the  one  plastic  and  visual,  the  other  musical 
and  theatrical— throughout  Europe.  In  Munich,  the  two  movements  met. 
Here  it  was  that  young  Kandinsky  encountered  both  in  their  fin-de-siecle 
incarnations. 

How  ironically  fitting  it  was  that  the  counter-cultures  launched  by  Mor- 
ris and  Wagner  should  meet  in  Munich  as  the  nineteenth  century  neared  its 
end!  For  Munich  had  become  the  major  Central  European  center  of  art  on 
the  official  French  model,  with  a  vigorous,  dominant,  traditional  academy 
and  a  salon  that  ranked  as  the  outstanding  display  and  exchange  center  for 
painting  east  of  the  Rhine. 

Kandinsky  came  to  Munich  to  study  painting  in  the  French-inspired 
academic  tradition,  and  the  autonomous  canvas  remained  the  principal  ve- 
hicle for  his  ultimate,  highly  personal  vision.  But  to  understand  the  ideational 
content  and  increasingly  atomized  and  condensed  visual  form  of  his  work, 
one  must  see  his  Munich  experience  whole,  with  the  powerful  countercur- 
rents  which  swept  him  up— of  arts  and  crafts,  of  socially  critical  theater,  of 
artistic  synaesthesia— that  in  their  separate  ways  challenged  the  autonomist 
aesthetic  of  painting.  Accordingly,  Kandinsky  in  Munich  combines  the  genre 
of  a  retrospective  exhibition  with  that  of  a  collective  city-culture,  for  only 
thus  can  his  oeuvre  emerge  as  both  individual  creation  and  historical  con- 
denser. 

This  catalogue  is  designed  to  open  for  the  viewer/reader  the  multiple 
dimensions  of  the  exhibition.  Accordingly,  two  professional  disciplines  are 


15 


represented  in  it.  Peg  Weiss  who,  as  guest  curator,  has  conceived  and 
mounted  the  exhibition,  is  an  art  historian.  In  the  principal  essay  in  the  cat- 
alogue, Dr.  Weiss  analyzes  Kandinsky's  development  in  terms  of  the  varied 
cultural  movements— decorative,  folkish,  theatrical,  poetic— showing  how  the 
painter  ingested  them  in  thought  and  projected  them  as  vision  in  his  works. 
A  social  historian  of  culture,  Peter  Jelavich,  provides  a  wider  background. 
Bringing  into  conjunction  the  rich  if  contradictory  legacy  of  Munich  as  cos- 
mopolitan art-capital  of  Central  Europe,  he  illuminates  the  crises  in  both 
politics  and  culture  that  opened  new  problems  and  new  possibilities  for  art 
and  for  the  function  of  the  artist  in  the  first  decade  of  our  century. 

To  appreciate  so  powerful  an  artist  as  Kandinsky,  so  sensitive  a  respon- 
dent to  the  contradictory  pressures  of  Munich's  vital  cultural  environment, 
one  needs  more  than  the  texts  that  are  his  works.  Conversely,  to  appreciate 
historically  the  full  affective  and  intellectual  reality  that  was  Munich  culture 
before  19 14,  one  needs  the  formed  feeling  that  only  a  great  artist  can  pro- 
vide. Kandinsky  in  Munich,  therefore,  aims  to  join  together  the  aesthetic  and 
historical  modes  of  understanding  and  of  exhibiting,  to  present  text  and  con- 
text, the  artist's  work  and  his  cultural  environment,  in  reciprocal  illumination. 


16 


MUNICH   AS   CULTURAL  CENTER: 
POLITICS   AND  THE  ARTS 

Peter  Jelavich 


In  1896,  when  Vasily  Kandinsky  abandoned  his  promising  legal  profession 
in  Russia  in  order  to  embark  on  a  career  in  painting,  his  choice  of  a  site  for 
study  was  obvious.  Since  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Munich  had 
become,  next  to  Paris,  the  major  European  center  for  academic  training. 
Young  men  and  and  women  from  numerous  countries,  ranging  from  Russia 
to  the  United  States,  flocked  to  the  Bavarian  capital  not  only  to  pursue  a  tra- 
ditional course  of  study  at  the  Academy  and  the  other  art  schools,  but  also 
to  witness  firsthand  the  development  of  startlingly  modern  forms  in  the  visual 
and  performing  arts. 

Munich  had  not  always  been  a  center  of  artistic  training,  yet  it  had  long 
been  a  focus  of  cultural  activity.  The  Catholic  church  and  the  Wittelsbach 
family,  which  had  ruled  Bavaria  since  the  twelfth  century,  were  the  major 
patrons  of  the  arts  in  Munich  during  the  early  modern  era.  Munich's  geo- 
graphical proximity  to  the  Alps  made  it  a  crossroads  into  Central  Europe 
for  both  Italian  art  and  Roman  faith.  In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies, when  Bavaria  was  elevated  from  a  dukedom  to  an  electorate  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  the  Wittelsbachs  were  militant  defenders  of  Counter- 
Reformation  Catholicism,  as  well  as  generous  patrons  of  Baroque  art,  theater 
and  music.  The  palatial  Residenz  and  the  ornate  churches  in  the  center  of 
Munich  still  attest  to  the  splendor  of  this  age. 

Over  the  course  of  the  eighteenth  century,  strains  developed  between  the 
court  and  the  clergy,  as  the  Electors  of  Bavaria  sought  to  weaken  the  power 
of  the  church,  in  keeping  with  the  Europe-wide  trend  toward  enlightened 
absolutism.  During  the  "secularization"  of  1803,  the  church  estates— which 
comprised  over  half  of  the  arable  land  of  Bavaria— were  confiscated  by  the 
secular  government.  This  destruction  of  the  material  base  of  the  church  not 
only  put  an  end  to  large-scale  patronage  by  the  religious  orders,  but  also  ini- 
tiated a  political  struggle  between  the  modernizing  state  and  the  conservative 
church  that  lasted  well  over  a  century. 

In  1S06  the  Bavarian  Elector  Max  Joseph  IV  was  proclaimed  King  Maxi- 
milian I  by  Napoleon,  who  thereby  repaid  the  Bavarian  ruler  for  his  alliance 
with  France  during  the  continental  wars.  At  the  same  time,  the  territory  of 
Bavaria  was  augmented  substantially  through  the  incorporation  of  Protestant 
lands  to  the  north.  The  expansion  of  the  realm  and  the  rise  to  royal  status 
induced  Maximilian  and  his  son,  Ludwig  I  (1825-4S),  to  transform  Munich 
into  an  ostentatious  cultural  and  administrative  center.  Ludwig  proclaimed: 
"I  want  to  turn  Munich  into  such  a  city,  that  no  one  shall  know  Germany 


17 


who  does  not  know  Munich."  The  city's  transition  from  a  center 'of  Counter- 
Reformation  Catholicism  to  the  administrative  capital  of  a  secular,  neo- 
ahsolutist  state  was  symbolized  by  the  fact  that  Munich's  Gothic  and  Baroque 
core  became  surrounded  by  spacious  boulevards  lined  with  stark  neoclassical 
and  neo-Renaissance  edifices.  These  structures  housed  the  offices  of  the  royal 
administration  as  well  as  the  cultural  landmarks  of  the  capital— the  univer- 
sity, the  state  library,  the  state  theater  and  the  royal  collections  of  painting 
and  sculpture. 

During  the  Europe-wide  revolutions  of  1848,  Ludwig  was  forced  to  ab- 
dicate prematurely,  owing  to  his  overly  absolutist  rule.  In  order  to  assuage 
liberal  discontent,  Ludwig's  son,  Maximilian  II  (1848-64),  granted  the  par- 
liament greater  powers  and  the  people  more  civil  liberties.  Whereas  Ludwig  I 
behaved  as  a  neo-absolutist  ruler,  his  son  saw  himself  as  a  servant  of  the 
people,  a  "bourgeois  monarch."  Maximilian  was  keenly  interested  in  im- 
proving the  material  conditions  of  Bavaria  by  encouraging  technological  and 
scientific  advances.  He  also  sponsored  the  applied  arts  and  "modern"  archi- 
tecture: the  Kunstgewerbeverein  was  founded  in  185 1,  and  three  years  later, 
the  most  advanced  style  of  construction  could  be  seen  in  Munich's  Glaspalast, 
the  first  major  iron-and-glass  edifice  on  the  continent.  Moreover,  whereas 
Ludwig  I  had  employed  stark  architectural  forms  based  on  Greek  and  Italian 
Renaissance  models  to  represent  his  absolutist  rule  over  a  rationally  ordered 
state,  Maximilian  II  patronized  imitations  of  Gothic  and  Northern  Renais- 
sance styles.  These  were  considered  quintessentially  bourgeois  styles  in  the 
mid-nineteenth  century,  inasmuch  as  the  late  Middle  Ages  and  the  Reforma- 
tion had  been  periods  of  burgher  and  patrician  dominance  in  the  German 
lands.  This  sponsorship  of  bourgeois  forms  in  architecture  and  decorative 
design  was  paralleled  by  a  turn  from  classicism  and  romanticism  to  realism 
at  the  Munich  Academy  of  Art.  Students  of  the  Munich  school  of  realistic 
historical,  landscape  and  portrait  painting  included  not  only  the  outstanding 
German  artists  of  the  1870s  and  1880s  (Franz  Lenbach,  Hans  Makart  and 
Wilhelm  LeibI),  but  also  many  of  the  major  American  realists  of  the  late 
nineteenth  century  (William  Merritt  Chase,  Frank  Duvenek,  J.  Frank  Cur- 
rier and  Toby  Rosenthal). 

The  scientific  and  pragmatic  values  that  were  fostered  by  Maximilian  II 
were  detested  by  his  son,  Ludwig  II  (1864-86).  Only  nineteen  years  old 
when  he  assumed  the  throne,  Ludwig  already  showed  signs  of  the  schizo- 
phrenia that  would  mar  his  reign.  Ludwig  firmly  believed  in  his  divine  right 
of  kingship,  and  he  liked  to  insist  on  royal  prerogatives  that  were  no  longer 
acceptable  or  practicable  in  the  modern  world.  In  place  of  the  pragmatic 
public-service  mentality  of  Maximilian  II,  Ludwig  hoped  to  substitute  a 
charismatic  and  theatrical  mode  of  rule;  he  wanted  the  court  and  people  to 
be  overcome  by  the  spectacle  of  his  royal  aura.  He  idolized  his  namesake, 
Louis  XIV  of  France,  and  had  the  palace  of  Herrenchiemsee  constructed  in 
the  style  of  Versailles.  Ludwig's  greatest  devotion  was,  however,  reserved  for 
Richard  Wagner,  who  likewise  revolted  against  the  "bourgeois  century." 
Wagner  hoped  to  replace  the  utilitarian  rationality,  individualism  and  per- 
sonal asceticism  of  the  German  middle  classes  with  intense  emotional  bond- 


:8 


ings  based  on  erotic  sensations  and  (imagined)  feelings  of  racial  unity.  In 
Wagner's  music  dramas,  reason  gave  way  to  mythic  and  symbolic  intuition; 
Germanic  and  medieval  tales  were  reformulated  to  evoke  an  intensely  erotic 
communal  response  from  the  audience.  The  notion  of  forging  community 
through  theatrical  means  appealed  to  Ludwig,  who  inaugurated  his  reign 
by  summoning  Wagner  to  Munich.  Within  little  more  than  a  year,  though, 
the  composer's  extravagant  and  adulterous  personal  life  led  to  his  expulsion 
from  the  Bavarian  capital.  Embittered  by  the  hostility  shown  to  Wagner, 
Ludwig  turned  his  back  on  Munich  and  reserved  his  patronage  for  the  Wag- 
nerian festival-house  that  was  erected  in  Bayreuth  (1876),  as  well  as  for  the 
fairy-tale  palaces,  replete  with  Wagnerian  motifis,  that  he  commissioned 
among  the  mountains  of  southern  Bavaria  (Linderhof,  Neuschwanstein). 

Ludwig's  detestation  of  his  capital  city  put  an  end  to  large-scale  monar- 
chical sponsorship  of  Munich's  cultural  development.  Nevertheless,  the  tra- 
ditions established  by  the  Wittelsbach  monarchs  laid  the  basis  for  the  cultural 
innovations  that  occurred  during  the  reign  of  Ludwig's  uncle,  Prince  Regent 
Luitpold  (1886-1912),  who  ruled  as  a  caretaker  for  Ludwig's  fully  schizo- 
phrenic brother,  Otto  I  (1886-1916).  In  the  1890s  Munich  was  so  receptive 
to  international  Art  Nouveau— or  Jugendstil— because  the  city  had  a  tradi- 
tion of  middle-class  arts  and  crafts  reaching  back  to  the  1850s,  as  well  as  a 
model  of  vibrant  sensualism  provided  by  Wagner.  In  the  early  years  of  Luit- 
pold's  reign,  this  sensuality  was  embodied  not  only  in  Wagnerian  music 
drama  (which,  despite  initial  hostility,  became  standard  fare  at  the  Munich 
opera),  but  also  in  the  paintings  of  Franz  Stuck.  Although  Stuck's  use  of 
Greek  motifs  harked  back  to  the  classicism  of  Ludwig  I,  the  Stuckian  propen- 
sity to  portray  a  mythic  demimonde  of  erotic  creatures  (nymphs,  sphinxes, 
fauns,  satyrs,  centaurs)  placed  him  in  the  sensualist  and  Symbolist  tradition 
of  Wagner.  Like  the  composer,  Stuck  believed  that  encouragement  of  sexual 
instincts  would  help  break  the  ascetic  and  individualist  mold  of  the  bour- 
geoisie. Stuck's  sensualism,  along  with  his  use  of  relief-like  composition,  flat 
planes  of  rich  color,  and  ornamental  borders,  made  him  an  immediate  pre- 
cursor of  the  Jugendstil  movement  that  burst  forth  in  Munich  in  1896. 

Although  the  Jugendstil  movement  was  not  formally  aligned  with  any 
political  faction,  it  can  best  be  understood  as  the  expression  of  a  resurgent 
noridoctrinaire  left-liberalism  that  occurred  when  the  wider  liberal  tradition 
was  on  its  deathbed.  By  the  1890s,  the  liberalism  that  had  characterized  Ger- 
man bourgeois  politics  in  the  mid-nineteenth  century  was  gravely  endangered 
in  the  Reich  at  large,  as  well  as  in  Bavaria  in  particular.  The  liberal  move- 
ment, which  had  led  the  revolutions  of  1848,  collapsed  in  the  course  of  Ger- 
many's unification  and  domestic  consolidation  (ca.  1860-80).  A  left-liberal 
minority  clung  to  traditional  libertarian  ideals,  namely  the  unification  of 
Germany  under  a  constitutional  monarch  with  a  powerful  and  democrati- 
cally elected  parliament.  The  majority  of  National  Liberals,  however,  acqui- 
esced to  the  Bismarckian  formula:  in  return  for  the  employment  of  Prussian 
arms  to  forge  German  unity,  the  undemocratic  constitution  of  the  new  Im- 
perial federation  gave  a  commanding  political  role  to  Prussia's  military  and 
agrarian  elites.  National  Liberal  willingness  to  forgo  a  democratization  of 


19 


society  was  reinforced  by  the  rapid  spread  of  Marxist  ideals  among  Ger- 
many's burgeoning  proletariat  during  the  1870s.  Fear  of  Social  Democracy 
encouraged  the  right-liberal  middle  classes  to  continue  their  cooperation 
with  Prussia's  traditional  elites  long  after  the  military  objectives  of  German 
unification  had  been  achieved.  Thus,  except  for  the  brief  regime  of  Bis- 
marck's successor,  the  liberal  chancellor  Caprivi  (1890-94),  liberalism  was 
condemned  to  play  a  subordinate  role  in  Imperial  politics. 

In  contrast,  liberalism  was  the  predominant  ideology  of  the  ruling  cir- 
cles of  Bavaria  from  the  time  of  Maximilian  II.  The  desire  to  modernize  the 
state  and  to  diminish  the  influence  of  the  conservative  Catholic  church  in- 
duced the  Bavarian  monarchs  of  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  to 
appoint  liberal  (and  usually  Protestant)  ministers  to  the  royal  cabinets.  Lib- 
eralism was  also  prevalent  in  the  Bavarian  parliament,  which  was  dominated 
by  representatives  of  Bavaria's  urban  bourgeoisie.  This  hegemonic  rule  of 
liberal  elites  was  challenged  in  the  1860s  by  the  political  arm  of  the  Catholic 
church.  The  signal  for  the  offensive  came  from  Rome:  the  Syllabus  of  Errors 
of  1864  and  the  proclamation  of  papal  infallibility  in  TS70  were  designed  to 
strengthen  the  internal  discipline  of  the  church  and  to  reverse  the  secular  and 
modernizing  trends  of  the  day.  By  sponsoring  what  was,  in  effect,  a  massive 
voter-registration  campaign  in  the  staunchly  Catholic  Bavarian  countryside, 
the  Catholic  Center  Party  gained  control  of  the  Bavarian  parliament  in  1869. 
Except  for  a  period  in  the  1890s,  the  Center  held  an  absolute  majority  of 
seats  in  that  body  until  the  end  of  World  War  I.  The  Bavarian  monarchs 
continued  to  appoint  liberal  cabinets  until  19 12,  but  the  ministers  were  in- 
creasingly forced  to  make  concessions  to  the  politically  hostile  parliament, 
which  controlled  the  governmental  budget. 

Although  the  long-term  prospects  for  liberalism  looked  bleak  in  the 
1890s,  there  were  two  major  signs  of  encouragement:  Caprivi  was  able  to 
initiate  some  liberal  reforms  during  his  Imperial  chancellorship,  and  the 
Center  Party  lost  its  majority  in  the  Bavarian  parliament  between  1893  and 
1899,  owing  to  the  defection  of  its  radical-populist  wing.  Within  this  context, 
there  arose  in  Munich  a  politically  unaffiliated,  but  ideologically  left-liberal 
movement  that  sought  to  revitalize  middle-class  self-confidence  and  support 
for  libertarian  ideals.  One  of  the  major  spokesmen  of  this  trend  was  Georg 
Hirth.  Hirth  had  been  a  liberal  publicist  during  the  1860s  and  1870s,  but  his 
disappointment  with  Bismarck's  authoritarian  regime  induced  him,  by  his 
own  admission,  to  turn  from  political  to  cultural  concerns.  In  1877,  ne  pub- 
lished an  influential  book  on  The  German  Renaissatice  Room,  which  attacked 
the  stylistic  heterogeneity  of  contemporary  interior  design,  and  advocated 
instead  the  integral  use  of  Northern  Renaissance  forms  to  fashion  bourgeois 
domestic  environments.  Hirth  was  drawn  back  into  political  journalism  in 
1881,  when  he  became  editor  of  the  Mimchener  Neneste  Nachrichte?i,  which 
his  wife  had  inherited.  This  publication  was  Munich's  largest-selling  daily 
newspaper,  as  well  as  the  major  organ  of  Bavarian  liberalism. 

In  1896,  at  a  time  when  the  liberal  era  of  Caprivi  had  been  followed  by  a 
period  of  intense  conservative  reaction  in  Berlin,  Hirth  decided  that  conven- 
tional political  journalism  would  not  suffice  for  the  propagation  of  liberal 


goals.  Hence  he  founded  the  literary  and  artistic  journal  Jnge7id,  which  com- 
bined his  expression  of  political  proclivities  with  his  earlier  interest  in  arts 
and  crafts.  The  goal  of  Jugend  was,  as  its  title  proclaimed,  "youth"— a  reju- 
venation of  the  liberal  middle  classes  not  just  politically,  but  also  psychically 
and  aesthetically.  The  bourgeoisie  was  supposed  to  overcome  its  subservience 
to  Prussian  elites,  its  creeping  accommodation  to  Catholic  majorities  and  its 
fear  of  socialist  workers  by  adopting  an  exuberant  spirit  that  would  allow  it 
to  face  vigorously  and  successfully  the  challenges  of  the  day.  The  morally 
ascetic  and  politically  subservient  aspects  of  bourgeois  behavior  were  to  be 
replaced  by  a  more  liberated  attitude  toward  religion,  culture,  sexuality  and 
the  state. 

Whereas  Hirth  had  earlier  viewed  the  Northern  Renaissance  as  Ger- 
many's genuinely  bourgeois  style,  he  now  became  a  spokesman  for  the  latest 
French,  Belgian  and  English  trends  in  the  graphic  arts.  The  international  Art 
Nouveau  stressed  strong  linear  outline,  flat  planes  of  bright  color  and  a  wil- 
ful stylization  of  people  and  objects  to  achieve  either  ornamental  or  comic 
effects.  This  style  proved  perfectly  suited  to  the  goals  of  Jugend,  which  sought 
to  satirize  the  opponents  of  liberal  values,  as  well  as  to  encourage  an  exuber- 
ant attitude  toward  life.  The  sensuality  of  Stuckian  painting  reappeared  in 
the  illustrations,  provocative  for  the  time,  that  bedecked  the  covers  and  in- 
side pages  of  the  journal.  Similar  views  and  a  similar  style  were  propagated 
by  Simplicissimus,  a  satirical  magazine  founded  simultaneously  with  jugend. 
Indeed,  Simplicissimus  soon  outshone  jugend  in  the  audacity  of  its  political 
criticism,  so  that  by  1898  the  two  competing  journals  achieved  a  working 
accommodation:  while  Simplicissimus  specialized  in  social  and  political  sat- 
ire, jugend  generally  restricted  itself  to  graphics  and  belles-lettres. 

Artistic  and  intellectual  rejuvenation  was  not,  of  course,  confined  to  the 
pages  of  two  illustrated  magazines;  indeed,  jugend  gave  its  name  to  Jugend- 
stil,  the  broad  decorative  arts  movement  that  developed  throughout  Germany 
in  the  late  1890s.  Within  Munich,  promising  young  artists  like  Peter  Behrens 
and  Richard  Riemerschmid,  who  had  initially  created  paintings  that  were 
intended  to  be  hung  in  bourgeois  homes  in  museal  fashion,  turned  now  to  the 
applied  arts  and  architecture.  Their  new  goal  was  to  design  homes  as  inte- 
grated artistic  environments,  from  exterior  facades  and  internal  tapestries  to 
furniture,  ceramics  and  silverware.  Since  the  new  artistic  movement  looked 
hopefully  into  the  future  rather  than  wistfully  into  the  past,  the  young  crafts- 
men discarded  previous  historical  styles  and  employed  forms  derived  from 
vegetative  or  crystalline  nature,  or  from  a  free  play  of  fantasy. 

Jugendstil's  visual  rejuvenation  of  the  bourgeois  environment  was  com- 
plemented by  a  revitalization  of  the  critical  liberal  spirit  in  the  theater.  Frank 
Wedekind  and  Ludwig  Thoma,  the  major  literary  contributors  to  Simplicis- 
simus in  its  early  years,  were  preeminently  playwrights.  Whereas  Wedekind's 
dramas  (Spring  Awakening,  Earth  Spirit,  Pandora's  Box)  criticized  the  sup- 
pression of  sexuality  and  individuality  in  modern  society,  the  comedies  of 
the  left-liberal  Thoma  satirized  both  Catholic  politicians  and  weak-kneed 
National  Liberals.  The  most  innovative  theatrical  expression  of  the  aggres- 
sive liberal  spirit  was  the  Elf  Scharfrichter  (Eleven  Executioners,  1901-03), 


the  most  famous  cabaret  in  Wilhelmine  Germany.  The  members  of  the 
Scharfrichter  considered  their  venture  "applied  theater,"  in  analogy  to  ap- 
plied art:  cabaret  was  to  relate  to  traditional  theater  in  the  same  manner  that 
the  decorative  arts  related  to  painting  on  canvas.  In  contrast  to  the  "aura"  of 
classical  theater  or  museal  art,  which  seemed  to  hold  spectators  at  a  distance, 
the  informal  and  intimate  format  of  cabaret  encouraged  a  more  direct  in- 
volvement of  the  audience  with  the  presentation.  Moreover,  the  lyrics,  songs 
and  skits  of  the  cabaret  were  constantly  updated  to  address  the  latest  topics 
of  the  day. 

The  visual  sensuality,  verbal  satire  and  theatrical  aggression  of  Munich's 
resurgent  liberal  culture  were  intended  to  challenge  the  Catholic  moralists  in 
the  Bavarian  parliament  and  the  reactionary  rulers  in  Berlin.  These  groups 
responded  with  all  of  the  political  and  legal  means  at  their  disposal,  most 
notably  the  articles  in  the  criminal  code  that  forbade  obscenity,  blasphemy 
and  lese  majesty.  In  1895  the  Munich  playwright  Oskar  Panizza  was  impris- 
oned for  a  year  for  publishing  his  "blasphemous"  anti-Catholic  play,  The 
Council  of  Love.  Four  years  later,  Wedekind  spent  seven  months  in  jail  for 
ridiculing  the  Kaiser  in  the  pages  of  Simplicissimus.  Ludwig  Thoma's  attacks 
on  Christian  morality-leagues  in  the  pages  of  the  same  journal  four  years 
later  earned  him  several  weeks  of  incarceration.  Even  though  such  imprison- 
ment was  infrequent,  issues  of  Simplicissimus  were  regularly  confiscated  and 
destroyed  on  account  of  excessive  blasphemy,  obscenity  or  political  satire. 

The  visual  arts  were  not  spared  from  attack.  In  the  early  1890s,  the 
Munich  police,  under  Catholic  pressure,  forced  a  Munich  art  dealer  to  re- 
move a  reproduction  of  the  Venus  de  Milo  from  his  display  window— an  inci- 
dent that  inspired  Thomas  Mann  to  compose  "Gladius  Dei,"  a  story  about 
a  confrontation  between  a  dealer  in  "pornographic"  art  and  an  incensed 
brother  of  the  church.  This  conflict  found  its  fiercest  expression  in  the  no- 
torious Lex  Heinze,  a  legislative  proposal  that  would  have  broadened  the 
legal  definition  of  obscenity  to  include  potentially  all  representations  of  the 
human  nude.  This  bill  was,  fortunately,  narrowly  defeated  in  1900,  after 
the  Munich  artistic  community  composed  a  protest  that  proclaimed:  "Under 
such  a  law,  Munich  would  soon  cease  to  be  a  center  of  artistic  and  spiritual 
life— indeed,  it  would  cease  to  be  'Munich.'  "  Three  years  later,  though,  the 
Catholic  majority  in  the  Bavarian  parliament  engineered  a  budgetary  crisis 
that  toppled  the  cabinet  of  the  liberal  prime  minister  Crailsheim  (1S90- 
1903).  He  was  succeeded  by  Podewils  (1903-11),  a  conservative  liberal  who 
sought  a  rapprochement  between  right-liberals  and  moderate  Catholics.  One 
of  his  first  acts  of  accommodation  was  to  acquiesce  to  the  demand  of  Cath- 
olic representatives  to  close  the  Scharfrichter  cabaret. 

By  the  time  of  the  liberals'  political  defeat  in  190?,  the  Jugendstil  move- 
ment in  Munich  had  passed  its  prime;  the  duration  of  the  Jttgend  spirit  was 
as  short  as  that  of  youth  itself.  Jugendstil  touched  only  the  artistic  commu- 
nity and  a  small  portion  of  the  wealthy  strata  of  society;  it  left  little  impact 
on  the  taste  and  behavior  of  the  Munich  middle  classes  as  a  whole.  In  the 
1890s,  when  the  socialists  began  to  win  major  electoral  victories  among 
Munich's  laboring  population,  the  liberal  middle  classes  of  the  Bavarian  cap- 


ital  started  to  move  to  the  right.  This  growing  political  conservatism  was 
complemented  by  a  lingering  traditionalism  of  aesthetic  taste.  The  areas  of 
bourgeois  expansion  in  Munich  around  1900— Schwabing,  the  Prinzregen- 
tenstrasse  and  the  land  along  and  beyond  the  Isar  river— all  display  striking 
examples  of  Jugendstil  architecture,  but  the  number  of  buildings  designed  in 
the  older  historicist  styles  is  much  greater.  Indeed,  most  so-called  Jugendstil 
facades  are  actually  mixtures  of  modern  decorative  designs  with  Renaissance 
or  Baroque  motifs.  The  unprecedented  exterior  of  the  Elvira  photographic 
atelier  (1897),  bedecked  with  an  immense  wave-like  ornament,  remained 
unique.  In  1901  Hermann  Obrist,  an  outstanding  Jugendstil  artist,  lamented: 
"If  only  the  Munich  bourgeoisie  would  realize  what  is  happening  here,  and 
see  that  the  first  act  of  the  drama  of  the  art  of  the  future  is  being  played  out 
here— the  art  that  will  lead  from  applied  crafts  to  sculpture  and  further  to 
painting.  .  .  .  The  future  of  Munich  as  a  city  of  art  will  depend  on  this." 

The  fact  that  Munich's  bourgeoisie  failed  to  "realize  what  is  happening 
here"  discouraged  the  Jugendstil  movement  in  the  Bavarian  capital.  By  1903 
many  of  Munich's  major  Jugendstil  artists— Peter  Behrens,  Bernard  Pankok, 
Otto  Eckmann,  August  Endell— had  left  the  city  to  continue  their  careers  in 
more  promising  and  lucrative  environments.  Indeed,  a  heated  (and  indecis- 
ive) public  debate  was  touched  off  on  the  issue  of  "Munich's  decline  as  a  city 
of  art."  By  1909  even  Kandinsky  complained  that  the  Munich  art  world  had 
become  a  "Land  of  Cockaigne"  in  which  everyone,  from  painters  to  public, 
had  fallen  into  deep  sleep.  Nevertheless,  despite  the  public  somnolence  of  the 
visual  arts  in  Munich  after  1903,  aesthetic  innovations  were  still  being  en- 
gendered in  the  privacy  of  exclusive  artistic  circles. 

From  its  very  beginnings,  Jugendstil  had  been  a  socially  ambiguous  phe- 
nomenon. Whereas  the  culturally  rejuvenating,  sensuous  and  satirical  dimen- 
sions of  the  movement  had  received  the  most  public  attention,  a  minority 
of  its  practitioners  had  transformed  the  modern  style  into  an  intensely  per- 
sonal and  spiritual  artistic  language.  Most  Jugendstil  artists  sought  to  encour- 
age the  vitality  of  modern  life.  In  his  essay  on  The  Beauty  of  the  Modern  City 
(1908),  August  Endell  proclaimed:  "There  is  only  one  healthy  foundation  for 
all  culture,  and  that  is  the  passionate  love  for  the  here  and  now,  for  our  time, 
for  our  country."  In  contrast,  other  artists  were  horrified  by  the  changes  in 
modern  life,  such  as  industrial  growth,  mechanization,  urban  crowding,  and 
the  loosening  of  social  and  sexual  mores;  many  artists  found  these  develop- 
ments psychically  disruptive.  Significantly,  the  two  outstanding  works  of 
prose  fiction  composed  in  prewar  Munich— Alfred  Kubin's  The  Other  Side 
(1909),  and  Thomas  Mann's  Death  in  Venice  (19 12)— both  describe  near- 
hallucinatory  trips  that  begin  in  Munich  and  end  with  a  total  breakdown  of 
self-restraint  and  social  order. 

In  reaction  to  the  social  and  psychic  flux  of  modernity,  the  writers  as- 
sembled around  the  poet  Stefan  George  segregated  themselves  from  the  pub- 
lic and  cultivated  ritual  and  hierarchical  relationships  among  themselves. 
The  same  phenomenon  of  segregation  and  self-ordering  could  be  seen  in 
certain  examples  of  Jugendstil  architecture  and  decorative  art  in  Munich. 
The  Schauspielhaus,  a  relatively  small,  exquisite  theater  designed  by  Richard 


23 


Riemerschmid  in  1901,  was  concealed  in  the  interior  courtyard  of  an  inner- 
city  housing  block.  The  rounded  contours,  vaguely  vegetative  forms  and 
deep  red  color  of  the  auditorium  evoked  the  image  of  a  natural  haven— half 
thicket,  half  womb— that  shut  out  the  public  life  and  commercial  traffic  of 
the  city.  Similarly,  Otto  Eckmann,  an  accomplished  Munich  Jugendstil  artist 
who  designed  his  apartment  down  to  the  last  detail,  considered  his  abode  a 
private  refuge  from  a  disconcerting  reality.  His  sister-in-law  wrote  of  his 
home:  "It  was  nice  at  their  place,  and  whoever  left  there,  experienced  the 
world  outside  as  doubly  ugly,  unharmonious,  loud,  and  heartless.  But  this 
environment  also  emanated  a  type  of  paralysis,  something  that  tore  one 
forcefully  away  from  real  life."  In  such  cases,  Jugendstil  was  transformed 
from  a  public  ornament  into  a  defensive  casing  that  excluded  the  external 
world. 

Whereas  most  artists  used  the  modern  forms  to  address  contemporary 
issues  and  to  revitalize  everyday  life,  the  minority  that  tended  toward  aes- 
thetic introversion  developed  Jugendstil  into  a  means  of  spiritually  tran- 
scending material  reality.  Already  before  1900  certain  artists  in  Munich- 
Hermann  Obrist,  August  Endell  and  Adolf  Holzel— were  coming  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  linear  and  ornamental  elements  of  Jugendstil  could  be  used 
non-mimetically  to  evoke  strong  sensations.  The  free  line  in  space,  much  like 
the  immaterial  "line"  of  music,  seemed  to  express  feelings  more  directly  than 
depictions  of  real  objects,  which  aroused  emotional  responses  only  indirectly 
(through  allegory,  implied  narrative  or  empathy).  Mimesis  came  to  be  seen 
as  an  unnecessary  detour  around  the  direct  visual  expression  of  the  spirit  that 
could  be  embodied  in  pure  line,  form  and  color. 

The  failure  of  the  middle  classes  to  respond  on  a  socially  significant  scale 
to  the  revitalizing  tendencies  of  Jugendstil  reinforced  the  antisocial  attitudes 
of  the  movement's  spiritual  and  inward-looking  practioners.  However,  intro- 
version was  not  the  only  answer  to  bourgeois  neglect.  A  number  of  artists 
looked  beyond  the  culture  of  their  native  middle  class  and  turned  to  the  "peo- 
ple," the  Volk,  for  inspiration.  This  development  first  occurred  within  the 
context  of  the  theater.  The  cabaret  movement  adopted  the  format  of  vaude- 
ville, and  it  employed  many  of  the  genres  of  popular  theater  (marionettes, 
shadow-plays,  songs,  dances  and  so  forth).  These  "minor"  genres  of  the  per- 
forming arts  were  used  not  only  because  they  could  be  composed  quickly 
and  adapted  to  satirical  purposes,  but  also  because  they  offered  a  greater  vi- 
tality than  the  forms  of  conventional  "literary"  theater. 

Even  after  the  satirical  impetus  of  the  cabaret  movement  was  halted  by 
decree  in  1903,  the  vital  forms  of  popular  theater  were  introduced  to  the 
"elite"  stage.  After  his  participation  in  the  Sclmrfrichter  cabaret,  Wedekind 
increasingly  employed  songs,  dances  and  pantomimes  in  his  dramas.  By  1908, 
when  a  large  exhibition  was  held  to  celebrate  Munich's  commercial  and  cul- 
tural achievements,  all  three  model  theaters  presented  the  international  public 
with  examples  of  the  imitation  and  creative  appropriation  of  popular  theater. 
The  Schwabinger  Schattenspiele  produced  shadow-plays  composed  by  some 
of  Munich's  Symbolist  poets;  the  Marionettentheater  Miinchener  Kunstler 
employed  marionettes  designed  by  Munich's  best  applied  artists;  and  the 


2.4 


Miinchener  Kiinstlertheater,  for  which  many  of  Munich's  modern  painters 
and  graphic  artists  designed  sets,  used  styles  of  acting  derived  from  both 
popular  circus  and  religious  ritual. 

The  increasing  employment  of  forms  of  popular  theatrics  by  elite  per- 
forming artists  after  1903  was  part  of  an  attempt  to  reach  beyond  the  liberal 
and  educated  middle-class  audience.  Since  the  turn  of  the  century  (1897  in 
the  Reich,  1903  in  Bavaria),  the  political  tendency  in  Germany  was  toward 
Sammlung,  toward  the  coalition  of  all  non-socialist  parties.  This  integrative 
political  trend  found  cultural  parallels  among  those  artists  who  sought  to 
address  the  Volk  at  large,  rather  than  a  specific  social  class  or  political  group. 
Georg  Fuchs,  the  organizer  of  the  Miinchener  Kiinstlertheater,  was  a  leading 
spokesman  of  this  volkisch  movement  in  Munich.  He  revived  the  Wagnerian 
notion  of  theater  as  a  communal  experience  of  all  members  of  the  Germanic 
race,  and  he  believed  that  popular  theatrics  would  enable  him  to  address  the 
widest  possible  audience.  The  Elf  Scharfrichter  had  employed  the  popular 
performing  arts  for  critical  and  satirical  purposes;  yet  five  years  later,  Fuchs 
was  adapting  popular  theatrics  to  nationalist  and  racist  ends.  By  that  time 
even  Jugend,  which  had  been  founded  in  a  spirit  of  left-liberalism,  had  ac- 
quired nationalistic  and  even  anti-Semitic  overtones.  Liberalism  had,  indeed, 
fallen  upon  hard  times. 


At  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  political  and  social  developments  in 
Germany  in  general,  and  in  Bavaria  in  particular,  fostered  varying  and  con- 
tradictory tendencies  in  Munich's  visual  and  performing  arts— aggressive  and 
regenerative  Jugendstil,  aesthetic  introversion  and  a  turn  to  popular  culture. 
Although  these  tendencies  were  components  of  Kandinsky's  evolving  art  dur- 
ing his  years  in  Munich  (1896-1914),  his  particular  genius  resided  in  his 
ability  to  employ  these  developments  in  novel  and  non-nationalist  ways. 
Petrov-Vodkin,  a  compatriot  of  Kandinsky  who  likewise  came  to  Munich  for 
artistic  training,  noted  that  Russians  went  to  the  Bavarian  capital  to  escape 
the  provincialism  of  their  homeland,  but  tended  to  fall  victim  to  "another 
provincialism— blind  following  of  German  modernism."  Fortunately,  Kan- 
dinsky took  from  Munich  those  innovations  which  he  considered  intrinsic 
to  art  and  man  in  general,  and  he  discarded  those  elements  which  he  deemed 
particularist  or  ephemeral.  The  conception  of  abstraction  as  a  spiritual  tran- 
scendence of  reality;  the  expressive  possibilities  of  line,  form  and  color  in 
themselves;  and  the  rich  potential  of  the  popular  arts— these  notions  were 
encouraged  by  Kandinsky's  Munich  experience.  As  a  foreigner,  however, 
Kandinsky  did  not  involve  himself  in  the  social  and  political  conflicts  of  the 
Munich  artistic  community.  Indeed,  much  of  what  he  saw— the  Center  Party's 
translation  of  faith  into  politics,  the  Jugendstil  use  of  art  for  political  satire, 
or  the  employment  of  folk  theater  for  racist  national  ends— confirmed  his  be- 
lief that  both  art  and  faith  had  become  degraded  in  the  modern  world. 

Turn-of-the-century  Munich  had  many  artistic  spokesmen  for  commu- 
nity and  transcendence,  but  Kandinsky  was  unique  in  that  he  advocated  spir- 


2-5 


itual  transcendence  in  order  to  reestablish  community  on  a  cosmopolitan, 
trans-national  and  universalist  scale.  He  employed  millenarian  themes  in  his 
masterpieces  of  1909-14  not  out  of  narrow  attachment  to  Christian  faith,  but 
rather  because  he  believed  that  the  Christian  apocalyptic  tradition— which 
had  long  been  the  inspiration  for  heresy— could  be  transformed  in  the  faith 
of  the  coming  "epoch  of  great  spirituality."  Likewise,  Kandinsky  turned  to 
Russian  and  Bavarian  folk  art  not  for  reasons  of  race  or  nationalism,  but 
rather  because  he  believed  that  it  expressed  a  fundamental  aesthetic  urge 
that  could  also  be  encountered  in  the  arts  of  Asia  and  Africa,  as  well  as  in 
the  works  of  his  modernist  colleagues  in  France,  Germany  and  Russia.  The 
Blane  Reiter  almanac  is  perhaps  the  greatest  monument  of  the  universalist 
urge  in  art. 

Such  universalism  must  always,  however,  have  roots  in  the  concrete  par- 
ticular. In  response  to  the  specific  political  and  social  nexus  of  liberalism  in 
Wilhelmine  Germany  and  Catholic  Bavaria,  Munich's  cultural  community 
accentuated  certain  formal  and  spiritual  dimensions  of  international  Art 
Nouveau  and  German  popular  culture.  The  particular  confluence  of  politics 
and  culture  in  Munich  threw  into  relief  those  dimensions  of  art  that  became 
the  building  blocks  of  Kandinsky's  prewar  style. 


z6 


Today— after  so  many  years— the  spiritual  atmosphere  in  that  beautiful  and, 
in  spite  of  everything,  nevertheless  dear  Munich  has  changed  fundamentally. 
The  then  so  loud  and  restless  Schwabing  has  become  still— not  a  single  sound 
is  heard  from  there.  Too  bad  about  beautiful  Munich  and  still  more  about 
the  somewhat  comical,  rather  eccentric  and  self-conscious  Schivabing,  in 
whose  streets  a  person— be  it  a  man  or  woman— ["a  Weibsbuild")— without 
a  palette,  or  without  a  canvas  or  ivithout  at  least  a  portfolio,  immediately 
attracted  attention.  Like  a  "stranger"  in  a  "country  town."  Everyone  painted 
. .  .  or  made  poetry,  or  music,  or  began  to  dance.  In  every  house  one  found  at 
least  two  ateliers  under  the  roof,  where  sometimes  not  so  much  was  painted, 
but  where  always  much  was  discussed,  disputed,  philosophized  and  diligently 
drunk  (which  was  more  dependent  on  the  state  of  the  pocketbook  than  on 
the  state  of  morals). 

"What  is  Schwabing?"  a  Berliner  once  asked  in  Munich. 

"It  is  the  northern  part  of  the  city,"  said  a  Munchner. 

"Not  a  bit,"  said  another,  "it  is  a  spiritual  state."  Which  was  more  correct. 

Schwabing  was  a  spiritual  island  in  the  great  world,  in  Germany,  mostly 
in  Munich  itself. 

There  1  lived  for  many  years.  There  1  painted  the  first  abstract  picture. 
There  I  concerned  myself  with  thoughts  about  "pure"  painting,  pure  art.  I 
sought  to  proceed  analytically,  to  discover  synthetic  connections,  dreamed 
of  the  coming  "great  synthesis,"  felt  myself  forced  to  share  my  ideas  not  only 
with  the  surrounding  island  but  with  people  beyond  this  island. .  .  . 

Kandinsky  to  Paul  Westheim,  1930 
Bauhaus,  Dessau 


*7 


KANDINSKY   IN   MUNICH: 

ENCOUNTERS   AND   TRANSFORMATIONS 

Peg  Weiss 


I       Munich:  Encounter  and  Apprenticeship 


I  wish  to  take  this  opportunity  to  ex- 
press my  gratitude  to  my  colleague  Pro- 
fessor Kenneth  C.  Lindsay  of  the  State 
University  of  Binghamton  at  Bingham- 
ton.  New  York,  for  his  thorough  read- 
ing of  this  manuscript  and  for  his  many 
helpful  suggestions. 
Due  to  limitations  of  space,  footnotes 
are  kept  to  a  minimum  in  the  present 
essay,  and  are  included  only  where 
absolutely  essential. 
Translations  from  the  German  are 
provided  by  the  author,  unless  other- 
wise noted. 

I.  Joseph  Campbell,  The  Hero  with  a 
Thousand  Faces,  New  York,  Meridian 
Books,  i960,  p.  337. 

z.  In  this  essay  I  have  tried  to  provide  a 
general  overview  of  Kandinsky's  Mu- 
nich years.  However,  for  a  far  more 
detailed  discussion  of  the  Jugendstil 
experience,  the  reader  is  referred  to  my 
book  Kandinsky  in  Munich:  The  For- 
mative  Jugendstil  Years,  Princeton, 
New  Jersey,  Princeton  University  Press, 
1979,  which  inspired  this  exhibition.  In 
the  present  restricted  space,  I  have  dis- 
cussed at  length  only  subjects  about 
which  new  information  has  come  to  my 
attention,  or  areas  not  covered  by  the 
book,  in  particular  Kandinsky's  associ- 
ation with  the  Neue  Kiinstlervereini- 
gung  Munchen  and  the  BLme  Reiter. 
Other  aspects  of  Kandinsky's  early 
period  are  discussed  by  Rose-Carol 
Washton  Long  in  Kandinsky:  The  De- 
velopment of  an  Abstract  Style,  Ox- 
ford, Clarendon  Press,  19S0,  and  by 
Jonathan  Fineherg  in  Kandinsky  in 
Paris,  1906-07,  Ph.D.  dissertation.  Har- 
vard University,  1975.  These  works,  as 
well  as  the  standard  biography  by  Will 
Grohmann,  Wassily  Kandinsky:  Life 
and  Work,  New  York,  Harry  N. 
Abrams,  1958,  should  be  consulted  for 
further  information.  With  the  gradual 
publication  of  further  documentation 
on  this  hitherto  little-known  area  of 


Kandinsky  arrived  in  Munich  to  begin  the  serious  study  of  art  in  1896.  Be- 
tween that  time  and  his  ultimate  departure  from  the  Bavarian  capital  in  1914 
at  the  outbreak  of  World  War  I,  he  precipitated  a  vast  sea  change  in  the  vis- 
ion and  vocabulary  of  modern  art.  His  historic  breakthrough  to  abstraction 
may  in  fact  be  seen  as  a  modern  apotropaic  act,  a  quintessentially  twentieth- 
century  exorcism  aimed  at  healing  a  civilization  paralyzed  into  complacency 
by  the  specters  of  unprecedented  social,  technological,  political  and  cultural 
changes.  In  his  art  and  in  his  writing  Kandinsky  thrust  a  metaphorical  coup 
de  grace  at  the  stranglehold  of  complacency  and  conservatism;  in  his  image 
of  the  Blue  Rider,  a  twentieth-century  St.  George,  he  had  created  an  emblem 
with  which  to  identify  himself  and  his  aims. 

In  The  Hero  with  a  Thousand  Faces  Joseph  Campbell  wrote:  "For  the 
mythological  hero  is  the  champion  not  of  things  become  but  of  things  becom- 
ing; the  dragon  to  be  slain  by  him  is  precisely  the  monster  of  the  status  quo: 
Holdfast,  the  keeper  of  the  past."1  No  better  description  could  be  found  of  the 
role  Kandinsky  was  to  play  in  the  history  of  modern  art.  The  conflict  between 
St.  George  and  the  dragon  became,  in  fact,  a  compelling  leitmotif  in  his  life's 
work.  In  the  art  of  the  twentieth  century  Kandinsky  himself  was  a  hero  of 
things  becoming,  of  encounter  and  transformation;  the  field  of  confrontation 
was  primarily  Munich  in  those  two  decades  at  the  century's  turn,  before  war, 
undeterred  by  the  conjurations  of  idealists,  tore  their  dreams  asunder. 

Kandinsky's  encounter  with  Munich  and  his  transformation  of  the  ele- 
ments he  found  there,  which  fueled  his  dramatic  breakthrough  to  abstrac- 
tion, form  the  subject  of  this  exhibition.2  The  magnitude  of  that  creative  leap 
can,  however,  only  be  suggested  in  what  must  necessarily  be  a  limited  selec- 
tion. Between  the  first  hesitant  works  of  the  student  and  the  brilliant  finale 
of  the  Campbell  murals  completed  on  the  eve  of  World  War  I,  lies  a  rich  vor- 
tex of  encounter,  experience  and  dream  which  can  merely  be  adumbrated 
here.  Nevertheless,  the  suggestion  alone  must  give  us  pause,  and  inspire  awe 
at  the  courage,  determination,  discipline  and  inspiration  of  this  artist,  whom 
Franz  Marc  described  as  a  man  "who  can  move  mountains." 

The  drastic  nature  of  the  transmutations  wrought  by  Kandinsky  may  be 
briefly  but  dramatically  previewed  in  a  series  of  comparisons  of  his  works 
with  others  by  artists  well  known  in  Munich  before  1900.  Hans  von  Marees, 
the  German  Puvis  de  Chavannes,  rediscovered  and  revered  by  turn-of-the- 


i8 


Kandinsky's  life,  it  will  be  possible  to 
reconstruct  a  more  complete  view  of 
his  early  development.  An  example  of 
this  new  material  is  the  Kandinsky- 
Schonberg  correspondence  which  has 
recently  appeared:  Jelena  Hahl-Koch, 
ed.,  Arnold  Schonberg—W  assily  Kan- 
dinsky:  Briefe,  Wilder  nnd  Dokumente 
einer  aussergewohnlichen  Begegming, 
Salzburg  and  Vienna,  Residenz  Verlag, 
1980.  Kandinsky's  published  writings 
are  now  available  for  the  first  time  in 
English:  Kenneth  C.  Lindsay  and  Peter 
Vergo,  eds.,  Kandinsky:  Complete 
Writings  on  Art,  Boston,  G.  K.  Hall, 
1982.  Since  the  Lindsay-Vergo  transla- 
tions were  in  press  at  the  time  of  writ- 
ing there  was  not  time  to  coordinate 
them  with  this  essay.  In  the  case  of 
Kandinsky's  Apollon  letters,  Professor 
Lindsay  kindly  allowed  me  to  check  a 
previous  translation  with  the  new 
translations  from  the  Russian  for  the 
sake  of  general  accuracy.  The  ex- 
tremely well-documented  edition  of 
the  writings  of  Paul  Klee  by  Christian 
Geelhaar  is  also  an  invaluable  source 
of  information  about  the  cultural  life, 
especially  the  music,  of  Munich  in  the 
early  years  of  this  century:  Paul  Klee: 
Scbriften,  Rezensionen  nnd  Anfsatze, 
Cologne,  DuMont  Buchverlag,  1976; 
Klee's  own  diary  and  his  recently  pub- 
lished correspondence  with  his  family 
are  other  valuable  sources:  Felix  Klee, 
ed.,  The  Diaries  of  Paid  Klee,  1898- 
1918,  Berkeley  and  Los  Angeles,  Uni- 
versity of  California  Press,  1968,  and 
Felix  Klee,  ed.,  Paul  Klee  Briefe  an  die 
Familie:  1893-1940,  Cologne,  DuMont, 
1979- 


fig.  1 

Hans  von  Marees 

St.  George.     1881 

Oil  (on  panel?) 

Collection  Bayerische  Staatsgemaldesamm- 

lungen,  Munich 


fig.  2 
Walter  Crane 

St.  George's  Battle  with  the  Dragon  or 

England's  Emblem,     ca.  1894 

Oil  on  canvas  (?) 

Present  location  unknown 


century  artists,  produced  several  versions  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon.  One 
of  these  (fig.  1),  a  pendent  to  his  great  triptych  of  saints  on  horseback  (St. 
George,  St.  Martin  and  St.  Hubertus),  was  installed  at  the  Bayerische  Konig- 
liche  Galerie  in  Schleissheim,  a  Munich  suburb,  before  1900.  Another  von 
Marees  St.  George  was  on  view  at  the  Nationalgalerie  in  Berlin  by  1889.  St. 
George's  Battle  with  the  Dragon  or  England's  Emblem,  ca.  1894  (fig.  2),  was 
the  clou  of  a  retrospective  of  the  work  of  Walter  Crane,  the  great  William 
Morris  disciple;  the  exhibition  toured  Germany,  including  Munich,  in  1896- 
97  and  St.  George's  Battle  was  widely  reproduced.  It  depicted  the  hero-saint 
charging  the  demon-protector  of  an  industrial  city,  anathema  to  Crane,  the 
idealist  social-reformer. 

Between  these  characteristically  nineteenth-century  representations  of  the 
saint  on  horseback  and  the  great  series  of  St.  George  images  created  by  Kan- 
dinsky from  1911  to  1913  (for  example,  cat.  nos.  318,  319,  323),  we  glimpse 
that  sea  change,  that  "thundering  collision  of  worlds,"  as  Kandinsky  would 


2-9 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

In  the  Black  Square.     1913 

Oil  on  canvas 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 

Museum,  New  York 


fig- 4 

Franz  von  Stuck 

The  Lost  Paradise  (Expulsion  from  the 

Garden)  (detail).     1897 

Oil  on  canvas 

Staatliche  Kunstsammlungen,  Galerie 

Neue  Meister,  Dresden 


define  painting  in  his  memoir  "Riickblicke"  ("Reminiscences").  The  momen- 
tum of  that  leap  would  carry  him  on  to  further  transformations  of  the  theme 
as  in  the  192.3  painting  /;;  the  Black  Square  (fig.  3)  and  still  further  to  Tem- 
pered Elan  of  1944. 

A  similarly  dramatic  transformation  is  apparent  in  a  series  of  paintings 
on  the  theme  of  the  Guardian  of  Paradise,  beginning  with  the  prize-winning 
canvas  of  1S89  of  that  title  by  Kandinsky's  teacher,  Franz  von  Stuck  (cat  no. 
51),  or  his  Expulsion  from  the  Garden  of  1897  (fig.  4).  Kandinsky's  guardian 
figures  in  Paradise  of  1909,  and  the  related  Improvisation  S  of  the  same  year 
(fig.  5)  already  inhabit  another  dimension.  The  distance  traversed  from  this 
dimension  to  the  transcendent  presence  in  his  1925  masterpiece  Yellow-Red- 
Blue  (fig.  6),  in  which  the  guardian  image  is  paired  with  a  cosmic  St.  George 
and  dragon,  now  transformed  into  blue  circle  and  whiplash  line,  represents  a 
leap  of  yet  another  magnitude. 


30 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

Improvisation  8.     1910 

Oil  on  canvas 

Private  Collection,  New  York 


fig.  6 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

Yellow-Red-Blue. 

Oil  on  canvas 

Private  Collection,  Paris 


192.5 


31 


By  the  time  of  Kandinsky's  arrival  in  1896,  Munich's  golden  age  had  already 
produced  Germany's  first  secessionist  movement  with  the  founding  of  the 
Munich  Secession  in  189Z  and  had  witnessed  the  birth  of  Germany's  version 
of  Art  Nouveau,  Jugendstil,  or  "style  of  youth."  These  two,  then,  Secession 
and  Jugendstil,  carried  the  banners  of  the  avant-garde  in  that  Isar-Athens 
during  the  last  uneasy  twilit  years  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  Secession 
was  composed  of  a  heterogeneous  group  of  artists  who  had  little  in  common 
except  the  need  to  establish  a  front  against  the  overwhelming  mediocrity  of 
the  numbingly  vast  exhibitions  staged  annually  by  the  old  Kiinstlcrgenossen- 
schaft  {Artists'  Society)  in  the  mammoth  spaces  of  the  Glaspalast  (cat.  no.  14), 
Munich's  answer  to  London's  Crystal  Palace.  Among  the  founders  of  the 
Secession  were  some  of  Germany's  strongest  and  most  progressive  artists: 
Peter  Behrens,  Lovis  Corinth,  Otto  Eckmann,  Thomas  Theodor  Heine,  Adolf 
Holzel,  Max  Liebermann,  Franz  Stuck,  Hans  Thoma,  Wilhelm  Triibner  and 
Fritz  von  Uhde.  (Foreign  members  included  Paul  Besnard,  Emile  Blanche, 
Eugene  Carriere  and  Giovanni  Segantini.)  Although  these  artists  represented 
a  stylistic  mix  ranging  from  academic  historicism  to  naturalism,  from  Im- 
pressionism to  Symbolism,  and  notably  lacked  programmatic  cohesion,  the 
strength  of  their  statement  created  shock  waves  which  resulted  within  a  few 
years  in  the  foundation  of  Secessions  in  Berlin  and  in  Vienna. 

On  the  other  hand,  Jugendstil,  stepchild  of  that  monumental  reform 
movement  in  applied  arts  set  in  motion  by  William  Morris  in  mid-century, 
had  not  only  a  cohesive  program,  but  a  momentum  of  then  unsuspected 
power.  It  harbored  within  it  the  seeds  of  the  altogether  new:  the  concept  of 
an  art  without  objects.  It  was  the  style  of  the  wavy  line,  dynamic  image  of 
energy,  whose  own  turgid  undertow  would  inevitably  bring  it  down,  but  on 
whose  crest  rode  the  daring  possibilities  of  an  entirely  new  art,  which,  indeed, 
it  prophesied.  Although  an  unofficial  movement,  several  members  of  the 
Secession  were  spokesmen  as  well  as  adherents.  The  names  of  Behrens,  Eck- 
mann, Heine  and  Stuck  all  were  to  become  inextricably  associated  with 
Jugendstil.  Indeed,  both  Behrens  and  Eckmann  converted  entirely,  giving  up 
careers  in  the  fine  arts  to  devote  themselves  to  the  Arts  and  Crafts  Movement 
and  to  the  ultimate  dream  of  the  Gesamtkunsticerk,  the  total  work  of  art. 

Thomas  Mann's  description  in  his  story  "Gladius  Dei"  of  Munich  at  the 
turn  of  the  century  as  a  radiant  center  of  the  arts  (see  p.  12)  came  close  to 
the  truth,  though  tinged  with  the  irony  of  his  story  whose  youthful  protag- 
onist saw  the  city  rather  as  a  modern  Gomorrah.  In  fact,  the  Jugendstil  cult 
of  line,  the  "bizarre"  architectural  ornament,  the  plethora  of  publications 
devoted  to  art,  especially  to  the  applied  arts,  abounded.  The  magazine  Jugend 
was  founded  in  1896,  just  in  time  to  lend  its  name  to  the  new  movement.  The 
young  architect  August  Endell  scandalized  the  city  that  year  with  his  designs 
for  the  Hofatelier  Elvira  (cat.  nos.  15-17,  50)  and  published  an  attack  on  the 
established  art  scene  in  the  form  of  a  pamphlet  called  On  Beauty,  a  Para- 
phrase on  the  Munich  Art  Exhibitions  of  1896  (cat.  no.  ^44)  in  which  he 
proclaimed:  "There  is  no  greater  error  than  the  belief  that  the  painstaking 
imitation  of  nature  is  art."  The  satirical  magazine  Simplicissimus,  which  was 


32. 


fig- 7 

Bernhard  Pankok 

Doorivay  Tapestry  with  Embroidered 
Abstract  Design  (detail),    ca.  1899 


Klaus  Lankheit,  "Die  Fruhromantik 
und  die  Grundlagen  der  gegenstands- 
losen  Malerei,"  Neue  Heidelberger 
Jahrbiicher,  Neue  Folge,  1957,  pp.  55- 
90;  Otto  Stelzer,  Die  Vorgescbichte  der 
Abstrakten  Kanst,  Denkmodelle  und 
Vor-Bilder,  Munich,  R.  Piper  &  Co., 
1964. 


to  publish  work  by  the  best  of  Munich's  Jugendstil  artists  and  poets,  made  its 
debut  the  same  year,  and  in  1897  the  magazine  Dekorative  Kunst,  devoted  to 
the  international  movement  in  the  applied  arts,  appeared.  EndelPs  mentor, 
the  sculptor  Hermann  Obrist,  who  had  already  attracted  attention  with  an 
unprecedented  exhibition  of  fanciful  and  monumental  embroideries,  was 
now  engaged  in  organizing  the  Vereinigten  Werkstatten  fiir  Kunst  im  Hand- 
werk  (United  Workshops  for  Art  in  Craft).  Walter  Crane's  retrospective  re- 
ceived a  warm  welcome,  as  did  a  competitive  exhibition  of  Art  Nouveau 
posters  which  included  the  work  of  Beardsley,  Toulouse-Lautrec  and  Grasset. 

Certain  characteristics  of  Jugendstil— its  arbitrary  play  with  line,  color 
and  form  at  the  expense  of  historical  or  naturalistic  reference;  its  tendency  to 
two-dimensionality,  its  messianic,  reforming  spirit;  and,  above  all,  its  striv- 
ing for  the  ideal  of  an  aesthetically  determined  environment— were  to  have 
significant  ramifications  for  the  art  of  the  twentieth  century.  Yet  these  char- 
acteristics were  born  of  a  long  development  out  of  the  art  of  the  previous 
century.  Jugendstil  found  much  of  its  theoretical  justification  and  inspiration 
in  German  Romanticism,  as  the  English  Arts  and  Crafts  Movement  had  found 
precedent  and  inspiration  in  the  work  of  Blake,  Palmer  and  even  Turner. 
Philipp  Otto  Runge's  yearning  for  a  great  synthesis  of  the  arts  in  the  ideal 
Gesamtknnstiverk,  Caspar  David  Friedrich's  inward-turning  eye  and  his 
identification  of  the  creative  act  with  cosmic  creation  were  fundamental  as- 
sumptions of  turn-of-the-century  Symbolist  art  and  theory.  Impressionist 
indifference  to  subject  matter  and  emphasis  on  technique  at  the  expense  of 
clarity,  Symbolist  emphasis  on  essence  and  idea  as  opposed  to  narrative  and 
description,  Post-Impressionist  separation  of  the  formal  elements  of  color  and 
line,  and  its  particular  concern  with  the  psychological  effects  of  these  elements 
—all  these  were  shared  and  extended  by  Jugendstil  art.3  But  it  was  primarily 
in  the  vision  of  an  aesthetically  determined  environment  that  the  adherents 
of  Jugendstil  sought  a  solution  to  the  crisis  which  had  existed  in  the  arts  from 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Detoured  into  meaningless  historicism 
and  empty  academicism,  art  was  perceived  as  having  become  estranged  from 
life.  The  arts  and  crafts  movement  proposed  to  bridge  the  gap  by  returning 
aesthetic  values  to  everyday  life  through  universal  reform  in  applied  arts, 
architecture  and  urban  planning.  Its  ambitions  were  Utopian  and  messianic; 
its  aim  was  to  raise  the  fundamental  quality  of  modern  life  by  means  of  an 
aesthetic  language  which  would  transcend  social  and  national  boundaries. 

In  Munich  the  acknowledged  leaders  of  the  Jugendstil  revolution  in  ap- 
plied arts  were  Obrist  and  Endell.  Among  other  prominent  artists  engaged 
in  the  movement  in  Munich  were  Richard  Riemerschmid,  Bernhard  Pankok 
and  Bruno  Paul  as  well  as  Behrens  and  Eckmann  (for  example,  figs.  7,  8,  cat. 
nos.  18-29).  Obrist  exemplified  the  ideal  Morrisean  artist-craftsman.  Bril- 
liant, highly  educated,  widely  traveled,  he  had  brought  the  new  style  with 
him  to  Munich  in  1894.  Filled  with  the  energy  of  the  zealous  reformer  and 
overflowing  with  ideas  and  talent,  he  soon  acted  to  present  his  message  to 
the  public  in  lectures,  publications  and  exhibitions,  in  the  foundation  of  the 
aforementioned  Vereinigten  Werkstdtten  fiir  Kunst  im  Handwerk  and,  some- 
what later,  in  an  extremely  influential  school.  The  environmental  revolution 


33 


fig.  8 

August  Endell 

Tapestry  with  Arrow  Design,     ca.  1897 

Executed  by  Ninni  Gulbranson.  Exhibited 

at  Glaspalast,  Munich,  1897 


4.  Cf.  Weiss,  pp.  13-34  and  passim,  in 
which  the  influence  of  the  psycholo- 
gist Theodor  Lipps  on  Obrist,  Endell 
and  other  artists  in  Kandinsky's  circle 
is  noted.  The  enormous  influence  of 
Lipps,  who  lectured  at  the  University 
in  Munich  from  1894  to  1913,  should 
be  the  subject  of  more  detailed  study 
in  the  future. 

5.  Endell's  letters  to  his  cousin  Kurt  Brey- 
sig  (now  in  the  Handschriftenabteilung 
of  the  Staatsbibliothek  Preussischer 
Kulturbesitz,  Berlin)  reveal  not  only 
his  indebtedness  to  Lipps,  but  the  fact 
that  his  ideas  on  the  possibility  of  a 
totally  abstract  art  which  is  not  derived 
from  nature  were,  already  by  1897, 
even  more  radically  advanced  than 
those  of  Obrist:  "Pure  form-art  is  my 


he  envisioned  would  be  based  on  radically  new  concepts  in  art  which  involved 
the  application  of  psychological  theories  of  perception  to  the  problems  of 
design.  He  went  far  beyond  Morris  in  terms  of  inventing  a  visual  vocabulary 
capable  of  moving  into  the  twentieth  century.'  Even  today,  in  their  radical 
abstraction,  Obrist's  drawings  (cat.  nos.  58-67)  convey  an  eerie  sense  of  his 
visionary  power.  Perhaps  no  other  artist  of  his  generation  moved  closer  to 
abstraction  before  the  turn  of  the  century.  Obrist's  conscious  exploitation  of 
abstract  form,  line  and  color  for  expressive  purposes  was  to  have  a  signifi- 
cant and  direct  effect  on  Kandinsky  who,  within  a  short  time,  was  to  become 
his  close  friend  and  admirer. 

Within  months  of  Kandinsky's  arrival  in  Munich,  Obrist's  young  disciple 
Endell  published  in  the  pages  of  Dekorative  Kunst  his  stunning  prophecy  of 
a  "totally  new  art,"  an  art  "with  forms  that  mean  nothing  and  represent 
nothing  and  recall  nothing,"  yet  which  will  excite  the  human  spirit  as  only 
music  had  previously  been  able  to  do.  Shortly  thereafter  he  elaborated  on 
his  prophecy,  naming  the  new  art  "Formkitnst,"  or  "form-art,"  and  stating 
that  the  time  was  soon  approaching  when  monuments  erected  on  public 
plazas  would  represent  neither  men  nor  animals,  but  rather  "fantasy  forms" 
to  delight  and  intoxicate  the  human  heart.'5  Undoubtedly  Endell's  words  had 
been  inspired  by  Obrist's  latest  work,  the  two  astonishing  abstract  plaster 
models  for  monuments  standing  ready  in  his  studio  by  that  time,  vainly  await- 
ing public  commissions:  the  Arch  Pillar,  of  which  only  a  photograph  survives 
today,  and  Motion  Study,  both  about  1895  (cat.  nos.  68,  70). 

Kandinsky's  encounter  with  the  idea  of  an  art  form  which  would  "move 
the  human  spirit"  without  reference  to  "anything  known,"  but  only  by  means 
of  a  manipulation  of  its  fundamental  elements  (line,  color,  form),  came  at  a 
crucial  and  formative  time  in  his  life.  Even  before  leaving  Russia,  however, 
he  had  become  aware  of  the  incredible  power  of  pure  color  in  the  discovery 
of  a  painting  of  a  haystack  by  Monet  (fig.  9)  at  an  exhibition  in  Moscow. 
As  Kandinsky  was  later  to  recall  in  his  memoir,  he  had  at  first  not  recognized 
the  subject  of  the  painting.  He  felt  embarrassed,  even  irritated  by  such  delib- 
erate obfuscation.  But,  when  the  painting  persisted  in  his  consciousness,  he 


54 


fig-  9 

Claude  Monet 

Haystack  in  the  Sun.     1891 

Oil  on  canvas 

Collection  Kunsthaus  Zurich 


dim 


.^)i«.\><  vJ.lV-1,11 


goal.  Away  with  every  association." 
See  also  the  essay  by  Tilmann  Budden- 
sieg,  "Zur  Friihzeit  von  August  Endell 
—seine  Miinchener  Briefe  an  Kurt 
Breysig,"  Festschrift  fiir  Editard  Trier, 
Berlin,  Gebr.  Mann  Verlag,  1981. 

6.  Wassily  Kandinsky,  "Riickblicke," 
Kandinsky,  1901-1913,  Berlin,  Der 
Sturm,  1913,  p.  IX.  Henceforth,  refer- 
ences to  this  work  will  be  noted  by 
page  number  directly  in  the  text. 

7.  Kandinsky,  Letter  to  Gabriele  Munter, 
25.5.04,  typescript  by  Johannes  Eich- 
ner  in  the  collection  of  Kenneth  C. 
Lindsay,  Binghamton,  New  York. 
Henceforth  the  Kandinsky-Miinter 
correspondence  in  the  Lindsay  collec- 
tion will  be  referred  to  as  Lindsay 
K/M  letters,  followed  by  their  dates. 


suddenly  realized  the  "hidden  power  of  the  palette,"  and  in  that  moment,  at 
a  subconscious  level,  it  was  borne  in  on  him  that  "the  object  as  an  inevitable 
element  of  a  picture"  had  been  "discredited."6 

As  Kandinsky  now  subjected  himself  for  the  first  time  to  the  discipline  of 
learning  the  fundamentals  of  painting,  this  awareness  of  new  possibilities  in 
artistic  expression  was  reinforced  by  his  encounters  with  prophecies  of  ab- 
straction in  Munich  Jugendstil.  Soon  he  was  assembling  notes  on  a  new 
"Farbenspracbe"  ("color-language"),  and  in  letters  to  his  friend  Gabriele 
Munter  would  before  long  refer  to  his  own  paintings  as  "color-composi- 
tions." By  the  spring  of  1904  he  was  ready  to  state  that  he  had  come  far  with 
his  "color-  language,"  and  that  ".  . .  the  way  lies  quite  clear  before  me.  With- 
out exaggerating,  I  can  maintain  that  if  I  solve  this  problem,  I  will  show 
painting  a  new,  beautiful  way  capable  of  infinite  development.  I  have  a  new 
route,  which  various  masters  have  only  guessed  at  here  and  there,  and  which 
will  be  recognized  sooner  or  later  ...  I  already  had  a  premonition  of  this 
whole  story  long  ago.  .  .  ."7 

The  idea  of  an  aesthetically  determined  environment  was  also  to  remain 
a  determining  force  in  Kandinsky's  life,  leading  eventually  to  his  association 
with  the  Bauhaus,  which  indeed  can  be  seen  as  the  twentieth-century  culmi- 
nation of  the  concepts  of  William  Morris.  From  his  encounter  with  Jugendstil 
principles  of  interior  design,  which  he  acknowledged  in  several  of  the  exhibi- 
tions he  organized  in  Munich,  to  his  own  designs  for  applied  arts  and  the 
decoration  of  furniture  for  his  house  in  Murnau,  and  ultimately  to  the  wall 
panels  he  painted  for  the  Campbell  foyer  in  1914,  he  demonstrated  the  sig- 
nificance he  attached  to  the  value  of  the  Gesamtkunstwerk  ideal.  This  ideal 
informed  as  well  Kandinsky's  concept  of  a  synthesis  of  all  the  arts  in  theater. 
As  he  had  come  from  Moscow  already  aware  of  the  potential  of  abstraction, 
so  too  the  dream  of  an  environment  integrated  by  art  was  one  Kandinsky  had 
brought  with  him  from  Russia,  and  for  which  he  found  confirmation  in  Mu- 
nich's Jugendstil  movement.  In  "Riickblicke"  he  described  his  excitement 
when,  during  an  anthropological  expedition  to  the  remote  Vologda  region 
of  Russia,  he  stepped  into  the  "magic"  houses  of  the  peasants  and  felt  himself 


35 


8.  Daniel  Wildenstein,  Claude  Monet: 
Biographie  et  catalogue  raisonne, 
Tome  III:  1887-1898  Peintures, 
Lausanne-Paris,  La  Bibliotheque  des 
Arts,  T979,  no.  1288,  Mettle  au  Soleil. 
John  Bowlt  suggests  that  Kandinsky 
may  have  seen  a  Monet  painting  in 
Moscow  in  1891,  citing  a  report  writ- 
ten in  193 1  by  the  poet  Belyi  (John  E. 
Bowlt  and  Rose-Carol  Washton  Long, 
The  Life  of  Vasilii  Kandinsky  in  Rus- 
sian Art:  A  Study  of  "On  the  Spiritual 
in  Art,"  Newtonville,  Massachusetts, 
Oriental  Research  Partners,  1980,  p. 
36,  n.  z8).  However,  no  catalogue  evi- 
dence is  cited  to  support  this  report. 

9.  Kandinsky,  untitled  introduction  to 
catalogue  Kandinsky  Kollektiv- 
Aitsstellung  1902-1912,  Munich,  Ver- 
lag  "Neue  Kunst"  Hans  Goltz,  1912, 
pp.  1-2. 


surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  brightly  decorated  furniture,  votive  pictures 
and  candles.  "It  taught  me,"  he  wrote,  "to  move  in  the  painting,  to  live  in  the 
picture."  He  compared  the  force  of  this  experience  to  the  impact  of  the  great 
cathedrals  of  the  Kremlin  and  of  the  Rococo  Catholic  churches  of  Bavaria 
and  Tyrol  (p.  xiv).  By  the  turn  of  the  century  he  was  already  deeply  involved 
in  the  applied-arts  movement,  forming  professional  associations  with  Obrist 
and  Behrens,  and  joining  Munich's  Vereinigung  fiir  atigewandte  Kunst  (Soci- 
ety for  Applied  Arts). 

At  the  age  of  thirty  Kandinsky  came  late  to  the  discipline  of  art.  He  had 
already  successfully  terminated  a  university  education  in  law  and  economics, 
passing  his  examinations  in  1892.  He  had,  he  recalled  in  "Riickblicke,"  con- 
sciously subordinated  his  inner  wishes  to  the  strictures  of  society,  accepting 
the  responsibility  he  felt  imposed  upon  him  to  become  a  self-supporting  mem- 
ber of  the  family  and  of  society  (p.  vm).  Yet,  clearly,  he  had  always  been 
attracted  to  art,  and  as  a  child  had  shown  unusual  talent.  Now,  in  1896, 
although  married  and  at  the  threshold  of  a  promising  career  with  the  offer 
of  a  teaching  position  at  the  University  of  Dorpat,  events  conspired  to  change 
his  life  once  and  for  all.  By  his  own  account,  he  had  worked  the  previous  year 
as  a  director  in  a  prominent  Moscow  art-printing  firm.  Although  his  ostens- 
ible purpose  had  been  to  put  his  economic  theories  to  practical  test  as  a 
worker,  the  actual  result  was  to  confirm  his  yearning  to  become  an  artist 
himself.  The  overwhelming  experience  of  the  Monet  haystack  painting  may 
also  have  had  its  catalytic  effect  at  about  this  time,  for  the  only  Monet  hay- 
stack documented  as  having  been  exhibited  in  Moscow  during  this  period 
was  included  in  an  exhibition  of  French  art  which  toured  to  St.  Petersburg 
and  Moscow  in  1896  and  1897. 8  It  is  tempting,  although  pure  speculation, 
to  wonder  whether  the  premiere  of  Chekhov's  The  Sea  Gull  at  St.  Petersburg 
in  October  of  1896  may  also  have  influenced  Kandinsky's  momentous  deci- 
sion. Certainly  its  depiction  of  tragically  stifled  artistic  creativity  would  have 
provided  another  catalyst  had  one  been  needed.  In  any  case,  as  Kandinsky 
later  recalled,  at  the  age  of  thirty  the  compelling  thought  "overtook"  him: 
"now  or  never."9 

In  looking  back  to  his  years  as  a  student,  Kandinsky  particularly  noted 
the  encouragement  and  freedom  offered  by  his  two  teachers,  Anton  Azbe  and 
Franz  von  Stuck.  At  the  same  time  he  remembered  the  inner  turmoil  and  con- 
flict which  accompanied  those  years  of  apprenticeship.  Azbe  and  Stuck  rep- 
resented the  dualism  inherent  in  the  art  of  the  turn  of  the  century.  Azbe, 
despite  his  bohemian  demeanor  and  liberal  pedagogical  approach,  exempli- 
fied the  traditions  of  naturalism  that  had  evolved  by  then  into  an  Impression- 
ist apprehension  of  reality.  Stuck,  paradoxically,  a  master  of  the  otherwise 
conservative  Munich  Academy,  was  actually  much  closer  to  Jugendstil.  He 
represented  that  peculiarly  Germanic  hybrid  of  "naturalistic  Symbolism"  or 
"Symbolist  naturalism"  of  which  both  Bocklin  and  Klinger  were  superior  ex- 
ponents. This  dualism,  encompassing  the  poles  of  naturalistic  Impressionism 
and  a  lyric  Symbolism,  was  to  be  reflected  in  Kandinsky's  own  development. 
It  was  a  source  of  deep  inner  conflict  and,  at  the  same  time,  helped  to  spur 
his  progression  toward  abstraction. 


36 


fig.  IO 

Studio  of  Anton  A'zbe.     ca.  1890 
Courtesy  Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana 


10..  Kandinsky,  "Betrachtungen  iiber  die 
abstrakte  Kunst,"  in  Essays  iiber  Knnst 
nnd  Kiinstler,  ed.  Max  Bill,  Bern, 
Benteli-Verlag,  1963,  p.  150.  Kandinsky 
also  enrolled  twice  in  Academy  courses 
on  anatomy  with  Professor  Molliet; 
he  later  claimed  that  the  teaching  was 
of  poor  quality.  See  also  Johannes 
Eichner,  Kandinsky  und  Cabriele 
Mtinter,  von  Urspriingen  moderner 
Kunst,  Munich,  Verlag  Bruckmann, 
1957,  p.  58. 


Class  in  the  Anton  Azbe  School,     ca. 

i895 

Azbe  center,  with  top  hat  and  cigar,  hand 

on  shoulder  of  Richard  Jacopic;  Igor 

Grabar  top  row,  second  from  right 

Courtesy  Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana 


Azbe,  although  not  associated  with  the  Academy,  was  highly  respected 
for  his  virtuoso  technique  and  beloved  as  a  teacher.  Tiny  in  physical  stature, 
yet  he  was  already  in  the  nineties  a  monumental  legendary  figure  within 
Munich's  bohemian  quarter,  Schwabing.  Stuck,  on  the  other  hand,  a  frequent 
gold  medal  winner  at  the  annual  Glaspalast  exhibitions  and  a  founding  mem- 
ber of  the  Munich  Secession,  was  already  professor  at  the  Academy  by  1895, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-two.  In  contrast  to  the  almost  comical  Azbe,  Stuck  was  a 
fine  figure  of  a  man  (as  he  made  sure  to  dramatize  in  his  numerous  self- 
portraits,  for  example,  cat.  no.  86),  and  he  had  assured  himself  social  posi- 
tion to  match  his  artistic  stature  by  marrying  a  wealthy  American  widow 
and  building  himself  a  palatial  villa  on  a  commanding  site  above  the  banks 
of  the  Isar  River.  While  Azbe  died  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  worn  out  by  the 
conflicting  demands  of  his  talent  and  the  restrictions  of  his  existence  as  an 
outsider,  as  well  as  by  his  addiction  to  alcohol,  Stuck  outlived  his  own  fame, 
still  honored  in  the  1920s,  but  by  a  somewhat  bemused  public  uncertain  as 
to  why  he  had  once  been  so  sought  after  and  admired. 

From  Azbe,  Kandinsky  learned  the  basics  of  anatomical  drawing  and 
easel  painting;  yet  his  most  distinct  memory  of  Azbe's  pedagogy  was:  "you 
must  learn  anatomy,  but  before  the  easel,  you  must  forget  it."10  Typically, 
Kandinsky  subjected  himself  to  this  discipline  with  a  patient  determination, 
even  though  he  found  the  crowded  atelier  and  the  insensitivity  he  felt 
amongst  the  younger  students  irksome  (figs.  10,  1 1).  In  his  early  wash  studies 
from  the  nude  (cat.  nos.  76-78),  we  can  observe  what  he  called  the  "play 


37 


fig.  12 

Franz  von  Stuck 

Sketches  for  Furniture  for  the  Stuck  Villa. 
ca.  1898 

Pencil,  pen  and  tusche  on  yellowish  paper 
Private  Collection 


of  lines"  which  fascinated  him  more  than  the  scrupulous  imitation  of  nature 
(p.  xx).  As  was  often  to  be  the  case  in  Kandinsky's  career,  his  progress  was 
a  process  of  encounter  and  transformation.  In  conflict  with  what  he  termed 
the  stifling  air  of  the  atelier,  Kandinsky  often  skipped  school,  escaping  in- 
stead to  the  English  Garden  or  the  rural  environs  of  Munich  to  make  his  first 
oil  studies  from  nature,  using  the  palette  knife  recommended  by  Az.be  (cat. 
nos.  80,  81).  In  these  studies  he  could  experiment  with  the  color  theories 
taught  by  Azbe,  who  encouraged  his  students  to  employ  the  divisionist  tech- 
nique developed  by  the  Impressionists,  whereby  pure  colors  influence  each 
other  on  the  canvas.  Azbe  himself  practiced  a  modified  Impressionism,  but 
his  works  display  as  well  a  sensitivity  to  Symbolist  form  and  color.  The  tech- 
nical virtuosity  that  made  him  a  minor  master  on  the  Munich  scene  is  appar- 
ent in  paintings  such  as  Self -Portrait,  1886,  Half-Nude  Woman,  1888,  and 
Portrait  of  a  Negress,  1895  (cat.  nos.  73-75). 

Kandinsky  observed  in  "Riickblicke"  that  in  Munich  in  the  nineties, 
Stuck  was  considered  Germany's  "first  draftsman"  (p.  xxn).  Therefore,  as 
the  next  step  in  his  self-imposed  program  of  art  education,  after  two  years 
of  study  with  Azbe,  Kandinsky  conscientiously  presented  himself  to  Stuck. 
As  he  ruefully  acknowledged  in  his  memoir,  Stuck  turned  him  away  with 
the  suggestion  that  he  spend  a  year  in  a  drawing  class  at  the  Academy.  How- 
ever, he  failed  the  Academy's  entrance  exam.  Despite  what  to  a  sensitive 
though  determined  spirit  must  have  seemed  a  bitter  blow,  Kandinsky  resolved 
to  work  out  his  problems  alone.  On  his  next  application  to  Stuck,  this  time 
with  examples  of  sketches  for  paintings  and  a  few  landscape  studies,  he  was 
accepted  with  the  compliment  that  his  drawing  had  become  "expressive." 
But  the  master  objected  strenuously  to  what  he  called  Kandinsky's  "extrava- 
gances" with  color,  and  admonished  him  to  work  for  a  time  in  black  and 
white;  this  advice  may  well  have  caused  Kandinsky  to  begin  his  nearly  obses- 
sive study  of  positive  and  negative  space,  resulting  eventually  in  his  first  color 
drawings  on  black  ground  and  his  first  woodcuts. 

Kandinsky  was  struck  by  two  characteristic  attitudes  of  Stuck,  which  he 
found  extremely  beneficial.  One  was  what  he  perceived  as  Stuck's  instinctive 
sensitivity  to  form  and  the  "flowing  into  one  another"  of  forms;  the  other  was 
a  deep  feeling  of  responsibility  and  obligation  to  the  artistic  muse  which  he 
communicated  to  his  students.  According  to  Kandinsky,  Stuck  cured  him  of 
a  helpless  sense  of  insecurity  and  enabled  him  for  the  first  time  to  bring  a 
compositional  concept  to  a  satisfying  conclusion  (p.  xxn).  Stuck's  commit- 
ment to  the  ideal  of  the  aesthetically  determined  environment  was  also  of 
significance  for  Kandinsky.  His  own  villa  (cat.  no.  88),  constructed  during 
Kandinsky's  first  years  in  Munich,  was  a  remarkable  example  of  the  Gesamt- 
kitnstwerk.  Stuck  had  taken  immense  delight  in  designing  every  element  of 
the  house,  from  its  basic  architectural  plan  to  the  murals,  prize-winning  fur- 
niture, silverware,  lighting  and  other  details  (fig.  12).  Many  of  his  pictures 
were  as  much  objects  of  applied  art  as  they  were  paintings.  His  famous  and 
extremely  popular  portrait  of  Sin  (fig.  13)  was  adorned  with  a  specially 
designed  architectural  frame,  and  eventually  became  the  centerpiece  of  an 
altar  in  the  artist's  atelier. 


38 


fig- 13 

Franz  von  Stuck 

Sin.     ca.  1893 

Oil  on  canvas 

Bayerische  Staatsgemaldesammlungen, 

Munich 


Stuck's  eclecticism  and  freedom,  indeed  the  very  ambiguity  at  the  root 
of  his  art,  contributed  to  his  popularity  amongst  students  and  public  alike. 
While  Kandinsky  was  a  member  of  Stuck's  atelier,  Paul  Klee,  Ernst  Stern, 
Alexander  von  Salzmann,  Albert  Weisgerber  and  Hans  Purrmann  were  also 
students  there.  (Klee  depicted  a  student  approaching  the  famous  Stuck  villa 
in  a  humorously  disrespectful  drawing  [fig.  14]).  Eugen  Kahler,  who  was  later 
to  become  associated  with  Kandinsky,  and  Hermann  Haller,  a  friend  of  Klee, 
studied  with  Stuck  just  after  the  turn  of  the  century.  Although  the  limitations 
of  Stuck's  turgid  personal  style  were  clear  to  Kandinsky,  many  of  his  teacher's 
striking  images,  Jugendstil  transformations  of  traditional  symbols,  were  to 
make  a  lasting  impression  upon  him.  Not  only  the  guardian  of  paradise,  but 
also  the  serpent-symbol  of  evil,  the  mysterious  horseman  and  the  Grecian 
warrior  who  symbolized  the  avant-garde  were  to  figure  in  Kandinsky's  own 
work  (cat.  nos.  8z,  83,  93,  94). 

After  a  year  at  Stuck's  atelier,  however,  Kandinsky  realized  that  the  time 
had  come  to  liberate  himself  from  apprenticeship.  By  the  late  fall  of  1900 
Kandinsky  was  approaching  his  thirty-fourth  birthday.  Once  again  he  must 
have  felt  a  sense  of  urgency;  time  was  passing  and  he  recognized  that  his 
dream  was  still  far  away.  Courageously  now  he  struck  out  on  his  own. 


ng.  14 

Paul  Klee 

Drawing  of  the  Stuck  Villa,  Munich,  from 
letter  dated  April  20,  1900 
India  ink  on  paper 
Collection  Felix  Klee,  Bern 


39 


II     Phalanx:  Encounter  with  Avant-Garde 


ii.  Another  Kandinsky  associate,  Gustav 
Freytag,  later  recalled  that  it  was 
Hecker  who  introduced  him  to  Kan- 
dinsky sometime  during  the  winter  of 
1900—01;  therefore,  Kandinsky  obvi- 
ously knew  Hecker  prior  to  that.  See 
"Erinnerungen  von  Gustav  Freytag" 
in  Hans  Konrad  Rothel,  Kandinsky: 
Das  graphiscbe  Werk,  Cologne,  Du- 
Mont  Schauberg,  1970,  p.  419. 

12.  Ernest  Stern,  My  Life,  My  Stage,  Lon- 
don, Victor  Golljncz  Ltd.,  195 1,  p.  z8. 


Kandinsky  was  not  without  friends  during  those  early  years  of  struggle.  In 
addition  to  the  Russians  he  had  met  at  Azbe's  studio  (Marianne  von  Werefkin 
and  Alexej  Jawlensky),  he  also  knew  Ernst  Stern,  Stuck's  atelier  assistant, 
who  shared  an  apartment  with  another  of  Kandinsky's  Russian  friends,  Alex- 
ander von  Salzmann.  Perhaps  through  Stern  he  had  already  met  Waldemar 
Hecker,  the  puppeteer,  and  Wilhelm  Hiisgen,  the  sculptor,  with  whom  Hecker 
shared  a  studio."  At  about  the  time  Kandinsky  left  Stuck's  studio,  Hecker, 
Hiisgen  and  Stern  were  participating  in  the  organization  of  what  was  to  be- 
come Germany's  most  famous  literary  and  artistic  cabaret,  the  Elf  Schar- 
frichter  {Eleven  Executioners).  During  the  same  period  they  also  became 
involved  with  Kandinsky  in  plans  to  organize  a  new  artists'  society,  one 
which  would  provide  exhibition  opportunities  not  available  to  younger  artists 
or  to  those  outsiders  not  acceptable  to  the  Kunstlerverein  or  the  Secession. 
The  group  was  to  be  called  the  Phalanx,  symbolizing  the  avant-garde  ideals 
it  shared  with  the  Elf  Scbarfricbter,  whose  own  name  was  intended,  as  Stern 
aptly  explained,  "to  suggest  that  judgement  was  sharp  and  execution  sum- 
mary in  the  battle  against  reaction  and  obscurantism."12 

The  first  performance  of  the  Elf  Scbarfricbter  took  place  in  April  of  1901, 
and  by  the  end  of  May  arrangements  had  been  made  to  announce  the  found- 
ing of  the  Phalanx  society.  In  August  the  first  Phalanx  exhibition  opened  with 
works  by  Kandinsky,  von  Salzmann  and  three  participants  in  the  Elf  Scbar- 
fricbter: Hecker,  Hiisgen  and  Stern.  Kandinsky  had  designed  the  poster  which 
announced  the  exhibition,  adapting  the  Jugendstil  imagery  and  style  of 
Stuck's  famous  poster  for  the  Munich  Secession  to  produce  a  work  of  de- 
cidedly more  refinement  and  subtlety  (cat.  nos.  93,  94). 

The  conjunction  of  the  founding  of  the  Phalanx  with  the  beginnings  of 
the  Elf  Scbarfricbter  and  the  personal  ties  among  the  participants  in  the  two 
enterprises  are  significant.  They  indicate  that  from  the  very  outset  of  his  pub- 
lic career  Kandinsky  not  only  stood  with  the  avant-garde,  but  that  he  was 
deeply  conscious  of  the  social  responsibility  of  art,  and  much  interested  in 
the  lyric  and  performing  arts  as  vehicles  for  expression  of  that  high  obliga- 
tion. He  was  never  to  shirk  encounter  and  conflict,  recognizing  in  them  the 
potential  for  social  reform  and  transformation. 

The  avant-garde  quality  of  the  first  Phalanx  exhibition  was  instantly 
attacked  by  a  local  reviewer  in  the  pages  of  Kanst  fiir  Alle:  "The  whole  [exhi- 
bition] stands  much  too  much  under  the  sign  of  caricature  and  the  hyper- 
modern."  Indeed,  in  consideration  of  the  radical  combination  of  the  genres 
represented,  even  today  we  are  struck  with  the  daring  of  the  conception. 
Included  were  masks  by  Hiisgen  and  marionettes  by  Hecker  for  the  Elf 
Scbarfricbter,  graphics  by  the  first  Phalanx  president,  Rolf  Niczky,  decora- 
tive work  by  von  Salzmann  and  Stern  (cat.  nos.  99,  96a-g,  98,  100),  both  of 
whom  were  to  become  distinguished  theater  designers.  Unidentified  works 
by  Kandinsky  and  paintings  by  artists  who  had  exhibited  previously  with 
the  Secession  and  the  splinter  group  known  as  the  Lnitpoldgriippe  were 
also  shown. 


40 


13.  See  the  excellent  discussion  of  this  de- 
velopment by  Peter  Jelavich,  "Die  Elf 
Scharfrichter:  The  Political  and  Socio- 
cultural  Dimensions  of  Cabaret  in 
Wilhelmine  Germany,"  The  Turn  of 
the  Century:  German  Literature  and 
Art  1890-1914,  eds.  Gerald  Chappie 
and  Hans  Schulte,  Bonn,  1980;  also 
see  Jelavich,  Theater  in  Munich  1890- 
192.4:  A  Study  of  the  Social  Origins  of 
Modernist  Culture,  Ph.D.  dissertation, 
Princeton  University,  1981. 

14.  Stern,  p.  27. 


The  inclusion  of  the  Elf  Scharfrichter  material  in  the  first  Phalanx  exhi- 
bition is  another  indication  of  the  liberal  nature  of  Kandinsky's  intellectual 
character  and  of  his  abiding  belief  in  the  possibility  of  social  reform  through 
art.  As  Peter  Jelavich  has  pointed  out,  the  intellectuals'  espousal  at  this  time 
of  the  cabaret  medium  as  an  appropriate,  indeed  preferred,  form  and  forum 
for  the  expression  of  ideas  was  to  have  significant  ramifications  for  twentieth- 
century  culture.  The  appearance  of  the  political  cabaret  in  Germany  was  the 
direct  result  of  the  Lex  Heinze,  a  repressive  censorship  bill  that  had  been 
introduced  in  the  Prussian  legislature  in  1900.  The  furious  debate  it  engen- 
dered precipitated  the  founding  of  Ernst  von  Wolzogen's  Uberbrettl  cabaret 
and  Max  Reinhardt's  Schall  nnd  Ranch  in  Berlin  and  the  Elf  Scharfrichter  in 
Munich,  all  within  weeks  of  each  other.13  It  is  interesting  to  note,  as  Jelavich 
has  also  remarked,  that  this  concern  with  the  variete  form  paralleled  the 
movement  in  the  visual  arts  to  integrate  artistic  expression  with  life.  At  the 
turn  of  the  century,  the  writer  Julius  Otto  Bierbaum  had  already  identified 
the  cabaret  with  the  Arts  and  Crafts  Movement,  calling  for  an  "angewandte 
Lyrik,"  an  "applied  lyric." 

The  leading  members  of  the  Elf  Scharfrichter  were  Marc  Henry,  a  French- 
man concerned  with  promoting  the  cause  of  international  cultural  exchange 
and  friendship,  and  Marya  Delvard,  whose  exotic  beauty  was  captured  by 
the  Simplicissimus  caricaturist  Thomas  Theodor  Heine  in  his  famous  poster 
for  the  Elf  Scharfrichter  (cat.  no.  95).  A  decade  later  her  features  were  to  be 
memorialized  in  The  Green  Dress,  1913  (cat.  no.  97),  a  painting  by  the  Amer- 
ican artist  Albert  Bloch,  whose  works  were  included  in  Kandinsky's  Blaite 
Reiter  (Blue  Rider)  exhibitions.  One  of  the  most  famous  members  of  the  Elf 
Scharfrichter  was  the  Munich  dramatist  Frank  Wedekind.  Hiisgen  fashioned 
masks  for  all  of  the  Elf  Scharfrichter,  including  one  for  Wedekind  which  was 
shown  in  the  second  Phalanx  exhibition  the  following  winter  (cat.  no.  99). 
At  about  the  same  time,  Phalanx  president  Niczky  designed  a  poster  to  ad- 
vertise the  Lyrisches  Theater  (cat.  no.  98),  which  had  been  founded  by  an 
early  member  of  the  Elf  Scharfrichter. 

Stern's  contribution  to  the  Elf  Scharfrichter  must  have  been  of  acute  in- 
terest to  Kandinsky.  According  to  Stern's  own  memoir,  he  was  hired  by  the 
cabaret  to  do  what  he  called  "rhythmical  drawing."  He  recalled:  "I  was  pro- 
vided with  charcoal  and  a  huge  sheet  of  paper  six  foot  by  four,  and  as  the 
music  played  so  I  sketched  whatever  the  music  suggested  to  me.  Not  only 
that,  but  my  lines  moved  in  time  with  the  music:  to  a  waltz  they  moved  grace- 
fully; to  a  polka  they  moved  jerkily;  to  a  march  they  went  smartly,  and  so  on. 
As  soon  as  one  sketch  was  completed  the  sheet  was  torn  away  and  another 
one  was  ready  beneath  it  for  the  next  attempt."1'  Kandinsky,  who  was  al- 
ready deeply  concerned  with  the  idea  of  placing  the  effects  of  synaesthesia  at 
the  service  of  the  new  way  he  foresaw  in  art,  must  have  been  greatly  im- 
pressed by  this  cabaret  act.  He  would  eventually  devote  a  whole  chapter  to 
"color-language"  in  his  treatise  Uber  das  Geistige  in  der  Knnst  (Concerning 
the  Spiritual  in  Art),  discussing  at  length  the  relationships  between  colors  and 
musical  instruments,  rhythms  and  tones.  He  subsequently  noted  in  "Riick- 
blicke"  how  music  had  always  called  forth  colorful  visual  imagery  in  his 


4i 


15-  Translated  in  Lindsay  and  Vergo.  It  is 
important  to  remember  that,  although 
Kandinsky's  Munich  experience  is  em- 
phasized here,  he  always  maintained 
close  ties  with  Russia,  through  visits, 
exhibitions  and  publications.  (Com- 
pare Eichner,  Lindsay,  Bowlt  and 
Washton  Long,  and  Donald  E.  Gordon, 
Modern  Art  Exhibitions  i<)oo-i<)i6, 
Munich,  Prestel  Verlag,  1974.) 


mind.  Later  in  Russia  he  would  develop  an  experimental  workshop  devoted 
to  the  study  of  synaesthesia  and  the  psychology  of  perception. 

During  those  same  months  in  which  he  took  part  in  the  establishment  of 
the  Phalanx,  Kandinsky  had  been  at  work  on  his  first  art  review  for  publica- 
tion. This  review  appeared  in  the  Russian  periodical  Novosti  dnia  on  April 
17,  1901.°  In  the  first  year  of  the  new  century,  then,  his  own  thirty-fifth  year, 
Kandinsky  had  clearly  made  the  conscious  decision  to  take  an  active  role  in 
public  life.  His  activity  at  this  time  was  manifestly  representative  of  a  behav- 
ior pattern  that  was  always  to  distinguish  his  career:  painting  and  publica- 
tion, art  and  activism  were  to  proceed  hand  in  hand. 

Over  the  next  three  and  a  half  years  a  dozen  exhibitions  under  the  aegis 
of  the  Phalanx  took  place,  and  soon  after  the  group  was  formed,  a  school  of 
the  same  name  was  founded  (here  Kandinsky  taught  painting  and  Hecker 
and  Hiisgen  taught  sculpture).  A  review  of  the  participants  in  these  exhibi- 
tions reveals  not  only  the  avant-garde  attitude  of  the  leader  of  the  Phalanx, 
but  also  the  two  artistic  strains  which  were  in  conflict  in  his  mind  and  work 
during  this  period:  naturalistic  Impressionism  and  lyric  Symbolism  (Jugend- 
stil).  Kandinsky  would  search  for  a  rapprochement  between  these  two 
tendencies  for  the  next  several  years.  Both  directions  were  represented  in 
exhibitions  of  the  Phalanx  but,  more  often  than  not,  the  lyric  Symbolist  or 
Jugendstil  works  outnumbered  the  others.  This  preponderance  was  mirrored 
in  Kandinsky's  own  work,  as  he  exhibited  more  and  more  of  his  decorative 
designs  and  woodcuts,  becoming  ever  more  preoccupied  with  this  form. 

If  integration  of  everyday  life  and  dramatic  expression  in  the  form  of  the 
cabaret  was  the  major  subject  of  the  first  Phalanx  exhibition,  the  idea  of 
transforming  life  itself  into  the  ideal  Gesamtkttnstiverk  was  the  theme  of  the 
second.  This  extraordinarily  large  exhibition  (it  included  131  works)  was 
almost  entirely  devoted  to  the  Jugendstil  Arts  and  Crafts  Movement,  with  ad- 
ditional works  by  one  of  Germany's  leading  Symbolist  painters,  Ludwig  von 
Hoffman.  On  the  occasion  of  this  exhibition,  Kandinsky,  now  president  of 
Phalanx,  associated  himself  once  again  with  an  avant-garde  event.  This  was 
the  opening,  in  the  summer  of  1901,  of  the  Darmstadt  Kihistlerkolonie  (Art- 
ists' Colony),  the  most  important  Jugendstil  exhibition  of  its  time.  Within 
months  of  the  opening,  Kandinsky  had  invited  its  major  artists  to  exhibit 
examples  of  their  applied  arts  with  Phalanx.  Furthermore,  he  included  crafts 
by  members  of  the  Vereinigten  Werkstatten  fiir  Kitnst  im  Handwerk  and  by 
a  number  of  independent  craftsmen,  such  as  Emmy  von  Egidy,  an  Obrist 
student  (cat.  nos.  128,  129).  Kandinsky  himself  exhibited  four  decorative  de- 
signs, including  Twilight,  1901  (cat.  no.  184),  significantly,  one  of  his  first 
fully  developed  crusader-horseman  images. 

The  direct  relationship  between  the  possibilities  of  abstraction  in  paint- 
ing and  the  exploitation  of  abstract  ornament  in  Jugendstil  was  especially 
evident  in  the  work  of  two  of  the  most  productive  and  significant  artists  of 
the  Kihistlerkolonie,  Peter  Behrens  and  Hans  Christiansen.  Behrens,  a  found- 
ing member  of  the  Munich  Secession,  had  by  1900  given  up  painting  to  de- 
vote himself  entirely  to  architecture  and  the  applied  arts.  His  woodcuts  of 
the  1890s,  such  as  The  Kiss  (cat.  no.  126),  had  already  indicated  his  facility 


4* 


fig- 15 

Hans  Christiansen 

Landscape  with  Trees.     1899 

Stained-glass  window 

Collection  Hessisches  Landesmuseum, 

Darmstadt 


with  decorative  design.  But  in  the  monumental  banners  Behrens  devised  for 
the  home  he  designed  for  himself  at  the  Kiinstlerkolonie  (cat.  no.  ioa-b)  this 
abstract  lyric  mode,  significantly  expressed  in  paint  on  canvas,  implied  far 
more  serious  intentions. 

In  the  case  of  Christiansen,  an  ambiguity  of  artistic  intention  persisted 
in  his  lifelong  loyalty  to  both  applied  arts  and  painting;  this  ambiguity  is  per- 
haps most  poignantly  conveyed  in  his  beautiful  designs  for  stained-glass 
windows  (fig.  15).  In  fact,  the  saturated  color  and  opportunities  for  formal 
abstraction  offered  by  the  stained-glass  medium  were  irresistible  to  many 
artists  of  Christiansen's  generation.  To  what  degree  the  example  of  stained 
glass  influenced  Kandinsky's  development  perhaps  cannot  be  accurately  as- 
sessed at  present,  but  even  at  that  time  critics  compared  the  color  effects  of 
his  woodcuts  to  those  of  stained  glass.  (The  implications  of  stained  glass  for 
the  development  of  abstract  art  in  general  require  further  study,  but  are 
clearly  evident,  for  example,  in  the  work  of  Adolf  Holzel,  who  eventually 
devoted  himself  entirely  to  that  medium  in  his  search  for  what  he  called  an 
"absolute"  painting.) 

In  the  second  Phalanx  exhibition,  Christiansen  showed  ten  tapestries, 
thirteen  ceramic  vases,  three  large  carpets,  six  embroidered  cushions  and  a 
number  of  table  linens  and  curtains  (cat.  nos.  138,  111,  114,  116).  The  vases, 
especially  the  so-called  Prunkvase,  or  presentation  vase,  perhaps  affected 
Kandinsky  most  immediately.  Its  design  of  circles  and  wavy  lines  evidently 
made  an  indelible  impression  on  Kandinsky,  whose  sketchbooks  of  this  pe- 
riod contain  drawings  of  the  same  motif  and  even  a  vase  of  the  same  shape 
(cat.  nos.  113,  118).  Eventually  circles  and  wavy  lines  were  to  become  sym- 


43 


fig-  16 

Vasily  Kandinsky 
Several  Circles.     192.6 
Oil  on  canvas 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


bols  imbued  with  poetic  significance  in  Kandinsky's  work  of  the  Bauhaus 
period.  Several  Circles,  1926  (fig.  16),  in  the  Guggenheim  Museum  collection, 
is  an  important  example  of  his  development  of  this  motif. 

Clearly,  at  this  point  in  his  career  Kandinsky  was  enormously  interested 
in  the  potential  of  the  Arts  and  Crafts  Movement.  His  notebooks  are  full  of 
designs  for  applique,  jewelry,  ceramics  and  furniture  (cat.  nos.  118,  148,  113, 
no).  In  addition  to  the  four  drawings  he  showed  at  the  Phalanx  and  specifi- 
cally designated  as  "decorative  sketches"  in  the  catalogue,  he  exhibited  his 
painting  Bright  Air,  1902,  which,  in  its  studied  formal  relationships  and  styli- 
zation,  may  be  characterized  as  a  thoroughly  Jugendstil  work.  Kandinsky 
also  produced  designs  for  embroidery  and  for  clothing  at  this  time  (cat.  nos. 
157, 159).  The  dresses  he  designed  for  Miinter  (cat.  nos.  I45~i47a-b)  indicate 
not  only  sensitivity  but  also  mastery  of  the  Jugendstil  vocabulary.  Designs  for 
locks  and  keys  appear  in  the  notebooks  as  well  (cat.  no.  149),  and  these  reveal 
the  typical  Jugendstil  exploitation  of  the  abstract-expressive  forms  of  nature 
for  ornamental  purposes.  They  may  be  compared  with  similar  designs  by 
Endell  for  the  Hofatelier  Elvira  (fig.  17). 

By  1904  Kandinsky's  letters  to  Miinter  often  allude  to  his  enthusiastic 
involvement  with  decorative  design.  In  February  of  that  year  he  wrote:  "Sud- 
denly I  am  again  in  tune,  in  a  mood  in  which  I  see  a  thousand  thoughts,  plans, 
compositions,  color  combinations,  linear  movements  before  me.  .  .  ."  In  July 
he  described  a  woodcut  he  had  done  and  from  which  he  had  made  a  drawing 
and  then  a  painting  (the  sequence  is  significant):  "But  I  do  like  the  Russian 
city  with  many  figures.  And  [I've  made]  a  similar  drawing  and  then  painted 
it  in  oil  decoratively."  A  few  days  later  he  noted:  "Suddenly  I  [have]  in  my 


44 


fig- 17 

August  Endell 

Designs  for  Locks  and  Keys,  Probably  for 
Hofatelier  Elvira,     ca.  1895-96 


16.  Lindsay  K/M  letters:  23.2.04,  1.7.04 
and  13.7.04. 

17.  Cf.  Kristian  Bathe,  Wer  wohnte  wo  in 
Schwabing},  Munich,  Siiddeutscher 
Verlag,  1965.  The  flyer  advertising  the 
Phalanx  school  gives  its  address  as 
Hohenzollernstr.  6.  Documentation  on 
Obrist  gives  the  address  of  the  Obrist- 
Debschitz  school  as  Hohenzollernstr. 
7a.  At  present  writing  it  is  unclear 
whether  the  two  occupied  the  same 
building,  as  Bathe  suggests.  An  inter- 
esting pendent  to  this  is  a  letter  from 
Obrist  which  is  partially  reproduced  in 
Sylvie  Lampe-von  Bennigsen,  Hermann 
Obrist  Erinnerungen,  Munich,  Verlag 
Herbert  Post  Presse,  1970,  giving 
Obrist's  address  as  Finkenstrasse  3b; 
the  first  exhibition  rooms  of  the 
Phalanx  society  were  also  in  Finken- 
strasse. 


head  pictures,  decorative  paintings,  embroideries,  whole  rooms  and  I'm 
thinking  again  in  color.  Will  it  last  long?"16  He  had  joined  the  Vereinigung 
fi'tr  angewandte  Kitnst,  attended  its  meetings,  and  wrote  that  he  was  working 
"like  crazy"  to  prepare  drawings  for  the  society's  exhibition.  As  the  summer 
of  1904  progressed,  his  tempo  of  work  increased  and  he  made  woodcuts  for 
the  new  publishing  firm  established  by  Reinhard  Piper  and  for  exhibitions  in 
Germany,  France  and  Russia.  In  August  he  wrote  to  Munter  an  impassioned 
defense  of  his  preoccupation  with  the  craft  of  the  woodcut  (see  p.  83).  The 
woodcut  provided  an  outlet  for  his  inner  need  to  cut  through  to  the  essence 
of  things,  and  satisfied  the  yearning  to  reduce  forms  to  abstractions  while  at 
the  same  time  conveying  symbolic  meaning. 

Undoubtedly,  it  was  in  the  propensity  of  Jugendstil  craft  design  for  ab- 
straction that  Kandinsky  found  its  greatest  attraction.  His  close  contact  at 
this  time  with  Obrist,  the  leader  of  the  Munich  Jugendstil  movement,  has  al- 
ready been  noted.  Indeed,  in  his  letters  to  Munter  between  1902  and  1904 
Kandinsky  often  mentioned  his  discussions  with  this  man  whom  many  called 
a  seer.  Clearly  Obrist  was  then  feeling  his  way  towards  a  new  art  form.  Fur- 
thermore, the  work  of  Obrist's  students  also  displayed  an  astonishingly  pro- 
phetic tendency  to  abstraction.  Paintings  by  his  pupils  Hans  Schmithals  and 
B.  Tolken  reproduced  in  the  March  1904  issue  of  Dekorative  Kunst  are 
particularly  remarkable.  Schmithals  executed  a  series  of  paintings  during  this 
period  (cat.  nos.  53—56)  which  offer  striking  proof  that  tendencies  to  abstrac- 
tion were  not  only  evident  in  Munich  by  this  time,  but  that  they  were  produc- 
ing results  within  Kandinsky's  direct  circle  of  acquaintances. 

In  fact,  Kandinsky's  Phalanx  school  was  situated  in  the  immediate  vicin- 
ity of  Obrist's  newly  founded  arts  and  crafts  school,  known  as  the  Obrist- 
Debschitz  School.  Munter,  one  of  Kandinsky's  students  and  soon  to  become 
his  closest  friend  and  companion,  lived  in  the  building  occupied  by  Obrist's 
school,  and  Obrist  attended  meetings  of  the  Phalanx  society.  Doubtless  it 
was  Obrist  who  arranged  for  the  generous  representation  of  Munich's  Ve- 
reinigten  Werkstatten  in  the  second  Phalanx  exhibition.17 


45 


i8.  See  also  Dominik  Bartmann,  August 
Macke  Kunsthandwerk,  foreword  by 
Leopold  Reidemeister,  Berlin,  Gebr. 
Mann  Verlag,  1979. 

19.  Cf.  Klaus  Lankheit,  Franz  Marc:  {Cata- 
log der  Werke,  Cologne,  Verlag  M. 
DuMont  Schauberg,  1970;  Orpheus 
with  the  Animals,  no.  884,  was  prob- 
ably painted  by  Marc's  friend  Annette 
von  Eckhardt  or  Michael  Pfeiffer  after 
Marc's  design.  On  Marc's  designs  for 
applied  arts,  see  also  Rosel  Gollek, 
Franz  Marc  18S0-1916,  exh.  cat.,  Mu- 
nich, Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbach- 
haus,  1980,  p.  18  and  passim.  See  also 
Lankheit,  ed.,  Franz  Marc  Schriften, 
Cologne,  DuMont  Buchverlag,  1978, 
pp.  126-128. 

20.  Cf.  Weiss,  p.  123,  and  Lindsay  K/M 
letters,  27.8.03. 

21.  Cf.  "Weiss,  Chapter  VI,  which  includes 
a  more  detailed  analysis  of  the  docu- 
mented Phalanx  exhibitions.  The 
eighth  exhibition  included  a  portfolio 
of  prints  by  Impressionist,  Neo-Impres- 
sionist  and  Symbolist  artists,  ibid., 

p.  69.  Neo-Impressionist  works  were 
also  included  in  the  tenth  exhibition, 
but  records  of  the  exact  titles  or  media 
have  not  yet  come  to  light. 


Many  of  Kandinsky's  later  associates  of  the  Blaue  Reiter  years  also  de- 
voted their  energies  to  applied-arts  designs  at  various  times  in  their  careers. 
August  Macke  designed  for  a  variety  of  media,  eventually  producing  interior 
decorations,  among  them  murals  and  furniture  for  the  Worringer  Tee-Salon 
in  Cologne  (cat.  no.  162).  Some  of  his  exquisite  craft  designs  (cat.  nos.  150, 
163,  164)  are  included  in  this  exhibition.18  Paul  Klee,  too,  at  least  once  tried 
his  hand  at  applied  art,  executing  a  group  of  designs  for  endpapers  (cat.  no. 
171).  That  Franz  Marc  shared  the  widespread  hope  for  social  regeneration 
through  the  applied-arts  movement  is  documented  in  his  work  and  also  in 
his  correspondence  and  other  writings.  Among  his  craft  designs  is  a  pamphlet 
of  patterns  for  a  home  weaving-loom  (cat.  no.  355).  Both  his  original  design 
for  a  tapestry  of  Orpheus  with  the  Animals  and  the  tapestry  itself  have  been 
lost,  but  a  cartoon  which  was  probably  carried  out  by  another  hand  is  ex- 
tant (cat.  no.  172).  Marc  also  designed  ex  libris,  posters  (cat.  nos.  173-177, 
289)  and  embroideries,  including  one  executed  by  Ada  Campendonck  (cat. 
no.  40). 19 

Despite  his  growing  interest  in  decorative  design,  Kandinsky  dutifully 
pursued  the  discipline  of  traditional  landscape  painting  during  this  period. 
In  the  summers  of  1902  and  1903  he  took  his  Phalanx  students  into  the  coun- 
tryside where  they  could  paint  from  nature  in  a  setting  remote  from  the  dis- 
tractions of  the  city.  We  see  him  seated  stiffly  on  the  grass  in  a  portrait 
painted  by  Miinter  at  Kallmiinz  in  the  summer  of  1903  (cat.  no.  193).  And 
Kandinsky  painted  Miinter  the  same  summer  standing  before  her  easel  in 
the  shade  of  the  trees  (cat.  no.  194).  Like  this  portrait,  most  of  his  plein-air  oil 
studies  remained  small  in  format,  and  we  know  that  Kandinsky  spent  a  good 
deal  of  time  in  Kallmiinz  experimenting  with  woodcuts,  decorative  designs 
and  pottery.20  While  the  oil  studies  exhibit  a  certain  freedom  of  paint  appli- 
cation (with  palette  knife),  and  often  display  a  sensitive  orchestration  of 
color,  they  clearly  lack  the  lyric  conviction  of  his  woodcuts  of  the  same 
period  (cat.  nos.  215,  219).  The  most  successful  of  Kandinsky's  early  out- 
door studies,  the  small  Beach  Baskets  in  Holland  (cat.  no.  196),  were  exe- 
cuted a  year  later  during  an  excursion  with  Miinter  to  Holland.  Here  dabs  of 
color  were  applied  in  a  free  pointillist  manner,  leaving  large  areas  of  un- 
touched canvas.  But  this  was  an  isolated  experiment.  The  dabs  of  colors 
closed  up  again  to  create  the  jewel-like  mosaic  surface,  quite  different  from 
Impressionist  pointillism,  of  such  other-directed  paintings  as  Sunday,  Old 
Russian,  1904,  and  Riding  Couple,  1907  (cat.  nos.  195,  258). 

The  work  of  established  Impressionist  artists  was  presented  in  only  two 
documented  Phalanx  exhibitions.  These  were  the  third  Phalanx  exhibition 
in  the  early  summer  of  1902,  which  featured  Lovis  Corinth  and  Wilhelm 
Triibner,  and  the  seventh,  held  almost  exactly  a  year  later,  which  brought  a 
group  of  sixteen  paintings  by  Claude  Monet  to  Munich.21  Both  Corinth  and 
Triibner  represented  the  continuation  and  development  of  German  natural- 
ism. Corinth  had  studied  in  Paris,  where  he  was  directly  exposed  to  French 
Impressionism,  while  Triibner  was  inspired  by  the  Courbet-influenced  style 
of  the  Munich  artist  Wilhelm  Leibl,  with  whom  he  was  associated  for  a  while. 
Both  had  been  founding  members  of  the  Munich  Secession,  but  by  the  time 
their  work  was  shown  at  Phalanx,  Corinth  was  in  Berlin  (where  he  had  be- 


46 


fig.  18 

Akseli  Gallen-Kallela 

Symposium.     1894 
Oil  on  canvas 

Depicts  the  artist,  far  left,  with  musicians 
Robert  Kajanus  and  Jean  Sibelius.  Exhib- 
ited at  Phalanx  IV 
Collection  Gallen-Kallela  Family 


22.  See  Salme  Sarajas-Korte,  Suotnen  var- 
haissymbolismi  ja  sen  lahteet,  Hel- 
sinki, Otava,  1966.  In  her  article 
"Kandinsky  et  la  Finlande  I.  1906- 
1914,"  Ateneumin  Taidemuseo 
Museojulkaisu,  15  Vuosikerta  1970, 
pp.  42.-45,  Dr.  Sarajas-Korte  points  out 
that  the  Finnish  painter  Axel  Haart- 
man  had  studied  with  Kandinsky  in 
Munich  in  1902,  and  that  Kandinsky's 
work  was  first  exhibited  in  Finland  by 
the  Society  of  Art  of  Finland  in  spring 
1906.  (At  the  time  of  writing  she  was 
not  aware  of  Kandinsky's  connection 
with  Gallen-Kallela.) 


come  an  influential  member  of  the  Berlin  Secession)  and  Triibner  was  in 
Frankfurt.  Interestingly,  the  Monet  exhibition  included  not  a  single  haystack 
painting.  But  it  was  advertised  with  a  poster  designed  by  Kandinsky,  in  typi- 
cal Jugendstil  manner,  with  a  Viking  ship  on  a  sinuously  meandering  river 
(cat.  no.  191).  It  seems  to  have  consisted  of  a  Monet  collection  then  touring 
Europe,  since  works  shown  at  both  Cassirer's  gallery  in  Berlin  and  at  the 
Viennese  Secession  earlier  that  year  were  included.  (Kandinsky  would  have 
seen  these  paintings  during  a  trip  to  Vienna  in  April,  since  he  wrote  to  Miinter 
that  he  had  visited  the  Secession.) 

The  most  immediate  effect  of  both  exhibitions  was  more  political  than 
aesthetic,  for  they  established  Kandinsky  and  Phalanx  as  entities  with  which 
to  reckon.  The  Corinth-Trubner  show  elicited  a  respectful  review  in  Knnst 
ftir  Alle,  which,  however,  ignored  the  Monet  exhibition.  Nonetheless,  Kan- 
dinsky's associate  Gustav  Freytag  recalled  that  the  most  memorable  event 
connected  with  the  Monet  exhibition  was  the  visit  of  the  Prince  Regent  Luit- 
pold  himself,  and  that  Kandinsky  escorted  him  personally  through  the  show. 
But,  memorable  or  not,  no  record  of  Kandinsky's  own  reaction  to  this  event 
appears  to  have  survived.  These  two  exhibitions  seem  to  have  been  dutiful 
homages,  on  the  one  hand,  to  established  secessionist  taste,  and,  on  the  other, 
to  Kandinsky's  memory  of  that  crucial  confrontation  with  a  Monet  haystack 
in  Moscow.  His  correspondence  with  Miinter  during  the  period  of  the  Monet 
exhibition  indicates  that  he  was  in  a  depressed  frame  of  mind;  the  dream 
engendered  by  that  earlier  encounter  still  eluded  him  and,  although  he  made 
no  direct  reference  to  it,  the  exhibition  must  have  been  a  poignant  reminder. 

Akseli  Gallen-Kallela  was  the  star  of  the  fourth  Phalanx  exhibition  in 
1902,  where  he  was  represented  by  thirty-six  works.  A  close  friend  of  the 
composer  Sibelius  (fig.  18)  and  the  architect  Eliel  Saarinen,  Gallen-Kallela 
was  Finland's  greatest  Symbolist  artist.22  He  had  already  attracted  interna- 
tional attention  with  the  exhibition  he  shared  with  his  friend  Edvard  Munch 


47 


z3-  There  are  seven  letters  to  Gallen- 
Kallela  concerning  this  Phalanx  exhi- 
bition preserved  in  the  archive  of  the 
Akseli  Gallen-Kallela  Museum,  Espoo, 
Finland.  Hitherto  unpublished,  they 
are  exhibited  here  for  the  first  time  (cat. 
nos.  1S9,  190).  Six  are  from  Kandinsky, 
one  from  Freytag,  the  group's  business 
advisor.  Kandinsky  wrote  his  first  and 
last  two  letters  to  Gallen  in  German 
and  the  third  and  fourth  in  French. 
(Freytag  also  wrote  in  French.)  The 
last  two  are  written  out  in  a  fine  cal- 
ligraphic hand  by  an  unknown  secre- 
tary and  signed  by  Kandinsky.  At  the 
time  my  book  Kandinsky  in  Munich 
went  to  press,  the  catalogue  of  the 
fourth  Phalanx  exhibition  had  not  yet 
come  to  light.  Nevertheless,  on  the 
basis  of  the  comments  of  the  reviewer 
in  Ktnist  fiir  Alle,  it  had  been  possible 
to  identify  certain  works  that  were  in- 
cluded in  the  exhibition,  and  to  con- 
jecture that  certain  others  might  have 
been  included  (for  example.  Defense 
of  the  Sanipo  and  Lemminkainen's 
Mother).  In  the  spring  of  1981  I  was 
fortunate  to  discover  a  copy  of  the 
catalogue  (which  is  included  in  the 
present  exhibition  [cat.  no.  356])  at  the 
Gallen-Kallela  Museum  in  Espoo,  as 
well  as  additional  reviews  of  the  show 
and  the  letters  cited  above.  Although 
in  some  instances  the  catalogue  itself  is 
vague,  listing  untitled  prints,  illustra- 
tions, designs,  etc.,  as  well  as  precisely 
titled  works,  we  can  now  deduce  the 
actual  contents  of  the  show  with 
greater  accuracy.  Several  important 
works  and  sketches  from  the  Kalevala 
saga  were  shown,  including  Knllervo — 
.4;;  Episode  from  His  Youth,  a  water- 
color  version  of  Kulleri'o  Goes  to  War 
(also  known  in  the  literature  as  Kul- 
lervo's  Return  from  War,  Knllervo  on 
the  Warpath  and  Kullcrvo's  Departure 
for  War  [fig.  19])   Knllervo  (identified 
only  as  a  "Kalevala  gouache").  Fratri- 
cide  Old  Folksong)  and  Sketches  for 
the  Pans  World  Exhibition  iqoo 
(which  probablv  included  Defense  of 
the  Satnpo  on  exhibition  here  [cat.  no. 


in  Berlin  in  1895,  his  illustrations  for  Pan  the  same  year  and  with  his  fres- 
coes for  the  Finnish  Pavilion  and  decorations  for  the  Iris  Room  at  the  Paris 
World's  Fair  in  1900.  Kandinsky's  letter  of  invitation  to  Gallen-Kallela  on 
March  29,  1901,  provides  evidence  of  his  diplomatic  acumen,  and  also  sheds 
light  on  the  operation  of  the  Phalanx  as  an  organization: 

Until  now  here  in  Munich  there  has  been  only  very  little  possibility  avail- 
able for  an  artist  to  bring  his  talent  and  individuality  fully  before  the  pub- 
lic, that  is,  in  an  extensive  way. 

Our  young  society  has  adopted  primarily  two  goals,  first,  to  offer  to 
known  artists  the  opportunity  to  exhibit  numerous  works  collectively  in 
the  rooms  of  the  Phalanx;  secondly  also  to  give  unknown  young  artists 
the  opportunity  to  step  before  the  public. 

In  accordance  with  our  first  goal  then,  we  humbly  allow  ourselves  to 
invite  you  to  exhibit  a  collection  of  your  ivorks  if  possible  already  in  the 
May  exhibition. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  note  that  artists  who  are  personally  invited 
are  fury-free.  In  the  case  of  sales,  we  take  10%  commission.  We  offer  fire 
insurance  and  free  transportation.  The  duration  of  the  exhibitions  are 
usually  4  to  6  weeks. 

In  the  pleasant  hope  of  receiving  a  positive  answer  soon,  very  respect- 
fully yours 

W.  Kandinsky 

Tst  Chairman 

on  behalf  of  "Phalanx" 

The  selection  submitted  by  Gallen  included  examples  of  both  his  deco- 
rative Symbolist  and  more  naturalistic  work.  Landscape  Under  Snow  of  1902 
(cat.  no.  180)  exhibits  a  formal  abstractness  wavering  ambiguously  between 
the  real  and  the  symbolic.  But  Gallen  was  especially  noted  for  his  illustrations 
of  the  great  Finnish  folk  saga  the  Kalevala,  which  had  been  rediscovered  in 
the  nineteenth  century  and  had  become  an  inspiration  for  many  of  the  coun- 
try's poets,  musicians  and  artists  (as  the  Nibelungen  saga  and  the  Ossian 
legends  had  inspired  Wagner  and  Yeats).  Knllervo  Goes  to  War,  1901  (fig.  19), 
was  one  of  the  episodes  from  the  Kalevala  saga  exhibited  at  Phalanx.  The 
hero  on  horseback,  blowing  his  trumpet  to  summon  the  forces  of  good  in  the 
world,  made  a  lasting  impression  on  Kandinsky.  The  prevalence  and  impor- 
tance of  the  horse-and-rider  motif  in  Kandinsky's  work  has  already  been 
noted:  now  trumpet-blowing  horsemen  would  appear  in  a  notebook,  in  a 
linocut  of  1907  and  in  a  tusche  study  of  about  1908-09  (cat.  nos.  185-187). 
However,  Gallen-Kallela's  greatest  significance  for  Kandinsky  lay  not  so 
much  in  his  imagery,  gripping  as  it  was,  but  rather  in  his  reliance  on  univer- 
sal folk  legend  as  the  basis  of  a  symbolism  expressed  in  monumental  deco- 
rative paintings,  such  as  Knllervo  and  Defense  of  the  Sampo,  1900  (cat.  no. 
179);  in  the  brilliant  saturation  of  his  bold  colors,  employed  with  the  naive 
directness  of  folk  art;  and  in  the  degree  of  abstraction  attained  in  many  of 
his  applied-art  designs,  for  example,  Seaflower,  1900-02,  and  the  monumen- 
tal rug  Flame  (cat.  nos.  182,  57).21 


48 


fig.  19 

Akseli  Gallen-Kallela 

Kullervo  Goes  to  War.     1901 
Tempera  on  canvas 

A  watercolor  of  the  same  motif  was  ex- 
hibited at  Phalanx  IV 
Collection  The  Art  Museum  of  The 
Ateneum,  Helsinki 


179]).  Among  the  other  paintings  were 
several  with  titles  indicating  that  they 
were  winter  landscapes,  such  as  cat. 
no.  180  in  the  present  exhibition.  There 
were  also  prints  and  works  in  stained 
glass.  Further,  the  letters  inform  us 
that  at  least  two  important  paintings 
not  listed  in  the  catalogue  were  added 
during  the  course  of  the  show  (10  June 
1902);  one  of  them  was  Symposium 
(fig.  18),  which  was  described  in  detail 
in  several  reviews.  (Apparently,  how- 
ever, Lemminkainen's  Mother  was  not 
shown.)  The  popularity  of  Gallen- 
Kallela's  work  is  indicated  by  Kan- 
dinsky's  request  for  more  copies  of  the 
prints  in  a  letter  written  on  the  day  of 
the  opening:  "For  these  things  there 
are  already  buyers  here."  (13  June 
1902)  It  is  clear  from  the  reviews  that 
the  show  traveled  to  Schulte's  gallery 
in  Berlin  after  closing  at  the  Phalanx 
at  the  end  of  July. 


Yet  another  decorative  Symbolist  artist  Kandinsky  invited  to  exhibit 
collectively  with  Phalanx  was  the  unique  Munich  painter-craftsman  Carl 
Strathmann.  Strathmann  is  particularly  interesting  from  today's  perspective 
because  his  own  contemporaries  thought  his  work  bridged  the  gap  between 
the  decorative  and  the  fine  arts.  August  Endell  had  expressed  serious  interest 
in  Strathmann's  work  in  1897  in  his  pamphlet  On  Beauty,  a  Paraphrase,  and 
Corinth  published  a  major  article  on  him  in  the  Berlin  art  journal  Kwist  unci 
Kibistler  in  March  of  1903,  calling  him  "an  original  of  our  time."  The  follow- 
ing autumn  Kandinsky  invited  Strathmann  to  show  thirty-one  works  at  the 
eighth  Phalanx  exhibition. 

Strathmann's  originality,  like  that  of  Jan  Toorop  and  Gustav  Klimt, 
derived  from  his  capacity  to  subvert  naturalistic  traditions  entirely  to  the 
abstract-expressive  power  of  ornament.  His  vocabulary  of  abstract-expres- 
sive imagery  tugged  constantly  at  the  bonds  of  possibility.  Strathmann's  two- 
dimensional  picture  plane  comes  alive  with  energy  conveyed  by  convoluted 
linear  devices.  These  devices  swirl  in  layered  veils  over  stylized  forms  which 
vaguely  suggest  remembered  objects,  thus  rendering  them  ambiguous  or,  as 
in  the  borders  of  Satan,  1902,  and  Decorative  Painting  with  Frame,  ca.  1897, 
entirely  illegible  (cat.  nos.  201,  202).  Often  the  tangled  web  of  ornament  over- 
flows onto  the  frame,  a  characteristic  usage  of  Art  Nouveau  and  Jugendstil 
which  makes  it  an  inextricable  element  of  the  Gesamtkunstwerk,  trans- 
forming the  painting  itself  into  an  objet  d'art.  But  in  his  exploration  of  the 
world-serpent  theme,  to  which  he  frequently  returned,  Strathmann  demon- 
strated the  seriousness  of  his  intentions.  While  Satan  remains  in  the  realm  of 
amusing  decorative  illustration,  The  World  Serpent,  before  1900,  and  Small 
Serpent,  1897-98  (cat.  nos.  200,  203),  despite  their  small  format,  assume  a 
significance  beyond  mere  decoration.  The  traditional  symbols  of  serpent,  tree 
of  life,  sun-moon  and  bird-flight  used  in  conjunction  carry  a  message  of 


49 


regeneration  through  artistic  inspiration.  Strathmann's  two-dimensional  sur- 
face, filled  with  energetic  allover  calligraphic  design  and  charged  with  sym- 
bolic significance,  provided  Kandinsky  with  an  additional  example  of  the 
potential  of  abstract  design.  The  whiplash  serpent  image  was  to  persist  as 
well  in  Kandinsky's  memory. 

In  the  next  Phalanx  exhibition,  the  ninth,  in  January  of  1904,  Kandinsky 
presented  the  work  of  the  young  Alfred  Kubin,  yet  another  artist  who  con- 
sciously exploited  the  powerful  potential  of  compressed  surfaces  energized 
by  overall  calligraphy  and  demonic  imagery.  Kubin's  pictures  departed,  how- 
ever, from  the  strict  two-dimensionality  of  ornamental  art;  he  created  instead 
an  eerily  ambiguous  space  in  which  his  figures  often  seemed  to  float  in  an 
obscuring  primal  haze.  The  transformation  of  the  ordinary  into  the  bizarre 
and  exotic,  effected  by  artists  such  as  Max  Klinger  and  Fernand  Khnopff,  was 
carried  to  a  new  level  by  Kubin,  whose  novel  of  1908,  The  Other  Side  (cat. 
no.  359),  a  poetic  allegory  of  the  artist's  own  journey  to  the  other  side,  into 
his  innermost  self,  achieved  a  proto-Surrealist  fusion  of  visual  and  poetic 
imagery.  Already  a  friend  of  the  Symbolist  poets  Stefan  George  and  Karl 
Wolfskehl,  Kubin  now  became  a  close  associate  of  Kandinsky  and  remained 
so  throughout  the  Munich  period. 

If  Kandinsky's  selection  of  participants  for  the  Phalanx  (which  included 
Felix  Vallotton,  Theo  van  Rysselberghe,  Paul  Signac  and  Toulouse-Lautrec 
in  the  tenth  exhibition  in  the  spring  of  1904)  indicates  a  clear  bias  toward  a 
lyric  Symbolist  mode  of  expression,  a  similar  bias  may  also  be  discerned  in 
his  own  work  of  this  period.  This  is  particularly  evident  in  his  enthusiasm  for 
romantic  Symbolist  imagery  expressed  in  the  techniques  of  woodcut  and 
tempera  painting.  By  the  time  the  Phalanx  society  exhibitions  drew  to  a  close 
in  December  of  1904,  it  was  clear  that  the  conflict  between  the  lure  of  the 
decorative  and  the  demands  of  more  traditional  naturalism  was  sharper  than 
ever  in  Kandinsky's  mind  and  work.  But  the  contest  leaned  heavily  to  the  side 
of  the  decorative.2'  During  1903  and  1904  he  had  achieved  a  remarkable 
mastery  of  the  woodcut  and  had  begun  to  enjoy  his  first  critical  success  with 
that  demanding  medium.  He  had  been  approached  by  Peter  Behrens,  now 
head  of  the  Kunstgewerbeschule  in  Diisseldorf,  with  an  offer  to  take  charge 
of  the  school's  decorative  painting  section.  Kandinsky  refused  the  invitation, 
but  threw  himself  with  renewed  enthusiasm  into  his  woodcut  production. 
He  had  found  his  metier  in  a  lyric  medium  which  brought  him  closer  than 
ever  to  the  Symbolist  Jugendstil  tide  of  the  times. 


Ill    The  Lyric  Mode:  Encounters  with  Woodcut,  Poetry,  Calligraphy,  Theater 


24.  In  February  of  1904  he  had  exhibited 
fifteen  works  at  the  Moscow  Associa- 
tion of  Artists  of  which  fourteen  were 
specifically  identified  in  the  catalogue 
as  "decorative  drawings."  See  Gordon, 
vol.  II,  p.  85. 


In  Kandinsky's  mind,  the  woodcut  was  immediately  identified  with  lyric 
poetry.  He  had  confided  to  Miinter  his  frustration  at  being  unable  to  com- 
pose poetry  for  her  in  German,  but  soon  he  would  substitute  a  lyric  visual 
image  for  the  verse  that  eluded  him.  By  1904  Kandinsky  had  completed  a 
set  of  such  visual  poems,  which  he  published  under  the  title  Verses  Without 
Words  (also  known  as  Poems  Without  Words  [cat.  nos.  210,  2.11]). 


50 


fig.  2.0 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

Singer.     1903 

Color  woodcut 

Collection,  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 

Museum,  New  York 


2.5.  Lindsay  K/M  letters:  31. 1.04, 15.4.04. 


Once  again  his  encounter  with  Munich  had  yielded  a  transformation, 
one  that  marked  a  major  turning  point  in  his  career.  Munich  was  in  fact  the 
meeting  place  of  Germany's  most  important  group  of  Symbolist  poets,  whose 
leaders  were  the  Mallarme  disciple  Stefan  George  and  his  friend  Karl  Wolf- 
skehl,  known  as  the  Zeus  of  Schwabing  because  of  his  prodigious  intellect. 
Since  1892  George  had  been  publishing  an  elitest  Symbolist  journal,  Blatter 
fiir  die  Kimst,  which  called  for  reform  and  renewal  in  all  the  arts.  It  was  a 
typically  Jugendstil-Art  Nouveau  publication  combining  poetry,  criticism, 
art  reproductions  and  even  musical  scores.  George's  commitment  to  the 
Gesamtkunstwerk  extended  to  a  concern  with  the  appearance  of  his  poems 
on  the  page,  so  that  he  even  designed  a  typeface  resembling  his  own  fine  hand 
and  introduced  drastic  reforms  in  the  use  of  punctuation  and  capitalization. 

In  emulation  of  Mallarme,  George  strove  to  express  essence  and  music 
at  the  expense  of  discursive  content  in  his  poems,  which  are  laden  with  Sym- 
bolist imagery  and  ambiguities.  Several  of  the  artists  in  his  circle,  including 
Behrens  and  Schlittgen  as  well  as  Kubin,  were  also  associated  with  Kandin- 
sky. Eventually  Kandinsky  himself  became  acquainted  with  Wolfskehl,  who 
was  among  the  first  in  Munich  to  purchase  his  work.  Already  by  1904  Kan- 
dinsky had  paid  George  a  silent  tribute  by  portraying  him  in  one  of  his  Verses 
Without  Words  as  a  knight  (St.  George)  in  armor. 

The  woodcut,  like  the  lyric  poem,  requires  an  ability  on  the  part  of  the 
artist  to  reduce  the  means  of  expression  to  the  minimum  while  retaining  the 
essence  of  his  vision  or  dream.  In  poetry  such  reductions  are  achieved  by 
means  of  verbal  compression  and  abbreviation  which  often  result  in  startling 
fusions  of  verbal  images,  highly  structured  rhythm  and  rhyme  and  an  em- 
phasis on  sound  above  discursive  meaning.  In  the  woodcut  these  fusions  and 
abbreviations  are  achieved  by  compressing  forms  to  flat  planes  delineated  by 
the  outline  of  opposing  planes  and  reducing  colors  to  clear  contrasts  or  sub- 
tle harmonies.  The  woodcut  allows,  in  fact  demands,  an  abstraction  from 
nature  far  more  drastic  than  does  the  more  plastic  medium  of  oil  paint  and 
encourages  the  Symbolist  preference  for  images  of  memory,  dream  and  fan- 
tasy. The  remarkable  series  of  woodcuts  Kandinsky  produced  between  1903 
and  1907-08  exhibit  an  ever  more  soaring  lyricism  and  an  ever  greater  de- 
gree of  abstraction  as  his  mastery  of  the  medium  grew. 

From  the  beginning,  the  woodcut  was  associated  by  Kandinsky  with 
music  as  well  as  with  poetry,  quite  in  keeping  with  the  Symbolist  quest  for 
a  synthesis  of  the  arts:  for  him  the  woodcut  would  be  not  only  a  poem  but  a 
song.  Among  his  earliest  efforts  in  woodcut  is  Singer,  1903  (fig.  20),  in  which 
the  image  makes  a  direct  reference  to  music:  someone  is  about  to  sing,  the 
pianist  is  poised,  about  to  strike  the  first  chord.  In  this  restrained  print  the 
studied  geometrical  composition  and  the  subtle  color  harmony  convey  the 
effect  of  a  musical  chord  or  Klang,  a  word  Kandinsky  used  to  characterize 
the  effect  by  which  the  successful  work  of  art  communicates  its  inner  mean- 
ing.25 The  work  of  art,  he  said,  must  klingen,  or  resonate,  so  that  the  soul  of 
the  viewer  vibrates  with  the  same  resonance.  This  thought,  already  expressed 
in  his  correspondence  with  Miinter  as  early  as  1904,  recurs  throughout  Kan- 
dinsky's  work  and  writings. 


5i 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

Motley  Life.     1907 

Tempera  on  canvas 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbach- 

haus,  Munich 


2.6.  Kandinsky  as  quoted  in  Eichner,  p.  111, 
from  notes  for  a  lecture  he  prepared 
for  the  Kreis  der  Kunst  in  Cologne  in 
1914;  the  lecture  was  never  delivered. 

27.  Klaus  Brisch,  Wassily  Kandinsky:  Un- 
tersuchung  zur  Entstehung  der  gegen- 
standlosen  Malerei,  Ph.D.  dissertation, 
University  of  Bonn,  1955,  pp.  136  ff. 


In  Uber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst  he  was  to  call  again  upon  the  image  of 
the  artist-pianist,  drawing  an  analogy  between  the  artist  and  the  hand  of  the 
pianist:  the  hand  (artist)  strikes  the  key  (color)  which  moves  the  hammer  (the 
eye  of  the  viewer),  which  strikes  the  strings  (the  soul  of  the  viewer).  The 
image  had  already  been  encountered  and  articulated  in  Singer.  In  1909  Kan- 
dinsky published  a  second  portfolio  of  prints;  these  he  called  Xylographies 
(cat.  no.  212),  a  play  on  words  constituting  a  hidden  reference  to  his  musical 
analogy.  (Xylography,  an  unusual  word  for  woodcut,  calls  to  mind  the  word 
xylophone.)  The  transformation  was  complete  when,  in  1913,  he  published 
his  graphic  masterpiece,  Kldnge  (Resonances  or  Sounds),  a  book  of  poems 
and  woodcuts  (cat.  no.  360). 

Singer  is  one  of  scarcely  more  than  a  dozen  or  so  of  Kandinsky's  prints 
which  make  use  of  imagery  drawn  from  everyday  life.  From  the  start,  in  his 
woodcuts  he  preferred  invented  imagery  derived  either  from  romantic  histor- 
icism  (figures  in  medieval  or  Biedermeier-style  dress  and  settings),  from  folk 
legend  or  myth  or  from  pure  fancy.  Kandinsky  later  recalled  that  at  this 
early  stage  of  his  development  he  had  needed  some  justification,  some  "ex- 
cuse" to  allow  the  freer  use  of  colors  and  forms  he  envisioned.  He  had  dis- 
covered that  motifs  from  the  past,  real  but  "no  longer  extant,"  provided  that 
justification. 2&  In  effect,  as  Klaus  Brisch  has  pointed  out,  such  images  allowed 
Kandinsky  to  distance  himself  from  reality.27  Night  (Large  Version),  The 
Golden  Sail,  Farewell,  all  1903,  and  The  Mirror,  1907  (cat.  nos.  215,  216, 
218,  219)  and  other  prints  demonstrate  this  principle.  Furthermore,  their  easy 
grace,  which  belies  the  extremely  demanding  discipline  of  the  woodcut  tech- 


52- 


nique,  indicates  that  the  artist  had  indeed  found  his  metier.  The  same  lyric 
quality  and  easy  grace  is  apparent  in  such  romantic  tempera  paintings  as 
Riding  Couple,  Motley  Life,  both  1907  (cat.  no.  Z58,  fig.  21),  and  Early 
Hour,  ca.  1906.  In  all  these  works,  reality  is  left  behind  and  the  mind  is  in- 
vited to  the  fairy  tale  or  dream.  The  various  areas  of  color  are  given  equal 
weight,  diminishing  any  sense  of  real  perspective  and  creating  a  mosaic-like 
surface  on  which  the  almost  cloisonne-like  figures  float  as  if  under  some 
enchantment. 

Related  to  the  reductive  techniques  of  both  woodcut  and  lyric  poetry, 
calligraphy  or  calligraphic  design  appears  to  have  been  yet  another  source  of 
inspiration  in  the  development  of  abstract  art  around  the  turn  of  the  century. 
Adolf  Holzel,  leader  of  the  Neu-Dacbau  school,  may  have  been  the  first  to 
experiment  seriously  with  the  abstract  potential  of  calligraphy  in  graphic 
experiments  which  he  called  "abstract  ornaments"  (cat.  nos.  234,  235).  These 
small  abstractions  were  discussed  in  artistic  circles  and  known  to  his  stu- 
dents before  1900.  (Emil  Nolde,  who  studied  with  Holzel  in  1899  recalled 
trying  to  imitate  his  teacher's  inventions.)  They  were  also  analyzed  and 
reproduced  in  at  least  two  major  articles  on  Holzel  by  the  noted  critic  Arthur 
Rossler,  first  in  1903  and  again  in  1905. 

By  the  1890s  Holzel  had  already  developed  a  stylized  form  of  lyric- 
expressive  landscape  painting.  Works  such  as  Birches  on  the  Moor,  1902 
(fig.  22),  were  visions  based  less  on  observed  reality  than  on  a  complex  of 
inner  formal  relationships.  Although  he  apparently  was  not  personally  ac- 
quainted with  Holzel  in  the  first  years  of  the  century,  Kandinsky  would  have 
been  aware  of  his  teachings  and  his  work,  which  was  exhibited  regularly  at 
the  Munich  Secession.  Holzel  lectured  widely  and  published  as  well,  express- 
ing himself  in  terms  that  in  many  ways  anticipated  the  theoretical  approach 
manifested  in  Kandinsky's  later  writings.  His  article  "On  Forms  and  the  Dis- 
tribution of  Masses  in  Painting,"  published  in  1901  in  the  prominent  Jugend- 


fig.  2.Z  (cat.  no.  144) 

Adolf  Holzel 

Birches  on  the  Moor.     1902 

Oil  on  canvas 

Collection  Mittelrheinisches  Landes- 

museum,  Mainz 


53 


hg- 2.3 
Adolf  Holzel 

Illustrations  and  partial  text  for  his  article, 
"Uber  Formen  und  Massenverteilung  im 
Bilde,"  Vet  Sacrum,  IV,  1901 
Courtesy  The  Houghton  Library,  Harvard 
University,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts 


, 

1 

lunkleren  Punk 

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geniigcnd 

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'* 


fig.  24 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

Illustration  i,  "Cool  tension  toward  the 
center,"  from  Point  and  Line  to  Plane 
(Punkt  und  Linie  ztt  Flacbe),  New  York, 
1947 


stil  journal  Ver  Sacrum,  was  accompanied  by  illustrations  remarkably  similar 
to  those  used  much  later  by  Kandinsky  in  his  treatise  on  pictorial  composi- 
tion Punkt  und  Linie  zu  Flacbe  (Point  and  Line  to  Plane),  begun  in  19 14  but 
not  published  until  1926  (figs.  23,  24).  Furthermore,  the  reproductions  of 
Old  Master  paintings  Holzel  included  in  his  article  to  demonstrate  the  fun- 
damentally geometric  bases  of  composition  in  the  art  of  all  ages  anticipated 
Kandinsky's  use  of  comparable  works  for  a  similar  purpose  in  Uber  das  Geis- 
tige  in  der  Kunst.  Yet  Holzel,  too,  wavered  uncertainly  between  naturalism 
and  abstraction.  It  was  many  years  before  he  achieved  a  nearly  total  abstrac- 
tion, and  then  it  was  in  the  medium  of  stained  glass,  rather  than  paint.  None- 
theless, as  early  as  1905  his  Composition  in  Red  1  (cat.  no.  262)  attained  a  de- 
gree of  abstraction  not  evident  in  Kandinsky's  work  until  three  or  four  years 
later  (cat.  no.  261). 

In  1908  a  prominent  Munich  publisher,  Ferdinand  Avenarius,  brought 
out  a  portfolio  of  drawings  by  the  Dresden  artist  Katharine  Schaffner.  Schaff- 
ner  attempted  to  capture,  in  this  series  of  abstract  graphic  images,  various 
psychological  moods  or  states.  In  a  prophetic  introductory  essay,  Avenarius 
remarked  on  the  abstract  character  of  Schaffner's  inventions  and  spoke  of  a 


54 


fig.  25 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

Thirty.     1937 

Oil  on  canvas 

Private  Collection,  Paris 


28.  Alfred  Kubin,  Die  andere  Seite,  Mu- 
nich, Nymphenburger  Verlagshand- 
lung,  1968,  p.  140  (originally  published 


"new  language"  of  forms  that  would  lead  to  an  art  no  longer  representational 
of  nature,  but  existing  somewhere  between  visual  imagery  and  music. 

However,  it  was  Kandinsky's  friend  Kubin  who  perhaps  most  fully  ex- 
ploited the  potential  of  the  linear  hieroglyph  for  abstract  expressive  power. 
In  his  aforementioned  book,  The  Other  Side,  the  artist-hero  "attempted  to 
create  new  form-images  directly  according  to  secret  rhythms  of  which  I  had 
become  conscious;  they  writhed,  coiled  and  burst  upon  one  another.  I  went 
even  further.  I  gave  up  everything  but  line  and  developed  ...  a  peculiar  line 
system.  A  fragmentary  style,  more  written  than  drawn,  which  expressed,  like 
some  sensitive  meteorological  instrument,  the  slightest  vibration  of  my  life's 
mood.  'Psychographics'  I  called  it.  .  .  ."28  In  Kubin's  own  work,  the  calli- 
graphic hand  nervously  covered  the  entire  surface,  creating  a  dense  allover 
network  of  expressive  linear  elements  while  at  the  same  time  eschewing  any 
ornamental  imperative  (cat.  no.  257). 

As  Kandinsky  copied  Moorish  decorations  and  hieroglyphic  inscriptions 
in  his  sketchbooks  (cat.  no.  245)  during  a  trip  to  Tunis  in  1905,  so  too  August 
Macke  exhibited  a  fascination  with  the  mysteriously  evocative  effects  of 
calligraphy  (cat.  nos.  246,  247).  Works  by  Klee,  Kahler  and  Bloch  (cat.  nos. 
254-256)  also  provide  evidence  of  a  similar  interest  in  the  expressive  potential 
of  line  exploited  calligraphically  in  an  allover  network  of  evocative  "scrib- 
blings." 

In  a  graphic  of  1913  (cat.  no.  243),  Kandinsky  made  use  of  a  genre  similar 
to  that  developed  by  Holzel  (cat.  nos.  234,  235,  242),  combining  abstract 
hieroglyphs  with  text:  "Drawing,"  he  wrote  under  the  design,  "which  in  the 
strict  sense  is  only  a  line,  can  express  everything."  By  that  time  he  was  already 
employing  an  abstract  calligraphy  in  such  paintings  as  Black  Lines  (cat.  no. 
332).  Much  later,  at  the  Bauhaus  and  in  Paris,  hieroglyphic  imagery  would 
return  in  his  paintings,  for  example  Variegated  Sig7is,  1928,  and  Thirty,  1937 
(fig.  25),  recalling  such  Holzel  works  as  Composition.  Picture  and  Text  Ten 
Draining  (cat.  no.  244). 


55 


Kandinsky's  interest  in  the  lyric  mode  encompassed  a  concern  with  the 
theater,  which  he  considered  the  ideal  vehicle  for  the  true  Gesamtkunstwerk 
synthesis  of  the  arts  of  which  he  dreamed.  He  was  eventually  to  compose 
several  "color  operas"  and  to  devote  a  long  essay  to  the  theater  in  the  Blaue 
Reiter  almanac.  His  ideas  on  theater  represented  another  transformation  of 
material  he  encountered  on  the  Munich  scene. 

Munich  theater  at  the  turn  of  the  century  manifested  an  unusual  degree 
of  activity  in  the  direction  of  Symbolism  and  general  reform  which  cannot 
have  failed  to  draw  Kandinsky's  attention.  His  interest  in  the  Elf  Scharfrichter 
cabaret  has  already  been  discussed,  and  he  was  attracted  as  well  to  the  re- 
vivals of  puppet  and  shadow-play  theater  taking  place  in  the  city.  However, 
the  most  important  manifestation  of  the  new  movement  in  Munich  theater 
was  the  creation  of  the  Miinchrter  Kiinstlertheater  (Munich  Artists'  Theater) 
by  Behrens's  earlier  associate,  Georg  Fuchs.  Fuchs  envisioned  the  Kiinstler- 
theater as  a  Symbolist  stage  par  excellence  and  the  paradigmatic  Gesamt- 
kunstwerk.  Its  major  innovation  was  the  so-called  relief  stage  which  was 
another  attempt  to  achieve  enhanced  effect  through  reduction  to  two-dimen- 
sionality. The  deep  perspectival  stage  of  naturalistic  theater  was  abandoned 
in  favor  of  a  drastically  narrowed  stage  on  which  the  effect  of  the  dramatic 
silhouette  could  be  emphasized  (fig.  2.6).  Further,  Fuchs  conceived  of  the  the- 
ater as  a  thoroughly  artistic  enterprise  in  that  all  sets,  costumes  and  music 
would  be  provided  by  the  best  artists  and  musicians  in  the  community.  The 
theater  opened  to  great  acclaim  in  1908.  (Edward  Gordon  Craig  hurried  to 
Munich  to  see  it  and  reported  enthusiastically  about  it  in  his  magazine,  The 
Mask.)  But  the  dream-theater  was  never  to  truly  fulfill  its  promise. 

Many  of  Kandinsky's  earliest  associates  in  Munich  were  already  involved 
in  theater  or  later  became  so:  Behrens's  pamphlet  Feste  des  Lebens  unci  cier 


fig.  26 

Max  Littmann 

Munich  Kiinstlertheater.  Summer  1908 
Curtain  embroidered  by  Margarete  von 
Brauchitsch 


56 


Kunst  {Celebrations  of  Life  and  Art),  published  at  the  Darmstadt  Kiinstler- 
kolonie,  was  his  manifesto  calling  for  reform  in  the  theater;  Stern  became  the 
chief  set  designer  for  Max  Reinhardt;  and  von  Salzmann  in  collaboration 
with  Adolphe  Appia  designed  the  spectacular  light  theater  at  the  Jaques- 
Dalcroze  School  at  Hellerau  which  undoubtedly  had  a  direct  influence  on 
Kandinsky's  plans  for  Der  gelbe  Klang  (The  Yellow  Sound).29 

Indeed,  the  lyric  mode  was  to  hold  a  strong  appeal  for  Kandinsky 
throughout  his  lifetime.  Now,  as  he  entered  a  new  period  of  activity  between 
1905  and  1908,  traveling  widely  throughout  Europe  (returning  intermittently, 
to  be  sure,  to  the  Munich  area  and  to  his  native  Russia),  the  lyric  muse  ac- 
companied him.  It  came  to  dominate  his  associations,  his  vision  and  his  work 
for  a  time,  leading  him  onward  in  his  search  for  that  new  way  he  foresaw. 


29.  See  Weiss,  chapter  IX,  for  a  detailed 
analysis  of  the  influence  of  the  Miinch- 
ner  Kiinstlertheater  and  the  work  of 
Georg  Fuchs  on  Kandinsky's  thoughts 
on  theater  and  on  his  conception  of  the 
color  operas.  I  am  grateful  to  Professor 
Joseph  Henry,  director  of  orchestras  at 
Ohio  University,  Athens,  Ohio,  whose 
long  interest  in  the  music  of  Thomas 
de  Hartmann  and  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  Mme  de  Hartmann  led  to 
my  discovery  of  the  fragments  of  the 
score  of  Der  gelbe  Klang,  now  in  the 
archive  of  the  Music  Library,  Yale 
University,  New  Haven  (cat.  no.  337). 
Professor  Henry  introduced  me  to 
Mme  de  Hartmann,  with  whom  I 
discussed  my  hopes  for  a  historically 
authentic  production  of  the  color 
opera  in  1976,  three  years  before  her 
death.  I  am  also  extremely  grateful  to 
Professor  Louis  Krasner  of  the  Boston 
Conservatory  for  encouraging  me  to 
approach  composer  Gunther  Schuller 
with  the  idea  of  re-creating  the  score 
on  the  basis  of  the  Yale  fragments. 
Schuller's  enthusiastic  response  led 
eventually  to  my  collaboration  with 
producer-director  Ian  Strasfogel  and 
thence  to  the  first  real  attempt  to  stage 
the  opera  within  its  historical  context. 
Professor  John  Stevenson  of  Ithaca 
College  and  Professor  Selma  Odom  of 
York  University,  Ontario,  provided 
much  helpful  information  about  the 
Jaques-Dalcroze  method  of  dance. 
This  production  of  Der  gelbe  Klang 
will  be  staged  at  the  Marymount  The- 
ater, New  York,  in  February  1981.  The 
scenarios  for  all  of  Kandinsky's  docu- 
mented color  operas  are  to  be  published 
in  an  edition  by  Jelena  Hahl-Koch, 
Kandinsky,  Die  gesamnielten  Schriften: 
Stiicke  fiir  die  Biibne,  forthcoming. 

30.  Lindsay  K/M  letters:  n. 10.03. 


IV    Departures  and  Returns:  Transition  and  Self-Realization 

When  1  was  young,  I  was  often  sad.  I  searched  for  something,  something 
was  lacking,  I  absolutely  wanted  to  have  something.  Arid  it  seemed  to 
me  that  it  is  impossible  to  find  this  lacking  thing.  "The  feeling  of  the  lost 
paradise"  I  used  to  call  this  state  of  mind.  Only  much  later  did  1  get  eyes, 
which  can  sometimes  peer  through  the  keyhole  in  the  gate  of  paradise. 
1  am  still  searching  too  much  on  earth.  And  he  who  looks  doivn  natur- 
ally sees  nothing  up  above?" 

"When  Kandinsky  and  Miinter  discovered  Murnau  in  the  spring  of  1908, 
after  a  year  in  Paris  and  some  months  of  restless  wandering,  it  must  have 
seemed  to  him  that  he  had  at  last  found  his  paradise.  From  the  end  of  1905 
until  the  summer  of  1907  they  had  been  away  from  Germany,  spending  some 
months  in  Italy,  a  year  in  Paris.  After  a  brief  return  to  the  Munich  area,  they 
had  spent  the  winter  months  of  1907-08  in  Berlin.  And  this  rootless  time  had 
been  filled  with  psychological  stress. 

With  the  collapse  of  Phalanx  in  1904,  Kandinsky  had  recognized  his  need 
to  immerse  himself  in  his  own  work  and  to  strive  vigorously  toward  his  goal. 
But  this  inward  turning  had  brought  him  face  to  face  with  his  inner  self,  with 
doubts  and  questions  and  temptations.  It  was  in  Paris  in  December  of  1906 
that  Kandinsky  had  attained  his  fortieth  year,  depressed  and  temporarily  es- 
tranged from  Miinter.  He  was  forty  and  still  his  dream  of  a  new  way  in  art 
had  not  been  realized;  it  must  have  seemed  to  him  that  his  dream  eluded  him 
fiendishly.  The  differential  between  his  actual  production  at  the  time— lyrical 
and  pleasing  as  it  was— and  the  true  breaking  away  of  which  he  dreamed, 
when  he  measured  his  work  against  that  of  Matisse,  Picasso,  Braque,  Derain, 
Rouault  and  others  whose  works  he  saw  there,  must  have  seemed  to  him  as 
a  vast  chasm.  It  would  have  been  simple  for  him  to  adapt  the  styles  and  tech- 
niques he  encountered  in  Paris,  such  as  the  radical  Pointillism  or  bold  color 
combinations  of  the  Fauves,  but  he  could  not  on  principle  adopt  such  easy 
solutions.  Kandinsky  had  already  made  this  clear  in  a  letter  to  Miinter  of 
April  1905,  in  which  he  had  criticized  Jawlensky's  Tupfenmalen  (literally, 


57 


31.  Letter  from  Kandinsky  to  Miinter, 
Z6.4.05,  partially  quoted  in  Eichner, 
p.  88. " 

32.  The  richness  of  Kandinsky's  involve- 
ment with  the  interesting  personalities 
of  the  Tendances  Nouvelles  group  is 
well  documented  in  Fineberg,  op.  cit. 

33.  Lindsay  K/M  letters:  13.7.04. 

34.  Eichner,  p.  53. 


"dot-painting")  as  "not  quite  right,"  and  implied  that  it  was  for  him  a  tech- 
nique devoid  of  meaning.31  Obrist  had  chided  him  for  devoting  himself  to  his 
"black"  studies  (the  color  drawings  on  dark  ground),  Miinter  had  criticized 
his  absorption  with  woodcuts.  But  deep  within  himself,  he  knew  that  it  would 
be  necessary  to  push  this  decorative  or  lyric  style  of  his  to  its  extreme. 

In  fact,  Kandinsky's  success  with  his  graphic  work  had  led  to  his  involve- 
ment during  the  Paris  year  with  an  enthusiastic  circle  of  admirers  centered 
around  the  Symbolist  journal  Tendances  Nouvelles.'2  He  produced  a  flood  of 
lyrical  woodcuts,  many  of  which  were  published  in  Tendances  Nouvelles,  and 
continued  to  develop  the  thematic  ideas  enunciated  in  such  earlier  Munich 
works  as  Sunday,  Old  Russian  and  Verses  Without  Words  of  the  1903-04 
period  (cat.  nos.  195,  210,  211). 

At  last  the  mood  and  thematic  content  of  these  Munich  works  reached  a 
culmination  in  the  monumental  tempera  Motley  Life  (fig.  21).  Completed  in 
Paris  early  in  1907,  it  was  apparently  the  largest  painting  (145  by  160  centi- 
meters) Kandinsky  had  yet  brought  to  conclusion.  (Although  in  a  letter  to 
Miinter  in  the  summer  of  1904  he  had  described  a  painting  that  was  to  mea- 
sure 120  by  240  centimeters.")  Monumental  for  reasons  beyond  its  sheer 
size,  the  painting  presents  in  a  single  unified  expression  the  universal  themes 
of  life  in  its  multiplicity  and  death  in  its  mystery,  themes  which  were  to  per- 
sist long  afterwards  in  Kandinsky's  oeuvre.  Stylistically,  it  brought  to  a  bril- 
liant climax  the  technique  of  disposing  mosaic  color  dots  against  a  dark 
ground  to  create  a  rich  tapestry  effect.  Other  temperas  from  the  same  year 
based  on  similar  lyric  themes,  such  as  Early  Hour,  Panic  and  Storm  Bell  were 
also  of  fairly  large  format.  The  latter  paintings,  with  their  disturbed  subject 
matter  and  titles  evoke  feelings  which  contrast  markedly  with  the  harmoni- 
ous and  confident  mood  of  Motley  Life.  Indeed,  they  suggest  that  a  new  pe- 
riod of  doubt  followed  the  completion  of  Motley  Life,  particularly  in  view  of 
their  position  in  Kandinsky's  house  catalogue,  which  indicates  that  they  were 
painted  after  Motley  Life.  This  deduction  is  further  substantiated  by  Kan- 
dinsky's retreat  in  June  of  1907  to  the  mountain  resort  of  Bad  Reichenhall 
for  a  "rest  cure"  and  his  continuation  in  Berlin  of  the  tempera  paintings.3' 
His  work  during  the  Paris  interlude  still  reflected  a  deep  schism  between  the 
lure  of  the  decorative  and  the  demands  of  naturalism,  for  he  had  continued 
to  produce  oil  studies  from  nature  in  this  period.  Gradually  his  oil  color  was 
becoming  more  brilliant  and  beginning  to  approach  the  glowing  quality  of 
the  color  in  the  woodcuts.  However,  Kandinsky's  recurrent  depressions  indi- 
cate that  he  recognized  he  had  not  yet  found  a  satisfactory  solution  to  this 
stylistic  conflict. 

In  the  late  spring  of  1908  Kandinsky  and  Miinter  returned  again  to  the 
mountains  of  Bavaria— always  a  favorite  area  of  theirs  for  painting  and  recre- 
ational excursions— visiting  Murnau  in  June  and  again  in  August,  then  taking 
an  apartment  together  in  Ainmillerstrasse  in  Schwabing  with  a  grateful  sense 
of  returning  home.  Consciously  Kandinsky  put  the  tempera  paintings  and 
woodcuts  behind  him  and  stood  resolutely  before  the  Bavarian  landscape. 

Nestled  scenically  between  the  shore  of  Lake  Staffel  and  the  broad  Mur- 
nau moor,  the  old  market  town  of  Murnau  lay  in  almost  pristine  beauty  at 


58 


35-  Kandinsky,  Vber  das  Geistige  in  der 
Kunst,  Bern,  Benteli-Verlag,  1965,  pp. 
no-112  (originally  published  by  Piper 
&C  Co.,  Munich,  1912);  Eichner,  pp. 
111-113;  Karl  Gutbrod,  ed.,  "Lieber 
Freund  .  .  ."  Kiinstler  schreiben  an 
Will  Grohmann,  Cologne,  DuMont 
Schauberg,  1968,  pp.  60-61  (letter  of 
23.11.3z);  Kandinsky,  "Mes  gravures 
sur  bois,"  XXe  Steele,  no.  27,  Decem- 
ber 1966,  p.  17  (originally  published  in 
XXe  Siecle,  no.  3, 1938). 

36.  On  the  relationship  of  the  Cunz  wood- 
cut to  Kandinsky's  work,  see  Weiss, 

p.  128. 

37.  See  the  photograph  of  the  lost  oil 
painting  based  on  the  abduction  motif 
reproduced  in  Rothel,  p.  471  (no.  19). 


the  foot  of  the  Wetterstein  and  Karwendel  Alps,  beneath  Garmisch-Parten- 
kirchen  and  only  a  few  miles  below  Oberammergau.  The  wooded  Kogeln,  or 
hills,  that  were  once  islands  in  an  Ice  Age  sea  added  a  picturesque  note  to  an 
otherwise  almost  too  dramatic  view.  Clean  air  and  the  brilliant  light  char- 
acteristic of  the  subalpine  climate  appeared  to  diminish  perspective,  so  that 
the  hills  and  mountains  seemed  to  share,  at  an  indeterminate  distance,  a  nar- 
row crystalline  plane.  Far  from  the  competitive  distractions  of  the  city,  Mur- 
nau  offered  a  tranquil  retreat. 

As  if  a  gate  had  suddenly  opened  onto  a  new  vista,  Kandinsky  now  expe- 
rienced a  liberation  in  style  that  represented  a  drastic  break  with  the  recent 
past.  All  at  once,  there  seemed  to  be  a  way  to  resolve  the  dichotomy  between 
his  impressionist  landscapes  and  the  lyric  works  that  had  held  his  heart  in 
thrall  for  so  long.  In  several  later  statements  Kandinsky  explained  that  his 
transition  to  abstraction  had  been  effected  by  means  of  three  major  steps: 
the  overcoming  of  perspective  through  the  achievement  of  two-dimension- 
ality; a  new  application  of  graphic  elements  to  oil  painting;  the  creation  of  a 
new  "floating"  space  by  the  separation  of  color  from  line.35  In  fact,  numerous 
changes  began  to  take  place  at  this  point  in  his  career.  Now  for  the  first  time 
he  began  to  transfer  to  the  oil  medium  the  elements  he  had  so  successfully 
learned  to  manipulate  in  his  woodcuts  and  lyric  tempera  paintings,  namely 
line,  flat  planes  of  saturated  color  and  the  "noncolors"  of  drawing,  black 
and  white. 

This  transfer  was  so  successful  that  some  paintings  exhibited  the  char- 
acteristics of  woodcuts.  The  graphic  qualities  of  flattened  perspective,  an  am- 
bivalent equality  of  positive  and  negative  forms,  and  a  clear  definition  of 
forms  can  be  observed  in  comparing  his  painting  Landscape  near  Murnaii 
with  Locomotive,  1909  (cat.  no.  260),  with  a  woodcut  on  a  similar  theme  by 
Martha  Cunz  (cat.  no.  259)— a  print  with  which  Kandinsky  would  have  been 
familiar.3^  So  intense  was  Kandinsky's  preoccupation  during  1908  with  the 
transference  of  this  lyric  manner  to  landscape  painting  that  he  abandoned 
woodcut  and  tempera  almost  entirely  and  instead  devoted  himself  to  land- 
scape painting  in  oil.  For  the  first  time  since  the  earliest  student  years,  the 
landscape  genre  outweighed  the  decorative.  Only  two  woodcuts  may  have 
been  executed  that  year:  these  are  Archer  and  the  abduction  motif  for  the 
Neue  Kiinstlervereinigung  membership  card  (cat.  nos.  269,  276),  both  of 
which  were  also  the  subjects  of  oil  paintings.  In  fact,  the  successful  transfer- 
ence of  the  graphic  to  the  painterly  resulted  in  an  interchangeability  of  media 
such  that  the  same  subject  was  often  to  appear  in  both  idioms.  For  example, 
White  Sound  and  Lyrical,  both  1908,  as  well  as  Archer  and  the  abduction  mo- 
tif, appear  as  both  oil  paintings  and  as  woodcuts  (cat.  nos.  265-268). 37  This 
represented  a  significant  breakthrough,  since  the  techniques  of  woodcut  and 
tempera  had  with  few  exceptions  previously  been  reserved  for  lyric  or  fantasy 
subjects.  The  only  interchange  between  media  had  occurred  in  the  transfer- 
ring of  a  decorative  "color  drawing"  (tempera  on  colored  cardboard  or 
paper)  to  woodcut.  Landscapes  were  formerly  executed  almost  exclusively  in 
oil,  and  in  a  more  or  less  impressionist  manner.  Now,  however,  the  thought- 
ful, constructive,  graphic  method  (what  Eichner  called  the  "applied  arts" 


59 


fig.  2.7 

Vasily  Kandinsky 
Winter  I.     1909 
Oil  on  cardboard 

Collection  The  Hermitage,  Leningrad 


38.  Compare  Erika  Hanfstaengl,  ed.,Was- 
sily  Kandinsky-Zeichnungen  und 
Aquarelle  im  Lenbachhaus  Mtincben, 

Munich,  Prestel  Verlag,  1974,  no.  121, 
p.  54,  and  Rothel,  p.  445. 


method)  of  the  woodcuts  and  decorative  tempera  paintings,  with  their  mo- 
saic or  cloisonne-like  paint  application,  is  carried  over  into  the  oils  painted 
from  nature.  For  the  first  time  the  two  genres  share  an  equally  colorful  yet 
structured  confidence  of  execution,  as  demonstrated  in  Before  the  City  and 
White  Sound,  both  1908  (cat.  nos.  299,  265). 

By  1909,  when  the  lyric  pictures  based  on  fantasy  themes  returned  to 
take  their  place  side  by  side  with  the  landscapes,  line  as  contour  was  empha- 
sized equally  in  both  genres,  and  the  medium  employed  for  both  was  oil,  as 
exemplified  in  Winter  1  (fig.  27)  and  Blue  Mountain  (cat.  no.  296),  both  1909. 
Soon  linear  schemata  replaced  more  representational  forms.  And  with  the 
resolution  of  stylistic  conflict,  Kandinsky  began  once  more  to  produce  wood- 
cuts. In  1909  the  portfolio  Xylographies  was  published  in  Paris,  albeit  with 
woodcuts  of  the  1907  period;  and  he  had  begun  to  think  about  executing  an 
album  of  music  and  woodcuts,  and  perhaps  another  with  text  and  wood- 
cuts.38 By  1910  he  was  once  again  making  woodcuts  with  his  old  gusto. 

Kandinsky  now  felt  confident  enough  of  the  new  development  in  his 
style  to  accord  the  old  dichotomy  a  kind  of  official  recognition  by  assigning 
verbal  categories  to  the  different  modes.  Those  paintings  derived  directly  from 
observations  of  nature  he  would  now  designate  as  "Impressions";  those  lyric 
works  which  derived  from  fantasy  or,  as  he  was  to  say,  "impressions  of  inner 
nature,"  he  would  call  "Improvisations";  and  on  the  major  canvases  which 
required  slow  and  thoughtful  preparation  (in  reality  extensions  of  the  second 
category),  he  would  bestow  the  selective  title  "Compositions."  Although  the 
explanation  of  these  categories  did  not  appear  in  print  until  publication  of 
Uber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst  in  191 1,  the  first  Improvisation  title  was  used 
by  1909.  While  all  of  his  works  were  not  differentiated  in  their  titles  by  these 
designations,  their  categories  can,  in  fact,  easily  be  discerned.  Significantly, 
the  "impressions  of  inner  nature"  were  still  almost  invariably  larger  than 
the  nature  studies. 


60 


Previously,  the  landscapes  from  nature  had  been  restricted  to  very  small 
format,  and  only  the  lyric  paintings  had  achieved  monumental  proportions. 
Gradually,  however,  during  the  1908-09  period  the  sizes  of  the  oil  landscapes 
began  to  increase.  Still,  it  was  not  until  1910  that  they  approached  the  scale 
of  paintings  with  fantasy  themes.  In  1911  the  designation  "Impression"  was 
first  used,  and  the  largest  of  them,  Impression  II  (Moscow)  (120  by  140  centi- 
meters), was  still  not  as  large  as  the  lyric  painting  of  1907,  Motley  Life.  Nev- 
ertheless, there  was  now  a  real  consonance  of  style  and  execution  between 
the  two  categories,  the  Impressions  and  the  Improvisations  sharing  the  tech- 
nical breakthrough  of  emancipated  color  and  line  used  schematically  to  sug- 
gest the  barest  outline  of  objective  content:  compare,  for  example,  Impression 
V  (Park)  and  Improvisation  20  (fig.  28),  both  of  1911. 

Kandinsky's  new  confidence  spilled  over  into  all  aspects  of  his  life.  As  in 
the  early  days  of  his  emancipation  from  apprenticeship,  now  too  he  moved 
to  take  an  active  role  in  the  artistic  life  around  him.  He  participated  in  the 
founding  of  an  exhibition  society,  the  Neue  Kunstlervereinigung  Miinchen 
(NKVM;  New  Artists'  Society  of  Munich);  he  began  to  organize  the  notes 
he  had  kept  over  the  years  for  a  book  and  for  his  color  operas;  and  he  re- 
sumed reporting  on  the  Munich  art  scene  for  Russian  journals.  A  new  confi- 
dence was  evident  in  his  personal  relationships  as  well.  He  now  lived  openly 
with  Miinter  and  introduced  her  as  "my  wife— Gabriele  Munter."  Together 
they  furnished  the  apartment  at  Ainmillerstrasse  and  looked  for  a  house  in 
Murnau.  When  Munter  purchased  one  the  following  year,  Kandinsky  joined 
enthusiastically  in  its  decoration,  creating  a  stenciled  design  of  leaping  horses 
and  riders  for  the  stairway  (cat.  nos.  33,  34),  and  painting  furniture  in  the 
bright,  raw  colors  of  peasant  tradition  (cat.  nos.  30-32).  Once  more,  the 
decorative  became  an  integrated  part  of  his  life,  and  he  joined  Munter  in 


fig.  28 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

Improvisation  20.     1911 

Oil  on  canvas 

Collection  Puschkin-Museum,  Moscow 


61 


39-  Peter  Selz,  German  Expressionist 
Painting,  Berkeley  and  Los  Angeles, 
University  of  California  Press,  1957, 
p.  193,  and  Gordon. 


collecting  and  imitating  examples  of  peasant  art  such  as  the  indigenous  Hin- 
terglasmalereien  (glass  paintings)  and  wood  carvings  of  the  area  (cat.  nos. 
318,  320,  35-37,  39)- 

With  the  foundation  of  the  NKVM  in  January  of  1909,  Kandinsky  again 
established  himself  as  an  active  force  on  the  Munich  scene.  He  had  renewed 
his  acquaintance  with  his  compatriots  Alexej  Jawlensky  and  Marianne  von 
Werefkin,  whom  he  had  known  since  his  days  at  the  Azbe  school,  and  with 
Alfred  Kuhin.  In  addition  to  these  friends  and  Miinter,  the  NKVM  included 
Adolf  Erbsloh,  Alexander  Kanoldt,  Paul  Baum,  Vladimir  von  Bechtejeff,  Erma 
Bossi,  Karl  Hofer,  Moissey  Kogan  and  the  dancer  Alexander  Sacharoff. 
Pierre  Girieud,  Emmi  Dresler  and  others  were  to  participate  in  the  first  exhi- 
bition of  the  group,  which  took  place  the  following  December.  It  was  a  size- 
able organization  with  an  international  membership  at  a  time  when  there 
was  a  growing  isolationism  in  the  arts  in  Germany.  The  membership  circular 
(cat.  no.  282)  articulated  Kandinsky's  concept  of  an  artistic  "synthesis" 
which  unites  all  artists  and  by  means  of  which,  dispensing  with  all  that  is 
extraneous,  only  the  "necessary"  is  brought  to  expression.  Kandinsky  de- 
signed the  signet  and  poster  of  the  NKVM  (cat.  nos.  272-274,  271),  as  he  had 
done  for  the  Phalanx. 

At  the  first  NKVM  exhibition  Kandinsky  showed  five  paintings,  a  sketch, 
two  studies  and  five  woodcuts.  The  two  largest  and  most  expensive  works 
were  Picture  with  Crinolined  Ladies  and  Picture  with  Boat,  both  1909  and 
both  paintings  of  the  lyric  or  improvisational  mode.  Group  in  Crinolines  (cat. 
no.  284),  in  the  Guggenheim  Museum  collection,  is  a  painting  of  the  same 
theme  and  year  as  Crinolined  Ladies  (it  was  not,  however,  included  in  the 
NKVM  show).  Among  other  works  exhibited  were  Pierre  Girieud's  Judas, 
ca.  1909,  and  Bechtejeff's  Battle  of  the  Amazons,  ca.  1910  (cat.  nos.  286,  297). 

But  it  was  the  second  exhibition  of  the  NKVM  in  the  autumn  of  1910, 
which,  as  Peter  Selz  has  said,  was  the  first  exhibition  anywhere  "in  which  the 
international  scope  of  the  modern  movement  could  be  estimated.  .  .  ."39 
Georges  Braque,  David  and  Vladimir  Burliuk,  Andre  Derain,  Kees  van  Don- 
gen,  Henri  Le  Fauconnier,  Pablo  Picasso,  Georges  Rouault  and  Maurice  Vla- 
minck  were  among  the  new  exhibitors.  Ironically,  Munich,  which,  in  the 
years  since  the  demise  of  Phalanx,  had  lost  its  position  as  Germany's  first  art 
city  to  Berlin  and  had  grown  increasingly  conservative,  again  became  the 
center  of  an  avant-garde  of  international  scope.  Moreover,  Kandinsky  him- 
self had  become  an  international  figure. 

Kandinsky  exhibited  four  paintings  and  six  woodcuts  at  the  second 
NKVM  show,  demonstrating  his  continuing  conviction  regarding  the  value  of 
that  lyric  medium.  Of  the  paintings,  only  one  was  a  landscape;  the  others 
were  of  the  improvisational  lyric  mode:  Composition  II,  Improvisation  10 
and  Boatride,  all  1910.  Composition  II  was  the  largest  painting  he  had  yet 
produced  (200  by  275  centimeters,  that  is,  almost  exactly  twice  the  size  of  the 
Guggenheim's  Study  for  the  canvas  [cat.  no.  285],  which  was  lost  in  World 
War  II).  Significantly,  the  three  major  paintings  Kandinsky  selected  for  inclu- 
sion in  this  exhibition  represented  three  major  breakthroughs  in  his  progress 
toward  an  art  entirely  divested  of  reference  to  the  external  world,  three  steps 


62 


to  abstraction  which  he  himself  later  identified  as  such:  freedom  from  per- 
spective {Composition  II),  use  of  line  as  a  painterly  element  (Composition  II 
and  Improvisation  10)  and  the  painterly  use  of  the  "graphic"  colors  black 
and  white  (Boatride). 

The  flat,  tapestry-like  quality  of  Composition  II  was  immediately  singled 
out  as  an  object  of  scorn  by  Munich  critics  who  castigated  the  entire  exhibi- 
tion as  the  work  of  madmen  or  "morphine  drunks."  Composition  II,  wrote 
one  wag,  was  like  nothing  so  much  as  a  sketch  for  a  tapestry,  and  the  title  a 
mere  excuse  by  an  artist  who  could  think  of  nothing  better. 

The  catalogue  of  the  second  NKVM  exhibition  contained  the  most  ex- 
tensive programmatic  statements  yet  made  on  the  occasion  of  a  group  show 
organized  by  Kandinsky.  In  addition  to  a  lyrical,  almost  messianic,  procla- 
mation by  Kandinsky,  there  were  essays  by  Le  Fauconnier,  the  two  Burliuk 
brothers  and  Odilon  Redon,  as  well  as  a  reprint  of  an  unsigned  introduction 
to  a  catalogue  for  a  Georges  Rouault  exhibition.  The  intermingling  of  a  mul- 
tiplicity of  themes  and  ideas,  the  unity  in  diversity  represented  by  the  con- 
junction of  these  essays  was  characteristic  of  Kandinsky's  approach.  It  was  a 
literary  parallel  both  to  the  exhibition  of  heterogeneous  works  of  art  and  to 
the  all-embracing  thematic  content  of  his  own  Composition  II.  Le  Fauconnier 
wrote  of  the  structural  basis  of  art,  articulating  an  essentially  Cubist  point  of 
view;  the  Burliuks  drew  an  analogy  between  the  traditional  Russian  arts  of 
the  lubki  (or  folk  print),  the  icon  and  church  frescoes  and  the  best  of  modern 
French  art  from  van  Gogh  to  Matisse  and  Picasso;  Redon  spoke  as  a  Sym- 
bolist of  the  "suggestive  art"  which  can  call  forth  dreams,  and  of  a  younger 
generation  which  would  be  more  receptive  to  this  idealistic  art.  The  essay 
on  Rouault  particularly  took  note  of  his  role  as  both  artist  and  craftsman 
(painter  and  ceramist)  as  exemplifying  an  ideal  union  between  art  and  life 
comparable  to  that  of  medieval  times.  Kandinsky's  hymn  to  the  creative  act 
gave  expression  to  the  mystery  and  pain  through  which  the  artist  creates  a 
work  out  of  conflicting  elements,  and  of  art  as  the  "language"  through  which 
humans  speak  to  one  another  of  the  "suprahuman." 

The  confidence  Kandinsky  displayed  in  his  artistic  production  and  in  his 
activism  was  reflected  as  well  in  the  critical  judgements  he  expressed  in  his 
reviews  for  the  Russian  journal  Apollon,  five  of  which  were  published  in 
1910-11.  He  tore  into  the  complacency  and  conservatism  into  which  Munich 
had  declined,  and  reported  with  obvious  relish  the  intensity  of  the  reactions 
provoked  by  the  NKVM  exhibitions.  But  more  importantly  the  reviews  docu- 
ment his  observations  and  opinions  on  major  artistic  events  that  were  still 
taking  place  in  Munich.  For  example,  the  reviews  particularly  reveal  the  great 
impact  exerted  on  Kandinsky  by  the  major  Munich  exhibition  of  Japanese 
and  East  Asian  Art  (in  the  summer  of  1909)  and  the  monumental  exhibition 
of  Mohammedan  Art  in  the  summer  of  1910.  In  the  Japanese  exhibition  Kan- 
dinsky was  particularly  impressed  by  the  outstanding  group  of  woodcuts 
which,  he  wrote,  displayed  an  "inner  sound"  that  unites  them  in  their  very 
diversity.  In  commenting  on  the  Mohammedan  exhibition,  Kandinsky  noted 
that  he  had  already  become  familiar  with  Persian  miniatures  in  the  Kaiser 
Friedrich-Museum  in  Berlin  but  was  completely  enchanted  by  them  again  in 


63 


the  Mohammedan  show.  He  remarked  especially  on  their  technical  virtu- 
osity, their  extreme  beauty,  their  total  freedom  from  reality,  the  "sometimes 
insidious  beauty  of  the  line,"  the  "primitiveness"  of  color,  the  "seething 
abundance"  of  details  which  nevertheless  reveals  an  "inner  realm."  He  mar- 
velled at  the  way  the  tiny  figures  seemed  to  be  "modeled,"  yet  at  the  same 
time  appeared  to  "remain  in  the  plane"  of  the  picture,  the  magical  way  per- 
spective was  overcome  by  simple  devices  such  as  turning  the  heads  of  horses 
in  a  team  so  that  they  are  visible  although  one  runs  in  a  row  next  to  the  other. 
In  short,  he  admired  the  artistic  freedom  of  these  virtuosos. 

In  his  third  Apolloti  review,  published  in  April  of  1910,  Kandinsky  com- 
mented on  two  exhibitions  brought  by  Thannhauser  to  his  Moderne  Galerie 
in  Munich  (where  the  NKV.M  had  shown):  one  by  the  Swiss  artists  Cuno 
Amiet  and  Giovanni  Giacometti,  the  other  by  a  group  of  Fauvist  painters. 
His  warmest  remarks  were  reserved  for  Matisse,  but  most  interesting  was  his 
attack  on  the  Fauvist  method  in  general.  Although  it  is  often  said  that  Kan- 
dinsky was  much  influenced  by  the  Fauves  during  his  year  in  Paris,  there  is 
little  real  evidence  to  support  such  a  view  except  possibly  the  brightening  of 
his  palette  after  his  return,  and  in  this  review  he  raised  questions  which 
clearly  indicate  his  distance  from  them.  While  he  found  the  Fauve's  peinture 
itself  beautiful,  he  criticized  their  attachment  to  the  fortuitous  details  of  real- 
ity. He  observed  that  their  arbitrary  use  of  color  achieved  little  more  than  the 
presentation  of  nature  "colored  in  various  ways,  just  as  one  may  paint  a 
house,  a  chair  or  a  cabinet  in  various  manners."  But  these  differently  colored 
objects  remain  objects  and  have  not  been  "transformed"  into  art.  He  per- 
ceived that  the  "linear  element"  had  not  been  emancipated,  except  in  the 
work  of  Matisse.  These  artists,  he  wrote,  have  not  yet  developed  a  language 
necessary  for  the  creation  of  a  truly  painterly  composition. 

If  Munich's  own  art  scene  had  grown  stale,  nevertheless  the  city  was  still, 
perhaps  more  than  ever  before,  a  center  of  international  culture,  as  the  pres- 
ence of  these  exhibitions  abundantly  indicated.  The  Far  and  Near  Eastern 
exhibitions  excited  international  interest  and  visitors  flocked  to  Munich  to 
see  them.  Matisse  made  a  special  trip  to  Munich  for  the  Mohammedan  show, 
and  Roger  Fry  reviewed  it  enthusiastically  for  The  Burlington  Magazine. 

While  these  selections  from  Kandinsky's  reviews  indicate  to  some  degree 
the  breadth  of  his  experience  and  the  thoughtfulness  with  which  he  ap- 
proached a  wide  variety  of  artistic  phenomena,  they  barely  begin  to  suggest 
the  true  spectrum  of  his  interests  during  this  period.  For  example,  at  this 
time  Kandinsky  and  his  colleagues  were  also  discovering  the  attractions  of 
Bavarian  folk  art  (figs.  29,  30),  especially  the  Hinterglasmalereien  and  wood 
carvings  that  were  a  cottage  industry  in  the  Murnau  area.  The  naivete  with 
which  the  universal  religious  motifs  were  rendered  and  the  freshness  of  color 
in  the  glass  paintings  held  immense  appeal  for  Kandinsky  and  the  artists  of 
his  circle,  who  themselves  began  to  experiment  with  the  medium.  Not  only 
were  the  formal  simplifications,  the  bright  colors,  the  crude  uninhibited  draw- 
ing appealing,  but  also  the  universal  religious  myth  retold  in  this  simple  way 
carried  its  own  impact.  Kandinsky  was  later  to  state  that  eventually  he  turned 
to  more  universal  subjects  after  leaving  his  purely  Russian  folk  themes  be- 


64 


fig- 2-9 

Votive  Painting  from  Parish  Church  of 

St.  Nikolaus,  Murnau 

Paint  on  panel 


fig.  30 

St.  Luke.  Upper  Bavaria,  ca.  1800 

Glass  painting 


40.  Letter  to  Will  Grohmann,  12.10.24,  ir 
Gutbrod,  ed.,  pp.  46-47. 

41.  Kandinsky,  Uber  das  Geistige  in  der 
Kunst,  pp.  70-71, 117,  and  also  Eich- 
ner,  p.  112. 


hind.40  Indeed,  the  universal  roots  of  the  Christian  myths  so  naively  reported 
in  the  artifacts  of  the  peasants  held  a  special  appeal  for  Kandinsky,  who  rec- 
ognized here  the  potential  value  of  such  a  symbolic  vehicle  for  communicat- 
ing his  own  message. 

As  he  was  to  remark  in  Uber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst,  objects  have  their 
own  inner  sounds  and  to  do  away  with  them  all  at  once  in  an  effort  to  arrive 
at  pure  abstraction  would  simply  diminish  the  store  of  devices  with  which  the 
artist  communicates  fundamental  truths/'1  He  had  already  found  it  possible 
to  suggest  this  inner  sound  of  objects  with  the  barest  minimum  of  linear 
means.  And  now  he  discovered  another  device  within  the  vast  "arsenal"  at 
the  artist's  disposal:  the  peasant  depictions  of  the  myths  of  creation,  con- 
frontation, passage  or  death,  regeneration  and  salvation.  Kandinsky  noticed 
that  in  the  naively  executed  Hinterglasbilder  these  universal  myths  were 
transmitted  instantaneously,  without  the  excess  baggage  of  culture  and  learn- 
ing. Such  immediate  transmission  of  eternal  truth  was  what  Kandinsky  hoped 
to  achieve  by  shedding  the  dross  of  accumulated  pictorial  tradition. 

During  this  period,  a  propitious  result  of  the  second  NKVM  exhibition 
was  the  meeting  with  Franz  Marc,  whose  enthusiastic  comment  on  the  show 
in  a  letter  to  Thannhauser  led  to  an  immediate  friendship  with  Kandinsky, 
who  was  greatly  impressed  by  the  younger  artist's  sensitivity  to  his  own  work 
and  ideas.  Indeed,  at  the  same  time  that  Kandinsky  was  composing  his  ec- 


65 


42.  Lankheit,  Franz  Marc  Schriften,  pp. 
116-127.  It  's  interesting  to  note  that 
Marc's  comments  were  written  in  Sep- 
tember, while  the  critical  attack  com- 
paring Composition  II  to  a  sketch  for  a 
modern  carpet  or  tapestry  appeared  in 
Kunst  fiir  Alle  in  November. 


static  lines  on  the  Mohammedan  exhibition  for  Apollon,  unbeknownst  to 
him,  Marc  was  writing: 

It  is  a  shame  that  one  cannot  hang  Kandinsky's  great  Composition  [II] 
and  others  next  to  the  Mohammedan  tapestries  at  the  Exhibition  Park. 
A  comparison  would  be  unavoidable  and  how  educational  for  its  all! 
Wherein  lies  our  amazed  admiration  of  this  oriental  art?  Does  it  not 
mockingly  show  us  the  one-sided  limitation  of  our  European  concepts  of 
paintings?  Its  thousand  times  deeper  art  of  color  and  composition  makes 
a  shambles  of  our  conventional  theories.  We  have  in  Germany  scarcely 
a  decorative  work,  let  alone  a  tapestry,  that  we  could  hang  next  to  these. 
Let  us  try  it  with  Kandinsky's  Compositions— they  will  stand  this  dan- 
gerous test,  and  not  as  tapestry,  rather  as  "Pictures."  What  artistic  in- 
sight hides  in  this  unique  painter!  The  grand  consequence  of  his  colors 
holds  the  balance  of  his  graphic  freedom— is  that  not  at  the  same  time  a 
definition  of  painting?42 

By  this  time  Kandinsky  and  his  colleagues  were  preparing  for  the  third 
exhibition  of  the  NKVM,  which  was  scheduled  to  take  place  in  December 
of  1911.  But  tensions  were  brewing,  and  Kandinsky  had  already  stepped 
down  as  president  when  Marc  formally  joined  the  group  in  February  of  that 
year.  This  was  to  be  the  year  of  the  infamous  Protest  deutscher  Kiinstler, 
published  in  spiteful  chauvinistic  fury  by  the  Worpswede  artist  Carl  Vinnen, 
with  a  long  list  of  supporters  from  Germany's  artistic  establishment.  The  pro- 
testers attacked  the  importation  of  foreign  art  into  Germany  by  dealers  and 
museum  directors,  a  situation  which  they  claimed  was  stunting  the  growth 
of  pure  German  art.  The  pamphlet  appeared  in  the  spring,  and  was  imme- 
diately met  with  a  counterattack  inspired  by  Marc,  edited  by  Alfred  Heymel 
(publisher  of  the  beautiful  but  short-lived  Jugendstil  journal  Insel)  and  pub- 
lished by  Piper  of  Munich  in  Kampf  um  die  Kunst.  This  counterattack  in- 
cluded the  signatures  of  the  most  prominent  non-establishment  artists  in 
Germany,  among  them  Max  Liebermann,  Corinth,  Max  Pechstein,  Emil  Or- 
lik,  Rudolf  Bosselt,  Henry  van  de  Velde  and,  of  course,  Marc  and  Kandinsky. 
Critics  and  dealers  who  signed  included  Wilhelm  Worringer,  Hans  Tietze, 
Paul  Cassirer  and  Wilhelm  Hausenstein.  Kandinsky's  lyrical  panegyric  be- 
gan: "Like  the  world  and  the  cosmos  equally,  man  consists  of  two  elements: 
the  inner  and  the  outer.  .  .  ."  Today,  he  wrote,  artists  need  the  external  ele- 
ment which  provides  structure,  but  in  future,  painting  will  achieve  the  state 
of  pure  art  already  attained  by  music. 

The  more  conservative  artists  of  the  NKVM,  led  by  Erbsloh  and  Kanoldt, 
began  to  look  askance  at  their  colleagues.  Perhaps  this  talk  of  "pure  painting" 
was  serious.  Besides,  Kandinsky  was  a  foreigner.  By  August,  Marc  and  Kan- 
dinsky were  aware  that  the  NKVM  could  not  be  held  together,  and  Marc 
predicted  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Macke  that  a  split  would  follow  the  next 
jury  meeting  in  late  fall.  In  fact,  when  the  NKVM  jury  did  convene  in  early 
December,  a  quarrel  developed  over  the  question  of  whether  or  not  Kan- 
dinsky's Composition  V  of  1911  would  be  allowed  in  the  show.  Members 
were  supposed  to  be  permitted  two  jury-free  paintings  in  each  exhibition,  so 


66 


fig.  31 

Vasily  Kandinsky 
The  Blue  Rider.     1903 
Oil  on  canvas 
Buhrle  Collection,  Zurich 


long  as  they  were  not  over  four  square  meters  in  surface.  Since  the  majority 
of  the  jury  opposed  the  painting,  and  since  it  exceeded  the  acceptable  size  by 
a  few  centimeters,  it  was  to  be  refused.  Marc  tried  to  convince  the  members 
to  change  the  rules,  which  in  any  case  had  never  been  strictly  observed,  but 
to  no  avail.  Whereupon  Kandinsky,  Marc,  Miinter  and  Kubin  resigned  at 
once. 

In  1904  Kandinsky  had  written  to  Miinter:  "Art  is  conflict  and  victory 
and  happiness."43  It  seemed  to  him  now  that  victory  was  in  the  offing;  the 
battle  was  engaged. 


V     The  Blue  Rider:  Exorcism  and  Transformation 


43.  Lindsay  K/M  letters:  18.7.04. 

44.  In  a  letter  to  Marc  written  on  1.9. 11, 
Macke  praised  Kandinsky's  work  in 
lyrical  terms  and  said:  "His  storming 
riders  are  his  coat  of  arms.  .  .  ."  (Wolf- 
gang Macke,  ed.,  August  Macke-Franz 
Marc:  Briefwechsel,  Cologne,  DuMont 
Schauberg,  1964,  p.  70.)  In  his  article 
on  "The  Genesis  and  Meaning  of  the 
Cover  Design  for  the  First  Blaue  Reiter 
Exhibition  Catalog,"  Art  Bulletin,  vol. 
xxxv,  1953,  p.  49,  Kenneth  Lindsay 
called  the  horse-and-rider  motif  Kan- 
dinsky's "symbol  of  poetic  inspiration." 


The  horse-and-rider  motif  had  become  a  dominant  one  in  Kandinsky's  work 
during  the  year  1911.  This  most  consistent  of  his  images  became  his  personal 
emblem.4*1  Before  the  year  was  out,  it  was  to  be  assigned  an  awesome  burden: 
as  the  Blue  Rider  it  would  carry  a  message  of  exorcism,  healing  and  salvation 
to  the  world. 

From  its  earliest  appearance  around  1901  in  such  works  as  Twilight  (cat. 
no.  184)  as  a  charging  knight  and  as  the  mysterious  blue-coated  messenger  in 
The  Rider  (now  known  as  The  Blue  Rider)  of  1903  (fig.  31)  to  the  many  riders 
of  the  woodcuts— trumpeting  messengers,  flying  crusaders— to  the  horsemen 
of  the  Impressions,  Improvisations  and  early  Compositions,  the  motif  had 
symbolized  encounter,  battle  and  quest.  Now  leaping,  lyrical,  victorious,  the 
horse  and  rider  became  a  veritable  symbol  of  encounter,  breakthrough  and 
transformation.  In  Lyrical  of  19 11  (cat.  no.  267),  he  was  transformed  into  a 
heroic  figure  of  monumental  proportions,  dwarfing  the  landscape;  and  in  Ro- 


67 


fig.  3- 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

Romantic  Landscape.     191 1 

Oil  on  canvas 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbach- 

haus,  Munich 


45.  Kandinsky  to  Marc,  19.611,  quoted  in 
Klaus  Lankheit,  ed.,  The  Blaue  Reiter 
Almanac  edited  by  Kandinsky  and 
Marc,  documentary  edition,  New  York, 
The  Viking  Press,  1974,  pp.  15-16. 

46.  Marc  to  Macke,  8.9.1 1,  quoted  in 
Wolfgang  Macke,  pp.  72-74.  Instead 
of  Sindelsdorf,  Marc  wrote  his  address 
at  the  top  of  the  letter  as  "Symbolds- 
dingen"  a  playful  comment  on  this 
symbolic  enterprise. 

47.  Kandinsky,  letter  to  Paul  Westheim  in 
Das  Kunstblatt,  xiv,  1930,  pp.  57-60. 


mantle  Landscape,  joined  by  two  others,  he  plunged  down  a  rocky  precipice 
(fig.  32).  Then  in  rapid  succession  that  same  year,  the  horse  and  rider  became 
St.  George  slaying  the  dragon,  a  St.  George  almost  recklessly  cavalier,  in 
three  major  paintings  and  several  glass  paintings,  watercolors,  woodcuts  and 
sketches  (for  example, cat.  nos.  318,  319  and  fig.  33).  The  horseback  saint 
appeared  in  other  works  as  well:  in  two  entitled  All  Saints  (one  on  glass) 
and  in  the  glass  painting  Composition  with  Saints.  But  his  most  enduring 
and  significant  embodiment  was  to  appear  on  the  cover  of  the  Blaue  Reiter 
almanac  (cat.  nos.  311-317,  365). 

In  June  of  1911  Kandinsky  had  written  to  Marc  about  his  idea  of  found- 
ing a  new  art  journal,  a  yearly  almanac,  that  would  represent,  in  his  words, 
"a  link  with  the  past  and  a  ray  into  the  future.  . . ."  It  would  be  both  "mirror" 
and  complex  synthesis:  "a  Chinese  [work]  next  to  a  Rousseau,  a  folk  print 
next  to  a  Picasso  .  .  .  [we  will  include]  writers  and  musicians.  .  .  ."45  Klaus 
Lankheit  has  described  in  detail  the  mounting  excitement  through  the  sum- 
mer and  autumn  as  plans  for  the  almanac  moved  forward.  By  September  they 
were  ready  to  make  a  public  announcement,  and  Marc  revealed  their  plans 
for  the  first  time  to  August  Macke  in  a  veritable  ecstasy,  writing  that  the 
publication  had  become  "our  whole  dream."  Describing  their  concept  of 
presenting  illustrations  of  folk  and  ethnic  art  together  with  examples  of 
modern  art,  he  added:  "We  have  hopes  for  so  much  [that  is]  healing  and 
inspirational  from  it."'6  In  fact,  the  concept  of  the  book  as  an  agent  of  heal- 
ing, even  of  exorcism  and  salvation,  was  to  be  reflected  not  only  in  its  title, 
but  in  the  selection  and  arrangement  of  the  illustrations.  The  title  was  also 
chosen  sometime  in  September  and  because,  as  Kandinsky  was  later  to  ex- 
plain, "we  both  loved  blue,  Marc— horses,  I— riders."47  By  that  time,  Kan- 
dinsky had  already  defined  blue  in  his  manuscript  for  Uber  das  Geistige  in 


fig- 33 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

St.  George  1.     191 1 

Glass  painting 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 

bachhaus,  Munich 


,  Marc  to  Macke,  12.4. 11,  quoted  in 
Wolfgang  Macke,  pp.  52-53.  For  more 
detailed  information  on  the  meeting 
of  Kandinsky  and  Klee,  see  Christian 
Geelhaar,  "Paul  Klee:  Biographische 
Chronologie,"  and  Charles  W.  Haxt- 
hausen,  "Klees  kiinstlerisches  Verhalt- 
nis  zu  Kandinsky  wahrend  der 
Miinchner  Jahre,"  in  Armin  Zweite, 
ed.,  Paul  Klee:  Das  Friibwerk  1SS3- 
1922,  Munich,  Stadtische  Galerie  im 
Lenbachhaus,  1979,  pp.  27,  98,  127. 


der  Kunst  as  "the  typical  heavenly  color,"  and  St.  George  had  become  a 
dominant  figure  in  his  painting.  The  Blue  Rider's  symbolic  function  was  not 
in  doubt.  Thus,  when  faced  with  the  pressing  need  for  a  title  for  their  "seces- 
sionist" exhibition,  they  were  ready:  it  became  the  Erste  Ansstellung  der 
Redaktion  der  Blane  Reiter  (First  Exhibition  of  the  Editorial  Board  of  the 
Blaite  Reiter). 

Not  only  Marc  but  other  catalysts  entered  Kandinsky's  magnetic  field  in 
1 9 1 1.  The  auspicious  meeting  with  Marc  was  soon  followed  by  encounters 
with  other  figures  in  the  arts.  On  the  day  after  New  Year's  19 n,  Kandinsky 
and  Marc,  together  with  other  members  of  the  NKVM,  attended  a  concert 
of  music  by  the  Viennese  composer  Arnold  Schonberg,  which  precipitated 
another  stimulating  contact.  By  autumn  Kandinsky  had  met  Marc's  friend 
Macke,  and  his  uncle  and  patron  Bernhard  Koehler,  as  well  as  Klee,  who  had 
been  his  neighbor  for  some  time.  For  the  first  time  Kandinsky  felt  himself 
surrounded  by  a  circle  of  admiring  colleagues  capable  of  understanding  his 
intellectual  and  aesthetic  message.  Buoyed  by  their  moral  support,  he  was 
ready  to  take  the  reins  of  artistic  leadership. 

The  stupendous  momentum  now  engendered  was  discharged  in  Kan- 
dinsky's production  of  some  forty  or  more  major  paintings,  many  glass  pic- 
tures, watercolors,  sketches  and  woodcuts.  At  the  same  time  he  worked  on 
the  final  details  of  the  manuscripts  for  Uber  das  Geistige  and  also  produced 
the  woodcuts  for  the  book's  vignettes  and  cover,  where  the  horse  and  rider 
would  assume  a  place  of  honor.  He  served  as  the  rallying  point  for  Marc's 
drive  to  publish  the  counterattack  to  Vinnen's  Protest  and  contributed  an 
essay  to  it/'8  Together  with  Marc,  he  forged  plans  for  the  almanac,  maintain- 
ing a  prodigious  correspondence  and  actively  seeking  ways  to  fund  the  proj- 
ect. He  worked  on  two  major  essays  for  the  almanac  and  revised  his  color 


69 


49.  Indeed,  the  secession  from  the  NKVM 
may  well  have  been  intentionally 
forced,  as  is  suggested  between  the  lines 
of  Marc's  correspondence  with  Macke 
during  the  months  from  August  to 
December  i<jr  i.  Even  as  early  as  Feb- 
ruary of  that  year,  Marc  had  reported 
that  Erbsloh  and  Kanoldt  were  in  op- 
position to  Kandinsky  (letter  to  Maria 
Franck,  13.1.11,  partially  quoted  in 
Gollek,  Franz  Marc  1880-1916,  Mu- 
nich, Prestel  Verlag,  1980,  p.  34).  As 
has  been  noted,  by  August  he  reported 
that  it  was  clear  to  both  of  them  a 
break  was  in  the  offing.  In  fact,  the 
artificial  quarrel  over  the  size  of  Com- 
position V  might  have  been  breached 
had  Kandinsky  been  willing  to  substi- 
tute another  painting.  The  equally 
important  Composition  IV  would  have 
fit  the  required  measure  and  could 
therefore  have  been  hung  without  jury 
approval.  Obviously,  breaching  the 
argument  was  not  the  point;  both 
parties  must  have  felt  that  the  schism 
was  inevitable.  In  fact,  Kandinsky 
later  recalled  that  he  and  Marc  had 
prepared  for  this  eventuality  and  thus 
were  ready  immediately  to  provide 
Thannhauser  with  an  alternate  selec- 
tion for  a  separate  exhibition. 

50.  Wilhelm  MicheI,"Kandinsky,  W. 
Ueber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst,"  in 
Kunst  fiir  Allc,  September  15,  1911, 
p.  580. 


opera  notes  to  produce  the  scenario  for  Der  gelbe  Klang,  which  would  con- 
clude the  publication.  Concurrently,  he  exhibited  in  Paris,  Cologne,  Berlin, 
Weimar  and  Odessa  and  wrote  reviews  for  Apollon. 

Thus  the  schism  with  the  NKVM  that  occurred  on  December  2,  191 1, 
must  be  seen  within  the  context  of  this  frenetic  period  as  just  another,  not 
unexpected  hurdle  in  the  race.  Within  a  scant  two  weeks  the  Editorial  Board 
of  the  Blaite  Reiter  was  prepared  to  mount  a  modest  exhibition  of  forty-three 
works  by  diverse  artists— an  exhibition  that  was  to  become  a  legend.49  The 
catalogue  (cat.  no.  366)  was  equally  modest  in  extent— five  small  pages  that 
incorporated  Kandinsky's  brief  statement  of  purpose:  "In  this  small  exhibi- 
tion we  seek  to  propagate  not  one  precise  and  special  form,  rather  we  propose 
to  show  in  the  diversity  of  the  represented  forms  how  the  inner  wish  of  the 
artist  is  variously  shaped."  Announcement  of  the  coming  publication  of  the 
Blane  Reiter  almanac  was  included,  and  Kandinsky's  manifesto  JJber  das 
Geistige  in  der  Kunst  appeared  in  time  for  the  exhibition. 

Kandinsky  was  represented  with  one  example  of  each  of  his  three  cate- 
gories of  paintings:  Composition  V,  Improvisation  21  and  Impression— Mos- 
cow. The  other  exhibitors  were:  Marc,  Macke,  Miinter,  Schonberg,  Henri 
Rousseau,  the  Burliuk  brothers,  Heinrich  Campendonk,  Robert  Delaunay, 
Kahler,  Elizabeth  Epstein,  Jean  Bloe  Niestle  and  Albert  Bloch.  (All  but 
Niestle,  an  animal  painter  and  friend  of  Marc,  and  Epstein,  a  student  of 
Kahler,  would  be  represented  by  illustrations  in  the  pages  of  the  Blane 
Reiter  almanac.)  Both  the  exhibition  and  the  almanac  were  intentionally 
shocking.  Next  to  Niestle's  ultra-realistic  and  tenderly  rendered  paintings  of 
birds,  in  which  even  the  most  unsophisticated  viewer  could  read  a  message 
and  observe  the  high  technical  virtuosity  of  the  artist,  hung  the  crude  other- 
wordly  visions  of  Schonberg,  the  non-artist  (cat.  no.  340);  and  next  to  Schon- 
berg, the  naive  renderings  of  Rousseau,  whose  work  Kandinsky  had  already 
compared  to  Schonberg's  as  exemplifying  what  he  called  "the  great  realism" 
in  painting.  Near  Kahler's  small,  finely  drawn  Garden  of  Love,  hung  De- 
launay's  large  Eiffel  Tower,  its  subject  depicted  in  an  alarming  state  of  ex- 
plosive dissolution,  and  his  City  with  its  obscuring  veil  of  spots  daring  the 
viewer  to  find  the  tipped  roofs  of  barely  identifiable  buildings.  Marc's  monu- 
mental painting  of  an  unlikely  yellow  cow  kicking  up  her  heels  in  unbovine 
rhapsody  (cat.  no.  303)  provided  a  dazzling  contrast  to  Kandinsky's  even 
larger  Composition  V  (cat.  no.  300),  with  its  muted  color  and  seemingly  im- 
penetrable hieroglyphics. 

This  year  of  incredible  creativity  and  activity  culminated,  then,  in  the 
tandem  events  of  the  exhibition  that  once  and  for  all  proclaimed  Kandinsky 
the  leader  of  the  new  movement  toward  pure  painting  and  the  publication  of 
his  manifesto  JJber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst:  the  public  pronouncement  both 
in  practice  and  in  theory  of  his  ultimate  transformation,  of  his  leap  to  ab- 
stract art. 

But  even  friendly  critics  such  as  Wilhelm  Michel,  with  whom  Kandinsky 
had  corresponded  (and  who  was  also  a  personal  friend  of  Klee),  found  it 
difficult  to  respond  to  what  Michel  termed  Kandinsky's  "hieroglyphic"  art.50 
For  Kandinsky  this  reaction  was  grist  for  the  mill;  he  had  already  diagnosed 


70 


51.  Kandinsky,  liber  das  Geistige  in  der 
Kunst,  p.  2.2.. 

52.  Ibid.,  p.  34. 

53.  Ibid.,  p.  135. 

54.  Kandinsky,  "Uber  die  Formfrage,"  in 
Der  Blaue  Reiter,  Munich,  R.  Piper  &C 
Co.,  1912.,  p.  94. 

55.  Kandinsky,  "Ruckblicke,"  p.  xxvn. 


the  problem  as  a  rift  within  the  soul  of  contemporary  society.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  Uber  das  Geistige  he  had  written:  "In  our  soul  there  is  a  crack  and 
it  rings,  when  and  if  one  is  even  able  to  touch  it,  like  a  precious  vase  long  hid- 
den in  the  depths  of  the  earth  which  has  been  found  again  and  which  has  in  it 
a  crack."51  This  inner  fracture,  caused  by  the  nightmare  of  our  materialistic 
epoch,  makes  it  impossible  for  the  modern  soul  to  ring  when  touched  by  the 
subtle  vibrations  the  artist  seeks  to  evoke  by  means  of  his  work.  But  there  is 
an  art,  an  art  dependent  not  on  styles  and  timely  modes,  which  follows  only 
the  impulse  of  "inner  necessity"  and  has  an  inspiring,  prophetic  power  and  is 
capable  of  healing  the  crack  in  the  inner  soul  of  mankind.  This  new  art  of 
"inner  necessity,"  which  has  for  its  content  not  the  trappings  of  the  material- 
istic world  view  but  pure  "artistic  content,"  would  rescue  art  from  the  false 
emphasis  on  technique  characteristic  of  the  present  time,  and  would  restore 
to  it  a  "full  healthy  life"  without  which  neither  art,  nor  man,  nor  a  people 
can  live.52 

The  artist  is  obliged,  if  he  is  honest  and  sincere,  to  attempt  to  fill  the 
cracks  in  the  soul,  which  effectively  separate  him  from  his  public;  he  must 
dedicate  himself,  Kandinsky  maintained,  to  "higher  purposes"  which  are 
"precise,  great  and  sanctified."53  He  must  educate  himself  in  his  craft,  and 
develop  his  own  soul  so  that  his  external  talent  has  "something  to  put  on." 
He  must  "have  something  to  say,"  because  his  obligation  is  not  the  mastery 
of  form,  but  rather  the  suiting  of  form  (and  Kandinsky  meant  any  form)  to 
that  content,  which  must  arise  freely  out  of  the  artist's  innermost  soul.  The 
artist  is  no  "Sunday  child,"  he  is  not  free  in  life,  only  in  art. 

With  remarkable  concision  Kandinsky  traced  the  recent  history  of  art, 
citing  those  artists  who,  he  felt,  had  done  most  to  reach  out  and  bring  the 
cracked  vase  back  to  "ringing,"  noting  that  the  Pre-Raphaelites  and  the 
Symbolists  had  mirrored  this  flawed  condition  of  the  modern  soul.  Of  con- 
temporary artists,  he  suggested  that  Matisse  with  color  and  Picasso  with 
form  were  pointing  the  way  to  the  future.  He  discussed  the  technical  prob- 
lems of  contemporary  art,  suggesting  that  the  path  to  restoration  would  be 
through  a  monumental  synthesis  of  all  the  arts  (the  Gesamtkunstwerk),  on 
the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  through  a  more  complete  and  precise  study 
of  the  singular  effects  of  the  fundamental  elements  of  each  independent  art. 
As  an  example  of  such  a  study  he  included  a  bold  chapter  on  the  psycholog- 
ical effects  of  color,  in  which  he  took  particular  note  of  recent  experiments  in 
the  therapeutic  effects  of  color,  or  "chromotherapy."  The  art  of  the  future,  he 
predicted,  would  produce  two  equally  effective  modes,  "pure  abstraction" 
and  "pure  realism"  (by  which  he  meant  the  kind  of  naive  realism  of  Rous- 
seau).51 Kandinsky  later  stated  that  the  purpose  of  his  two  books,  Uber  das 
Geistige  in  der  Kunst  and  the  almanac,  was  to  "call  forth  the  capacity  of 
humanity  to  experience  the  spiritual  in  material  things,  in  abstract  things."55 
This,  in  effect,  was  to  be  a  healing  act,  an  act  intended  to  repair  that  rift  in 
the  cracked  vase  of  the  modern  soul. 

The  creation  of  the  Blaue  Reiter  almanac  may  in  fact  be  seen  as  an  apot- 
ropaic  act,  an  act  at  once  of  exorcism  and  magical  healing,  a  "medicine 
book,"  prescribed  to  restore  a  society  diseased  with  the  multiple  ills  of  mate- 


71 


56.  At  almost  the  same  moment  Thomas 
Mann  was  developing  the  idea  of  his 
great  metaphorical  novel  of  disease 
and  health.  The  Magic  Mountain,  be- 
gun in  1911  in  Munich.  See  Mann, 
"(^in  the  Spirit  of  Medicine,"  quoted 
in  Joseph  Campbell,  The  Masks  of 
God:  Creative  Mythology,  New  York, 
Penguin  Books,  1968,  pp.  312-315. 

57.  As  Lankheit  and  Lindsay  have  both 
noted,  the  editors  had  taken  great 
pains  with  the  number,  size  and  place- 
ment of  the  illustrations  (cf.  Lankheit, 
ed.,  The  Blatie  Reiter  Almanac,  p.  38). 
In  fact,  they  had  undertaken  this  task 
with  such  /eal  that  their  publisher, 
Reinhard  Piper,  was  forced  to  repri- 
mand them  and  to  point  out  that  their 
"independent"  actions  particularly  in 
respect  to  number  and  size  of  the 
plates  had  increased  the  costs  of  the 
book  (cf.  Reinhard  Piper,  Briefirechsel 
mit  Alitor  en  mid  Kiitistlern  190  3-19  J3, 
Munich,  R.  Piper  &  Co.,  1979,  p.  118). 

58.  This  aim  is  documented  in  Piper's  let- 
ter, ibid.,  in  which  he  also  complained 
that  the  editors  had  set  the  price  too 
low  out  of  the  "quite  correct  presump- 
tion" that  a  "propaganda  sheet" 
should  not  be  too  expensive. 

59.  W.  H.  Roscher,  Ausfiihrliches  Lexikon 
Griechischen  and  Romischen  Myth- 
ologie,  Leipzig,  Verlag  B.  G.  Teubner, 
1884-86,  pp.  435-441,  411-416;  Joseph 
Campbell,  The  Masks  of  God,  Occi- 
dental Mythology,  New  York,  Penguin 
Books,  1964,  pp.  24,  296;  Edith  Hamil- 
ton, Mythology,  New  York,  Mentor 
Books,  1957,  pp.  30-31. 

60.  I  ankheit's  documentary  edition  of  the 
almanac  includes  the  inscriptions  under 
the  votive  pictures  which  were  omitted 
in  the  almanac;  these  document  the 
specific  cures  effected  by  the  prayers  of 
the  faithful. 


rialism.  From  St.  George,  the  "Blue  Rider"  on  the  cover,  to  the  literary  con- 
tents, to  one  after  another  of  the  illustrations,  the  book  was  clearly  intended 
by  its  editors  to  have  a  curative  effect. 5|S  A  great  many  of  the  illustrations 
selected  for  the  almanac  by  Kandinsky  and  Marc  represent  art  and  artifacts 
expressly  related  to  exorcism,  healing,  regeneration,  salvation,  miraculous 
occurrences  or  personages,  and  the  like.57  St.  George  appears  not  only  on  the 
cover,  where  he  is  accompanied  by  his  serpent  and  bound  maiden  (represent- 
ing materialism  and  society  respectively),  but  in  three  other  illustrations: 
Miinter's  painting  Still  Life  with  St.  George  (cat.  no.  38),  a  German  litho- 
graph and  a  Russian  folk  sculpture  in  which  he  is  slaying  a  seven-headed 
hydra.  The  heroic,  leaping  horseman  of  Kandinsky's  Lyrical  (cat.  no.  267) 
appears  as  well,  as  does  his  trumpet-blowing  horseman  on  the  back  cover. 

The  first  illustration  in  the  book  is  a  Bavarian  mirror  painting,  hand- 
somely reproduced  and  hand-colored,  depicting  another  saint  on  horseback, 
St.  Martin,  sharing  his  coat  with  the  beggar  (fig.  34).  The  reference  here  is 
unmistakably  to  the  announced  aims  of  the  manifesto:  to  share  what  Marc 
called  in  his  opening  essay  "the  spiritual  treasures"  of  art  with  a  wide  pub- 
lic.58 Kandinsky's  color  woodcut  Archer  was  included  as  an  additional  fron- 
tispiece in  the  deluxe  edition  of  the  almanac.  Recalling  Kandinsky's  promise 
of  the  restorative  power  of  art  and  Marc's  expressed  hope  for  "so  much 
healing,"  we  might  identify  this  rider  as  Apollo,  the  Archer-God,  who  first 
taught  men  the  art  of  healing.  Also  known  in  mythology  as  Phoebus,  god  of 
light  and  truth,  he  is  said  to  have  killed  a  monstrous  serpent  with  his  silver 
bow  and  arrow,  and  his  arrows  were  often  likened  to  rays  of  light.59  Thus, 
Apollo  would  be  a  fitting  companion  to  the  Blue  Rider. 

A  major  reference  to  the  magical  healing  the  editors  hoped  to  effect 
through  art  appears  in  the  early  pages  of  the  almanac:  this  is  the  full-page 
reproduction  of  a  mosaic  from  the  Cathedral  of  San  Marco  in  Venice,  de- 
picting the  miraculous  apparition  of  St.  Mark's  body.  Since  St.  Mark's  gospel 
is  the  primary  source  of  the  tales  of  Christ's  miraculous  exorcisms,  healings 
and  raisings  from  the  dead,  the  selection  of  this  particular  work  as  an  illus- 
tration for  a  book  with  similar  aims  can  hardly  be  considered  coincidental. 
References  to  miraculous  healing  powers  are  particularly  remarkable  in  the 
illustrations  selected  to  accompany  Kandinsky's  major  essay  "Uber  die  Form- 
frage"  ("On  the  Question  of  Form").  These  include  five  Bavarian  votive 
pictures,  each  given  a  full  page.  All  five  pictures  are  from  the  parish  church 
of  St.  Nikolaus  in  Murnau  (which  is  further  distinguished  by  a  sculpture  of 
St.  George  and  the  dragon).  And  all  five  represent  scenes  of  exorcism,  healing 
or  salvation  (fig.  29).  In  each  case,  the  naive  artist  has  painted  a  representation 
of  Mary  as  Queen  of  Heaven  floating  in  the  upper  center  of  the  panel  above 
the  scene  documenting  the  miraculous  occurrence/'"  Two  other  miracle  pic- 
tures grace  the  essay,  one  a  Bavarian  glass  painting  depicting  Mary  and  the 
Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (as  tongues  of  fire)  and  the  other  (of  unidentified 
origin)  representing  the  dormition  of  a  saint,  perhaps  Mary.  Opposite  the 
conclusion  of  the  essay  is  a  full-page  reproduction  of  Miinter's  5////  Life  with 
St.  George. 


72- 


%•  34 

St.  Martin  and  the  Beggar 

Hand-colored  tracing  of  Bavarian  mirror 

painting,  frontispiece  Blaue  Reiter 

almanac 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbach- 

haus,  Munich 


But  perhaps  the  most  startling  juxtaposition  of  healing  motifs  is  the  ap- 
pearance back  to  back  of  Kandinsky's  Composition  V  and  van  Gogh's  1890 
Portrait  of  Dr.  Gachet  (fig.  35).  The  sequence  is  introduced  just  a  page  earlier 
by  a  Bavarian  glass  painting  depicting  St.  Luke  (fig.  30),  and  is  directly  fol- 
lowed by  a  Japanese  woodcut  (fig.  36).  Van  Gogh's  portrait  of  Dr.  Paul 
Gachet,  the  eccentric  physician  who  attended  him  during  his  last  weeks 
at  Auvers,  includes  in  the  foreground  the  symbol  of  the  doctor's  craft,  the 
foxglove  flower,  wilting  but  still  the  source  of  the  medicinal  digitalis  (stimu- 
lant, by  the  way,  to  the  heart).  In  his  essay  for  the  almanac,  "The  Masks," 
Macke  had  commented  on  the  portrait  of  Dr.  Gachet,  comparing  it  to  the 
Japanese  woodcut  which  appears  directly  opposite  it:  "Does  not  the  portrait 
of  Dr.  Gachet  by  van  Gogh  derive  from  a  similar  spiritual  life  as  that  of  the 
astonished  caricature  of  the  Japanese  magician  cut  into  the  wood  block?" 
The  comparison  of  the  act  of  healing  with  an  act  of  artistic  conjuration  (for  a 
Gaukler,  as  Macke  calls  the  Japanese  figure,  is  an  artist  of  conjuration,  of 
legerdemain)  is  further  demonstration  of  the  message  of  the  book.  The  name 
digitalis,  of  course,  is  derived  from  the  German  name  for  foxglove,  Fingerhut 
or  "finger-hat,"  that  is,  "digit-hat."  The  reference  to  digits  is  particularly  apt 
here  in  the  context  of  the  Japanese  Gaukler  with  his  fingers  spread,  the  finger- 
artist  or  prestidigitator.  The  physician,  like  the  painter  and  the  sleight-of- 
hand  artist,  employs  large  doses  of  illusion  in  effecting  his  cure  or  trick.  And 
all  three  offer  a  tonic  for  the  heart  or  soul  of  mankind. 


fig- 35 

Vincent  van  Gogh 

Portrait  of  Dr.  Gachet.  Auvers,  June  1890 

Oil  on  canvas 

Collection  Musee  du  Louvre,  Paris 


fig.  36 

Utagawa  Kuniyoshi 

Two  Chinese  Warriors  of  the  Han 

Dynasty.     19th  century 

Japanese  woodcut 

Estate  of  Franz  Marc,  Courtesy  Galerie 

Stangl,  Munich 


73 


fig- 37 

Pongwe  Mask.  Gabon 
Collection  Bernisches  Historischcs  Mu- 
seum, Ethnographische  Abreilung,  Bern 


61.  It  is  possible  that  the  editors  were  un- 
aware of  this  particular  mask's  purpose 
since,  although  correctly  identified  as 
"Pongwe,"  its  characteristically  oriental 
features  apparently  misled  them  to  also 
label  it  as  "Chinese?"  in  the  list  of 
illustrations. 

6z.  Recent  scholarship  has  indicated  rather 
precise  relationships  between  the  text 
of  the  scenario  for  Der  gelbe  KLmg  and 
the  accompanying  illustrations  (see  the 
revealing  study  by  Susan  Stein,  "The 
Ultimate  Synthesis:  An  Interpretation 
of  the  Meaning  and  Significance  of 
Wassily  Kandinsky's  The  Yellow 
Sound,"  Master's  thesis,  State  Univer- 
sity of  New  York  at  Binghamton, 
1980). 

63.  Kandinsky,  Uber  dels  Geistige  in  der 
Kuust,  pp.  110-12.1. 


In  the  same  paragraph  Macke  states  that:  "What  the  wilting  flowers  are 
for  the  portrait  of  the  European  physician,  the  wilting  corpses  are  to  the 
Mask  of  the  Conjurer  of  Disease."  He  was  referring  to  the  Ceylonese  Dance 
Mask  (cat.  no.  306)  which  was  reproduced  full-page  between  the  first  and 
second  "pictures"  or  scenes  of  Kandinsky's  color  opera  Der  gelbe  Klang.  This 
mask  was  used  specifically  for  exorcising  the  demons  of  disease.  Through 
the  efficacy  of  the  medicinal  flower,  life  is  stimulated;  through  death,  true 
spiritual  life  and  resurrection.  Another  illustration  for  Macke's  essay  is  a 
small  ceramic  figure  of  the  Mexican  god  Xipe  Totec,  known  as  The  Flayed 
God  (cat.  no.  304).  In  Aztec  mythology  Xipe  Totec  is  associated  with  the 
miracle  of  spring,  of  regeneration  and  rebirth.  His  figure  appears  just  under 
Macke's  assertion  of  the  relationship  between  van  Gogh's  portrait  of  Dr. 
Gachet  and  the  Ceylonese  Dance  Mask. 

The  introduction  of  the  Composition  V— Dr.  Gachet— conjurer  sequence 
by  St.  Luke,  the  saint  who  was  himself  both  physician  and  painter,  and  who 
became  the  patron  saint  of  both  physicians  and  painters,  was  particularly  apt. 
In  the  glass  painting  he  is  shown  together  with  his  attributes,  the  palette  and 
paint  brushes,  the  ox  of  sacrifice  and  the  book  of  his  gospel.  The  implication 
is  clear,  indeed  overwhelming,  that  the  editors  considered  Kandinsky's  Com- 
position V  appropriately  placed  between  St.  Luke,  the  physician-painter,  and 
Dr.  Gachet,  the  physician  to  painters.  The  painting's  curative  mission  was 
thus  revealed.  In  the  context  of  the  almanac  as  "medicine  book,"  then,  the 
resurrection  theme  of  Composition  V  becomes  intelligible  as  an  expression 
of  faith  in  the  restorative  and  transforming  powers  of  art  as  spiritual  "medi- 
cine" prescribed  by  the  physician-artist. 

This  remarkable  series  of  illustrations  and  allusions  occurs  within  the 
pages  of  the  almanac  devoted  to  Kandinsky's  second  major  essay  "Uber 
Biihnenkomposition"  ("On  Stage  Composition"),  in  which  he  discusses  his 
vision  of  theater  as  the  appropriate  arena  for  a  great  synthesis  of  the  arts,  for 
that  great  healing  of  the  fractured  vase.  His  prescription  for  this  act  of  syn- 
thesis is  a  return  to  the  source  of  "inner  necessity."  Music,  dance  and  color, 
stripped  of  their  references  to  externals  are  to  be  joined  "on  the  ground  of 
inner  being."  The  essay  is  introduced  with  an  illustration  of  a  Pongwe  mask 
(fig.  37)  from  the  Ogawe  River  area  in  Gabon,  a  mask  worn  by  stilt  dancers 
of  the  Mashango  to  personify  the  individual  who  returns  from  the  dead/'1 
And  indeed,  the  almanac  culminates  in  the  scenario  for  Kandinsky's  mod- 
ern miracle  play,  the  color  opera  Der  gelbe  Klang,  which  itself  climaxes  in 
an  unmistakable  symbolic  vision  of  resurrection/'2 

The  dominant  and  most  striking  visual  element  of  Composition  V  is  the 
great  black  linear  device,  which,  like  a  whiplash,  sweeps  out  across  the  upper 
portion  of  the  canvas,  widening  from  right  to  left  and  curving  back  toward 
the  center  of  the  picture  where  it  ends  abruptly  in  a  welter  of  indistinct  flower- 
like forms.  In  Uber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst  Kandinsky  admonished  the 
viewer  who,  trained  by  his  materialistic  background,  would  search  for  rem- 
nants of  reality,  clues  to  a  discursive  description  of  content,  in  his  paintings. 
Such  a  viewer,  he  warned,  would  miss  the  "inner  life"  of  the  painting.0  Yet 
in  the  case  of  Composition  V,  the  artist  himself  committed  the  "error"  of  pro- 


74 


fig-  38 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

All  Saints'  Day  I.     1 9 1 1 

Glass  painting 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 

bachhaus,  Munich 


64.  Eichner,  p.  115. 

65.  Washton  Long  has  provided  a  thorough 
analysis  of  many  of  these  literal  the- 
matic images  in  her  publications  (cf. 
Washton  Long,  op.  cit.).  It  may  be  sug- 
gested here  that,  in  the  context  of  the 
present  interpretation,  the  two  broth- 
erly saints,  with  their  arms  about  each 
other  (identified  by  Washton  Long  as 
"entwined  couple")  in  several  paintings 
of  All  Saints'  Day  (e.g.,  GMS  71, 107 
[fig.  38],  122)  were  intended  to  repre- 
sent Cosmas  and  Damian;  these  were 
the  physician  saints  who  practiced  mir- 
aculous healing  and  were  eventually 
martyred  by  decapitation  after  other 
attempts  to  kill  them,  by  drowning,  for 
example,  had  failed.  However,  none  of 
Kandinsky's  themes  should  be  exclu- 
sively associated  with  a  single  Biblical 
myth,  since,  despite  his  awareness  of 
Christian  beliefs  and  traditions  and  of 
the  theosophist  writings  of  Mme  Bla- 
vatsky  and  Rudolf  Steiner,  the  artist 
was  undoubtedly  far  more  interested  in 
the  universality  of  such  ideas.  In  any 
case,  the  universal  character  of  the 
myths  was  confirmed  in  the  churches 
and  the  folk  art  of  Bavaria  which  Kan- 
dinsky encountered  every  day.  His  in- 
terest in  the  universality  of  the  mythic 
imagination  was  documented  in  a  let- 
ter to  his  biographer,  Will  Grohmann, 
in  which  he  described  his  evolution 
from  a  personal  "yearning  for  Russia" 
(expressed  in  such  early  works  as  Mot- 
ley Life)  to  the  universal  experience 

of  humanity  (the  Allgemeinmenschli- 
chem).  See  Kandinsky  letter  to  Groh- 
mann of  12.10.24,  in  Gutbrod,  ed.,  pp. 
46-47.  The  variety  of  mythic  sources 
represented  in  the  illustrations  selected 
for  the  almanac  attests  to  this  search 
for  universal  content  which  was  char- 
acteristic of  the  period  (James  G. 
Frazer's  The  Golden  Bough  was  first 
published  in  1890,  for  example). 


viding  a  literal  clue.  In  notes  for  a  lecture  planned  for  presentation  in  Cologne 
in  1914  but  never  delivered,  he  stated  emphatically  that  only  two  of  his  Com- 
positions were  based  on  specific  themes.  The  theme  for  Composition  V,  he 
wrote,  was  taken  from  the  Auferstehung  (Resurrection),  and  that  for  Com- 
position VI  from  the  Sintflut  (Deluge).  "There  was  a  certain  boldness,"  he 
admitted,  "in  taking  such  used  up  themes  as  a  starting  point  to  pure  painting. 
It  was  for  me  a  test  of  strength,  which  in  my  opinion,  came  out  well."64  In 
other  words,  the  thematic  content  was  there,  but  to  be  overcome,  to  be  trans- 
formed. 

In  any  case,  the  impact  of  the  dominant  black  painterly  line  in  Com- 
position V  is  compelling.  It  has  the  effect  of  a  sudden  loud  noise;  its  form 
suggests  a  trumpet.  As  we  have  seen,  the  artist  himself  has  revealed  the  deri- 
vation of  the  painting  from  the  Resurrection  theme,  and  with  this  loud  visual 
noise  he  seems  to  bring  us  to  the  contemplation  of  a  mystery: 

Behold  I  shew  you  a  mystery:  We  shall  not  all  sleep,  but  shall  all  be 

changed. 

In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  at  the  last  trump:  for  the  trumpet 

shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be 

changed. 

Corinthians  ij:ji-jz 

While  the  theme  of  Resurrection  appears  throughout  the  Bible  (in  both  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  in  the  Gospels  as  well  as  in  the  Revelations  to  St. 
John),  this  particular  image  from  St.  Paul's  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  in 
which  the  writer  discourses  on  the  mystery  of  the  Resurrection,  is  strikingly 
suggestive  of  the  great  trumpet  call  signified  by  the  dramatic  central  motif  of 
Composition  V. 

Nevertheless,  and  despite  the  fact  that  we  now  know  the  artist  incorpo- 
rated into  the  composition  a  plethora  of  images  from  several  other  works 
with  more  or  less  related  themes,  such  as  All  Saints'  Day  and  the  Last  Judge- 
ment (fig.  38),  the  painting  as  a  whole  must  be  taken  as  Kandinsky  intended 
—that  is,  as  a  statement  about  the  universal  theme  of  resurrection  within  the 
context  of  an  ailing  society  in  need  of  the  medicine  of  the  soul  offered  by  art.65 


75 


66.  These  two  works  also  exhibit  a  sym- 
bolic similarity.  The  Persian  miniature 
represents  the  stor)  of  Iskandar  (Alex- 
ander the  Great)  who,  while  on  a  jour- 
ney with  the  prophets  Elias  and  Khizr, 
loses  his  way  in  the  "land  of  darkness," 
where  he  is  called  by  Israfil,  the  Angel 
of  Death  (counterpart  of  the  Archangel 
Michael),  blowing  on  his  trumpet.  The 
two  prophets,  however,  discover  the 
Fountain  of  Life.  Israfil's  trumpet  is  a 
typical  Persian  instrument,  but  its  seven 
"bells"  are  imaginary  and  intended  to 
symbolize  its  sounds.  I  am  indebted  to 
Marie  Swietochowski  of  the  Islamic 
Department  and  to  Kenneth  Moore  of 
the  Musical  Instruments  Department  of 
The  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
New  York,  for  their  expert  help  in  in- 
terpreting this  work,  which  confirmed 
my  original  suppositions. 

67.  Richard  Ettinghausen,  "Early  Shadow 
Figures,"  Bulletin  of  the  American  In- 
stitute for  Persian  Art  and  Archaeology, 
no.  6,  June  1934.  A  more  recent  study 
is  by  Metin  And,  Karagoz:  Turkish 
Shadow  Theatre,  Ankara,  Dost  Yayin- 
lari,  1975.  Many  of  the  ethnic  artifacts 
included  in  the  almanac  were  on  dis- 
play in  Munich  at  the  Volkerkundemu- 
seum.  Undoubtedly  both  Marc  and 
Kandinsky  visited  the  museum  and  saw 
the  objects  themselves.  Marc,  in  fact, 
described  one  such  visit  in  a  letter  to 
Macke  in  January  of  1911  (at  just  about 
the  same  time  he  was  becoming  friendly 
with  Kandinsky).  See  the  Macke-Marc 
Briefwechsel,  p.  39.  They  also  knew  the 
Egyptian  shadow-play  puppets  at  first- 
hand: through  his  brother  Paul,  a  Byz- 
antine specialist,  Marc  met  the  Islamic 
historian  Professor  Paul  Kahle  and  ex- 
amined his  private  collection.  Because 
of  their  fragility  (they  were  made  of 
leather),  not  many  of  the  puppets  have 
survived  intact.  According  to  one 
source.  Marc  reassembled  one  for  color 
reproduction  in  the  almanac,  although 
in  actuality,  the  puppets  were  generally 
blackened  from  the  smoke  of  the  lamps 
used  to  illuminate  them.  (Cf.  Clara  B. 
Wilpert,  Schattentheater,  Hamburg, 
Hamburgisches  Museum  fur  Volker- 
kunde,  1973,  P-  75-) 

68.  Interest  in  shadow-play  theater  was 
widespread  among  Symbolist  artists 
and  writers  at  the  turn  of  the  century 
(cf.  Weiss,  p.  99  and  passim). 

69.  See  Jelena  Hahl-Koch,  "Kandinsky's 
Role  in  the  Russian  Avant-Garde,"  The 
Avant-Garde  in  Russia  1910-1950,  Los 
Angeles  County  Museum  of  Art,  1980, 
pp.  84-90. 


From  a  strictly  compositional,  structural  point  of  view,  the  graphic  de- 
vice of  the  extended  "trumpet-motif"  may  well  have  been  suggested  by 
images  Kandinsky  had  observed  in  the  Persian  illuminations  at  the  Moham- 
medan exhibition  in  1910— for  example  in  the  painting  illustrated  the  same 
year  in  Miinchner  Jahrbuch  der  bildenden  Kunst  (fig.  39).  Here  the  dom- 
inant motif  is  the  long  trumpet  of  an  angel,  with  its  sound  rendered  quite 
graphically,  serving  much  the  same  compositional  purpose  as  the  trumpet  in 
Kandinsky's  Composition  V.66  Further,  the  many  disparate  events  crowding 
the  picture  plane  in  this  illumination  recall  Kandinsky's  method  not  only  in 
Composition  V,  but  in  Composition  II  and  earlier  in  Motley  Life  (fig.  21). 
Kandinsky  had  particularly  remarked  on  the  Persian  representation  of  teem- 
ing detail  in  his  review  of  the  Mohammedan  exhibition  for  Apollon. 

Throughout  the  pages  of  the  almanac,  reproductions  of  Egyptian  shadow- 
play  figures  proliferate.  Based  on  Islamic  shadow-theater  precedents,  the  fili- 
greed  puppets  reflected  the  ancient  doctrinal  prescriptions  on  the  belief  that 
worldly  phenomena  are  "merely  the  illusory  medium  through  which  the  soul 
acts  in  the  world.""7  They  were  particularly  appealing  to  the  editors  of  the 
Blane  Reiter  because  of  their  obvious  symbolism:  shadow  figures  come  to  life 
only  when  illuminated  by  the  divine  fire  of  the  artist.  Like  Kandinsky's  color 
opera  Der  gelbe  Klang,  they  depend  for  life  on  light.  Metaphorically  art  must 
be  illuminated  by  the  light  of  "inner  necessity"  which  springs  from  the  inner- 
most being  of  the  artist.68 

There  are  many  more  indications  in  the  almanac  of  the  editors'  symbolic 
intentions,  but  it  is  clear  even  from  this  necessarily  condensed  discussion  that 
the  Blane  Reiter  carried  a  rich  complex  of  messages  to  the  world,  with  an 
emphasis  on  art  as  a  universal  medicine  for  the  human  soul. 


VI  Conclusion:  To  the  Edge  of  Abstraction 

With  the  Blane  Reiter  almanac  and  exhibitions  and  the  publication  of  Uber 
das  Geistige  in  der  Knnst,  Kandinsky's  activities  in  1911-12.  as  organizer  and 
leader  of  the  new  movement  had  reached  their  apex.  Now  the  Blue  Rider— 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that,  as  Eichner  has  suggested,  Kandinsky  identified 
himself  with  the  crusader  on  horseback— turned  to  the  practical  pursuit  of  his 
vision.  For  he  saw  that  the  transformation  he  sought  had  not  yet  been  entirely 
achieved.  Although  the  almanac  itself  exemplified  in  the  best  sense  the  kind 
of  synthesis,  or  Gesamtkttnstiverk,  its  editors  had  intended,  still  Kandinsky 
hoped  for  more  radical  realizations  of  his  goals. 

During  the  following  two  years  he  continued  to  exhibit  at  Der  Sturm  in 
Berlin  and  elsewhere,  and  he  traveled  to  Russia  where  he  kept  up  a  lively, 
though  not  always  happy,  dialogue  with  the  younger  generation  of  avant- 
garde  artists  represented  by  the  Burliuks,  Natalia  Goncharova,  Mikhail 
Larionov  and  others.6''  And  within  his  own  oeuvre,  he  now  intensified  his 
efforts  in  four  directions:  toward  a  further  emancipation  from  reality  in  his 
painting;  toward  completion  of  another  Gesamtknnstwerk  publication,  this 


76 


fig-  39 

Persian  Miniature.     17th  century 
Shown  at  Exhibition  of  Mohammedan 
Art,  Munich,  1910,  reproduced  in  Miinch- 
ner  Jahrbuch  der  bildenden  Kunst,  1910, 
Bd.  I 


70.  Kandinsky  letter  to  Will  Grohmann, 
quoted  in  Gutbrod,  ed.,  p.  45  (July 
192.4). 

71.  Kandinsky  called  the  painting  Bild  mit 
weissem  Rand,  literally  Picture  with 
White  Edge.  While  the  traditional 
translation  of  the  word  "Rand"  has 
been  "Border,"  the  word  "Edge"  is 
both  more  accurate  and  more  appropri- 
ate. In  his  description  of  the  painting 
in  Riickblicke  (p.  xxxxi),  Kandinsky 
spoke  of  the  white  strip  as  a  wave 
breaking,  that  is  as  at  the  "edge"  of  the 
sea.  Further,  the  white  strip  only  edges 
along  two  sides  and  part  of  another;  it 
does  not  surround  the  picture  as  would 
a  border. 

72.  Kandinsky  to  Miinter,  quoted  in  Eich- 
ner,  p.  105  (14.10.12). 

73.  Lindsay  K/M  letters:  22.11.03. 


combining  woodcuts  and  poems;  toward  the  realization  of  his  dream  of  a 
"theater  of  the  future";  and  toward  his  vision  of  an  aesthetically  determined 
environment  within  the  context  of  architecture  ("my  old  dream"  he  called  it 
much  later  in  a  letter  to  Will  Grohmann70). 

In  Painting  with  White  Border,  1913  (cat.  no.  323),  Kandinsky  once  more 
associated  the  rider  on  horseback  with  his  personal  battle  to  wrest  painting 
from  traditional  modes  and  transform  it  into  pure  abstraction.71  Once  more 
St.  George,  the  eternal  Blue  Rider,  was  to  stand  for  his  own  need  to  move 
forward  to  conflict  and  victory.  In  a  letter  written  to  Miinter  on  his  way  to 
Odessa  and  Moscow  in  October  of  1912,  Kandinsky  again  gave  expression 
to  the  self-doubt  that  had  plagued  him  in  the  early  years:  his  feelings  were,  he 
said,  even  "more  mixed  now  when  new  paintings  by  me  are  purchased.  For 
a  long  while  I  sat  on  a  high,  lonely  tower.  Now  I  am  no  longer  alone.  Is  the 
tower  still  so  high?"72  It  was  St.  George  on  horseback  who  had  stood  on  the 
high  tower  in  the  square  in  Rothenburg  so  many  years  ago  (fig.  40),  in  that 
medieval  town  Kandinsky  and  Miinter  had  visited  together  in  1903.  And 
after  that  earlier  encounter,  Kandinsky  had  written  to  Miinter:  "for  those 
things  that  are  theoretically  ready  .  .  .  one  must  yet  find  an  appropriate 
form. . .  ."73 


fig.  40 

Main  Square  in  Rothenburg  ob  der 

Tauber  with  Herterichbrunnen  and  St. 

George,  1446 

Kandinsky  and  Miinter  painted  here  in 

November  1903 


77 


fig-  41 

Vastly  Kandinsky 

Untitled  (Knight  and  Dragon). 

ca.  1903-04 

Pencil  on  paper 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 

bachhaus,  Munich 


74.  A  thorough  discussion  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  sketches  and  painting  is  to 
be  found  in  Angelica  Rudenstine,  The 
Guggenheim  Museum  Collection: 
Paintings  1880-1945,  New  York.  The 
Solomon  R.  Guggenheim  Foundation, 
1976,  vol.  I,  pp.  256-163. 


Immediately  on  his  return  from  the  trip  to  Russia  just  before  Christmas 
of  19 1  z,  Kandinsky  began  sketches  for  Paintijig  with  White  Border.  Now  he 
again  reached  back  in  memory  to  one  of  his  earliest  depictions  of  St.  George's 
conflict  with  the  dragon,  a  tiny  drawing  in  a  notebook  of  about  1903-04  (fig. 
41).  This  early  drawing  resembles  the  prototype  created  by  Walter  Crane  in 
his  famous  painting  St.  George's  Battle  with  the  Dragon  or  England's  Em- 
blem (fig.  2),  which  had  been  exhibited  in  Munich  in  the  1890s.  The  direction 
of  the  action  is  the  same  (the  knight  moves  from  left  to  right),  and  in  the  back- 
ground Kandinsky  suggests  Crane's  city  polluted  by  materialism.  But  what 
a  difference  in  the  relative  sizes  of  the  protagonists!  Kandinsky's  dragon  is  a 
colossus,  the  charging  knight  utterly  dwarfed  by  his  gigantic  opponent.  A 
zinc  plate  of  the  same  subject  by  Kandinsky  exists  in  which  the  serpent  has 
become  even  more  threatening  by  virtue  of  its  raised  position  on  a  hilltop. 
This  was  no  doubt  expressive,  if  subconsciously  so,  of  the  situation  Kan- 
dinsky felt  himself  to  be  in  at  the  time— both  in  his  illicit  relationship  to 
Miinter  and  in  his  inner  striving  to  discover  a  new  form  in  art.  But  by  the 
triumphant  years  of  1911-12  and  his  great  series  of  St.  George  paintings, 
relative  sizes  and  positions  were  reversed:  the  saint  had  achieved  his  proper 
proportions  and  place,  and  the  much-diminished  dragon  was  sometimes  even 
made  to  look  foolish  (cat.  no.  319).  Now,  in  harking  back  to  the  composi- 
tional structure  of  the  earlier  picture,  Kandinsky  directs  the  action  as  it  would 
have  appeared  in  an  etching  from  the  zinc  plate:  the  crusader  charges  from 
right  to  left  and  is  placed  in  the  raised  position,  while  the  dragon  is  lower. 

The  early  sketches  for  Fainting  with  White  Border  demonstrate  his  pains- 
taking efforts  to  develop  a  viable  hieroglyph  for  the  crusader-St.  George 
motif  (cat.  no.  324).  The  conflict  between  knight  and  dragon  may  also  be  seen 
as  a  metaphor  for  Kandinsky's  battle  to  liberate  the  graphic  line  from  its  tra- 
ditional role  in  drawing  and  transform  it  into  a  painterly  element.  He  had 
already  developed  a  prototype  for  such  a  hieroglyph  in  the  watercolor  With 
Three  Riders  of  191 1  (cat.  no.  322).  Now  he  modified  it,  evolving  both  a 
"troika"  motif  and  the  St.  George  motif.7'  For  the  first  time  Kandinsky  found 
himself  able  to  make  a  truly  daring  leap  toward  total  abstraction.  In  one  of 
the  preparatory  sketches  for  Painting  with  White  Border  (cat.  no.  325),  the 


78 


fig.  42 

Walter  Crane 

The  Horses  of  Neptune.     1892 

Oil  on  canvas 

Bayerische  Staatsgemaldesammlungen, 

Munich 


75.  For  a  more  detailed  discussion  of  the 
transformation  of  the  horse  and  rider 
motif  into  a  circle,  see  Weiss,  pp.  128- 
132  and  passim. 

76.  Lindsay  K/M  letters:  3.4.04. 


horse  and  rider  are  enveloped  entirely  by  the  circle  into  which  they  ultimately 
would  be  transformed  in  the  postwar  years.  In  the  transformation  of  graphic 
sketch  to  painting,  the  circle  became  a  circular  blue  wash.75 

In  an  essay  he  wrote  for  the  album  which  accompanied  his  exhibition  at 
the  gallery  of  Der  Sturm  in  1913,  Kandinsky  identified  the  action  in  this  paint- 
ing only  as  "Kampf  in  Weiss  und  Schwarz"  (battle  in  white  and  black).  He 
did  not  specifically  identify  the  rider-crusader-St.  George  in  those  terms,  but 
he  had  no  need  to  do  so.  To  him  it  seemed  perfectly  obvious:  "the  middle  is 
thus  very  simple  and  completely  unveiled  and  clear,"  he  wrote.  He  had,  in 
fact,  used  this  kind  of  abstract  descriptive  language  to  refer  to  his  symbols 
for  years.  In  a  letter  to  Miinter  of  April  1904,  he  had  described  a  painting  he 
was  working  on,  and  for  which  he  said  he  had  great  expectations,  as  a 
"Kampf  in  Grim  und  Rot"  (battle  in  green  and  red).  He  had  described  it  fur- 
ther as  a  scene  of  one  crusader  charging  another  on  a  plain  before  a  Russian 
city,  and  he  expressed  some  concern  that  perhaps  the  "color  language"  might 
be  too  obvious.76  Certainly,  then,  we  need  not  hesitate  to  read  this  Kampf  in 
Weiss  und  Schwarz  as  St.  George  with  his  white  lance  bearing  down  on  the 
black-outlined  dragon.  And  indeed,  Kandinsky  was  no  longer  concerned  at 
this  point  that  the  color  language  might  be  too  obvious. 

The  white  edge  of  the  painting  was  the  final  solution  to  the  composition 
evolved  after  almost  five  months  of  gestation  (as  Kandinsky  recounted  in  the 
Sturm  album  essay).  When  the  solution  came  at  last,  it  came  in  a  form  he 
described  as  a  "wave,"  cresting  and  "falling  suddenly"  and  then,  "flowing  in 
sinuously  lazy  form"  around  to  the  right  side  of  the  picture  to  appear  once 
more  in  jagged  scallops  in  the  upper  left  corner.  Here  again,  remembrances 
of  forms  encountered  earlier  may  have  called  to  Kandinsky's  mind  another 
Crane  painting,  The  Horses  of  Neptune  (fig.  42.),  in  which  the  power  of  the 
cresting  wave  was  associated  with  that  of  the  horse.  In  any  case,  in  this  paint- 
ing with  its  white  edge,  Kandinsky's  Blue  Rider  had  carried  him  quite  literally 
to  the  edge  of  abstraction. 

Completed  a  month  after  Painting  with  White  Border,  in  June  of  1913, 
Small  Pleasures  (cat.  no.  321)  set  the  horseman  in  motion  again,  united  here 
once  more  with  his  two  companions  from  such  paintings  as  Composition  I, 


79 


77-  Cf.  Weiss,  pp.  131-132,  and  Ruden- 
stine,  pp.  264-2.71. 

78.  Unfortunately,  the  usual  translation  of 
Klange  into  English  as  Sounds  does  not 
do  the  German  word  justice,  for  it  has 
an  association  both  in  meaning  and  in 
tone  with  the  sound  of  bells  ringing  or 
choirs  singing.  The  work  of  art,  Kandin- 
sky was  wont  to  say,  must  "klingen"; 

it  must  ring  like  a  bell  or  like  a  fine 
crystal.  See  also  note  25  and  the  dis- 
cussion of  Singer,  above. 

79.  See  Weiss,  chapter  IX. 

80.  Lindsay  was  the  first  to  trace  the  his- 
tory of  the  Campbell  panels  in  "Kan- 
dinsky  in  1974  New  York:  Solving  a 
Riddle,"  Art  Netcs,  vol.  lv,  May  1956, 
pp.  32-33,  58.  See  also  Rudenstine, 

p.  283,  where  Eddy's  sketch  of  the 
room  is  reproduced. 


Romantic  Landscape  and  With  Three  Riders.  Now  they  storm  the  citadel  on 
their  leaping  steeds,  defying  gravity  and  the  threatening  clouds  of  the  other 
side.  They,  too,  begin  a  flirtation  with  the  circle,  as  can  be  seen  in  many  re- 
lated sketches  and  studies.77 

In  addition  to  these  two  works  from  the  first  half  of  the  year,  Kandinsky 
produced  two  major  Compositions,  numbers  VI  and  VII,  during  1913.  As 
already  noted,  Composition  VI  was  one  of  the  two  compositions  Kandinsky 
identified  as  having  a  specific  theme.  Like  the  theme  of  Composition  V,  its 
subject,  the  Deluge,  was,  by  his  own  account,  ultimately  transformed  into  a 
universal  symbol  of  regeneration.  The  largest  of  all  his  compositions  and 
preceded  by  a  great  many  preparatory  studies,  Composition  VII  was  his 
major  statement  in  this  year  of  "breakthrough."  In  scale,  ambition  and  power 
it  represented  a  significant  step  toward  the  formal  emancipation  he  had 
sought. 

The  autumn  of  19 13  saw  the  publication  of  Kandinsky's  long-planned 
volume  of  woodcuts  and  poems  which,  in  true  lyric-synthetic  style  he  called 
Klange  (Resonances  or  Sounds)  (cat.  no.  360). 78  It  harked  back  to  his  earlier 
efforts,  the  Verses  Without  Words  of  1904  and  the  Xylographies  of  1909,  to 
produce  a  work  of  art  that  was  at  once  visual  and  musical,  graphic  and  lyric. 
Klange,  however,  provided  the  additional  dimension  of  Kandinsky's  own 
remarkable  prose  poems,  as  well  as  woodcuts  dating  back  to  1907. 

In  the  spring  of  19 14,  hope  flared  up  for  the  realization  of  a  production 
of  Der  gelbe  Klang.  The  Miinchner  Kiinstlertheater  was  by  that  time  close  to 
collapse,  but  a  heterogeneous  group  of  Munich  artists  attempted  to  bring 
about  a  second  "revolution  in  the  theater"  by  proposing  to  take  it  over  for 
themselves.  This  group  included  Erich  Mendelsohn,  Hugo  Ball,  Marc,  Kubin 
and  others  who  were  to  have  provided  set  and  costume  designs  for  the  re- 
vised program  (cat.  nos.  335,  336).  Der  gelbe  Klang  was  among  the  produc- 
tions they  scheduled  for  performance.  For  a  short  but  intense  time  Kandinsky, 
Marc,  Macke  and  the  others  were  involved,  but  their  efforts  proved  ultimately 
futile  and  the  idea  was  never  realized.79 

Kandinsky  now  undertook  his  last  attempt  in  this  prewar  period  to  ful- 
fill one  of  the  dreams  engendered  by  the  first  Munich  experiences:  the  dream 
of  the  aesthetically  determined  environment.  The  occasion  was  provided  by 
a  commission  offered  by  an  American,  Edwin  R.  Campbell,  to  design  four 
wall  panels  (cat.  nos.  4^-46)  to  decorate  the  foyer  of  his  apartment  at  635 
Park  Avenue  in  New  York.  Campbell  was  a  friend  of  Arthur  J.  Eddy,  the 
Chicago  lawyer,  who  had  discovered  Kandinsky  at  the  19 13  Armory  Show 
and  had  already  purchased  his  work  for  his  own  collection.  A  letter  Eddy 
wrote  to  Miinter  in  June  of  1914  clearly  indicates  that  the  plan  was  to  inte- 
grate the  paintings  architecturally  into  the  designated  space  so  that  they 
would  look  "exactly  as  if  originally  intended  as  part  of  the  hall."80  Thus,  by 
the  summer  of  19 14,  even  as  Europe  rumbled  with  the  ominous  signs  of  war, 
Kandinsky  stood  on  the  brink  of  realizing  his  great  dream  of  integrating 
lyrical  abstraction  and  architectural  environment  into  a  grand  synthesis. 

The  extreme  degree  of  abstraction  attained  in  the  Campbell  panels  had 
already  been  adumbrated  in  two  other  paintings,  Light  Picture  and  Black 


80 


fig- 43 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

Fishing  Boats,  Sestri.     1905 

Oil  on  board 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 

Museum,  New  York 


8<9gt$t%1 


81.  A  comparison  of  the  preparatory  draw- 
ings for  these  two  paintings  reveals  a 
startling  similarity  and  suggests  that, 
indeed,  Black  Lines  may  have  been  in- 
spired by  Landscape  with  Red  Spots,  or 
by  the  same  natural  landscape.  (See 
Hanfstaengl,  no.  222,  GMS  442,  p.  90 
and  Rudenstine,  fig.  a,  p.  278.) 

82.  For  a  sensitive  discussion  of  Kandin- 
sky's  break  with  Miinter,  see  Sara  H. 
Gregg,  "The  Art  of  Gabriele  Miinter: 
An  Evaluation  of  Content,"  Master's 
thesis,  State  University  of  New  York  at 
Binghamton,  1980,  and  by  the  same  au- 
thor, "Gabriele  Miinter  in  Sweden: 
Interlude  and  Separation,"  Arts  Maga- 
zine, vol.  55,  May  1981,  pp.  116-119. 
Ms.  Gregg  served  as  Hilla  Rebay  in- 
tern at  the  Guggenheim  Museum,  and 

I  wish  to  express  my  gratitude  here 
for  her  unstinting  efforts  in  the  early 
stages  of  preparation  for  this  exhibi- 
tion and  for  her  recent  help  with  var- 
ious aspects  of  the  catalogue. 


Lines  (cat.  no.  332),  both  completed  at  the  very  end  of  1913.  A  comparison 
between  Black  Lines,  which  may  be  designated  an  "improvisation"  and  Land- 
scape with  Red  Spots  (also  called  Landscape  ivith  Church  I)  (cat.  no.  331)  of 
the  same  year,  an  "impression"  clearly  based  on  direct  observation  of  nature, 
indicates  that  the  old  schism  between  lyric  improvisation  and  naturalistic  im- 
pression still  existed  in  1913.  At  the  same  time,  the  two  paintings,  in  contrast 
to  a  similar  pairing,  such  as  Motley  Life  of  1907  (fig.  21)  and  Fishing  Boats, 
Sestri  of  1905  (fig.  43)  reveals  the  distance  he  had  traveled  from  the  earlier 
years.  Landscape  with  Red  Spots  was  purchased  by  Kandinsky's  poet  friend 
Karl  Wolf skehl,  who  also  provided  the  German  translation  of  Albert  Verwey's 
poem  "An  Kandinsky"  for  the  19 13  Sturm  catalogue  of  Kandinsky's  retro- 
spective in  Berlin. 

In  both  Black  Lines  and  Landscape,  with  Red  Spots,  Kandinsky  trans- 
ferred graphic  line  into  painting,  a  goal  he  later  discussed  in  his  notes  for  the 
lecture  he  planned  to  deliver  in  Cologne  in  1914  and  in  a  1932  letter  to  Groh- 
mann.  Linear  devices  and  complexes  have  become  integral  painterly  elements 
of  the  construction  of  each  composition.  The  free,  over-all  scattering  of  these 
elements  (as  graphic  hieroglyphs  in  Black  Lines  and  as  linear  forms  obscured 
by  color  spots  in  Landscape)  are  at  once  prophetic  of  much  later  develop- 
ments in  twentieth-century  painting,  and  at  the  same  time  reminiscent  of  the 
"over-all"  tapestry-like  effects  of  Kandinsky's  earlier  works  such  as  Compo- 
sition II.  But  in  such  lyric  abstractions  as  Black  Lines,  though  we  may  persist 
in  reading  the  fragmented  rainbows,  horizons,  mountains  and  suns  of  Land- 
scape with  Red  Spots,  we  must  concede  that  Kandinsky  had  at  last  escaped 
the  gravitational  pull  of  history.81 

Unquestionably,  Kandinsky  had  now  opened  the  door  to  that  paradise 
for  which  he  had  searched  so  long.  But  fate  was  to  close  it  all  too  cruelly. 
World  War  I  brought  global  catastrophe  and  the  tragic  death  of  his  fellow 
warriors  who  had  fought  with  him  in  that  other,  far  nobler  conflict.  It  brought 
deep  personal  suffering  as  well.  His  long  and  intimate  friendship  with  Miinter 
was  severed;82  he  was  forced  to  leave  behind  the  dreams  of  that  long-gone 
radiant  Munich.  The  succeeding  months  and  years  brought  another  descent 


81 


fig-  44 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

Picnic.     1916 

Watercolor,  India  ink  and  pencil  on  paper 
Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


into  self-doubt  and  despair,  a  descent  reflected  directly  in  his  painting.  Indeed, 
he  ceased  painting  in  oils  altogether  in  1915.  The  works  of  1916  and  1917 
suggest  moods  of  mingled  joy  in  memory  (fig.  44)  and  despair  before  an  un- 
certain future. 

Only  with  a  new  transformation  wrought  in  the  early  twenties,  introduced 
during  the  period  of  his  Soviet  sojourn  and  consolidated  in  the  geometric 
style  of  the  Bauhaus— the  school  dedicated  to  the  goal  of  the  integrated  artistic 
environment— did  Kandinsky's  old  confidence  return.  And  with  it,  the  Blue 
Rider,  St.  George  returned  triumphant.  For  in  /;/  the  Black  Square  of  1923 
(fig.  3),  the  saint  on  horseback  reappeared  in  grand  heroic  style,  once  again 
in  terms  of  a  "battle  in  white  and  black."  He  is  a  St.  George  equal  to  the 
heights  of  mountains,  made  of  the  landscape  of  paradise  and  gleaming  with 
the  sun.  Horse  and  rider  sail  together  on  a  white  trapezoidal  plane  of  inner 
conviction,  easily  escaping  from  and  at  the  same  time  victorious  over  the  flat 
black  plane  of  the  dragon  in  his  lair.81  In  further  transformations  the  Blue 
Rider  became  a  cosmic  blue  circle  and  the  dragon  a  wavy,  whiplash  line  (cat. 
no.  343,  fig.  6). 


An  unpublished  graphic  analysis  of 
In  the  Black  Square  undertaken  by 
Edward  J.  Kimball,  my  student  at  Co- 
lumbia University  in  1975,  convinced 
me  of  the  validity  of  this  interpretation. 


Thus  Kandinsky's  life  may  be  seen  in  terms  of  a  series  of  encounters  and 
transformations.  A  hero  of  "things  becoming,"  a  foe  of  "Holdfast,  keeper  of 
the  past,"  Kandinsky  with  his  Blue  Rider  leapt  the  barriers  of  tradition,  con- 
servatism and  complacency  to  open  a  new  way  in  art.  It  was  in  Munich  that 
he  set  out  upon  his  quest,  there  that  he  encountered  both  dreams  and  demons, 
and  there  that  the  Blue  Rider  achieved  a  monumental  transformation  in  the 
art  of  this  century. 

In  many  things  1  must  condemn  myself,  but  to  one  thing  I  shall  remain 
forever  true— to  the  inner  voice,  which  has  determined  my  goal  in  art  and 
which  I  hope  to  obey  to  the  last  hour. 

Kandinsky 
"Riickblicke" 

Munich,  June  1913 


82. 


CATALOGUE 


Now,  about  woodcuts.  .  . .  You  needn't  ask  the  purpose  of  this  or  that  work: 
they  all  have  only  one  purpose— I  had  to  make  them,  because  I  can  free  my- 
self in  no  other  way  from  the  thought  (or  dream).  Nor  do  I  think  of  any 
practical  use.  1  simply  must  make  the  thing.  Later  you  will  understand  me 
better.  You  say:  Play!  Of  course!  Everything  the  artist  makes  is  after  all  only 
play.  He  agonizes,  tries  to  find  an  expression  for  his  feelings  and  thoughts;  he 
speaks  with  color,  form,  drawing,  resonance  [Klang],  word,  etc.  What  for? 
Great  question!  About  that  later,  in  conversation.  Superficially  only  play.  For 
him  (the  artist)  the  question  "what  for"  has  little  sense.  He  only  knows  a 
"why."  So  arise  works  of  art,  so  arise  also  things  that  are  as  yet  not  works  of 
art,  but  rather  only  stations,  ways  to  that  end,  but  which  already  have  within 
them  also  a  little  glimmer  of  light,  a  resonance.  The  first  ones  and  likewise 
the  second  (the  first  are  all  too  infrequent)  had  to  be  made  because  otherwise 
one  has  no  peace.  You  saw  in  Kallmiinz  how  1  paint.  So  I  do  everything  that 
I  must:  it  is  ready  within  me  and  it  must  find  expression.  If  I  play  in  this  way 
every  nerve  in  me  vibrates,  music  rings  in  my  whole  body  and  God  is  in  my 
heart.  I  don't  care  if  it  is  hard  or  easy,  takes  much  or  little  time,  is  useful  or 
not.  And  here  and  there  I  find  people  who  are  grateful  for  my  things,  who  get 
something  out  of  them.  . .  . 

Kandinsky  to  Gabriele  Miinter,  August  10,  1904 


83 


I.  MUNICH:  ENCOUNTER  AND  APPRENTICESHIP 


INTRODUCTION 


Franz  von  Stuck 

i  Poster  for  yth  International  Art  Exhibition 
in  the  Glass  Palace  fV7/.  Internationale 
Kunstausstellung  im  Glaspalast).     1897 
Lithograph  on  paper,  1314  x  iS1Yk" 
(33.7  x  48  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


AW^NCHEN  '897 


VNTER.   DEVA    ALLERH  °CHSTE.N    PR°TE\CT°I?ATE   S*.  KCL  N°HEIT   DES    PRINZ  "?EOENTEN    LVITPOLD  V°N    BAYERts 

VII.  INTERNATIONALE 

KVNSTAVSSTELLVNGi 

IA  KGLASfaLASTT"" TWINER  KS/NSTLER0EtP6SEN&0Wr"-",.-SECESSION 

V°/A      i.JVNI    BIS    ENDE  OCTOBER.  -.,,,,-.«,,.»,.„    . 


*  Indicates  not  in  exhibition 
t  Indicates  not  illustrated 


Julius  Diez 

2  Poster  for  Prinzregenten  Theater  Richard 
Wagner  Miinchen.     1901 
Lithograph  on  paper,  42^1  <;  x  z^Yid' 
(109  x  74.5  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


PRINZREGENTEN 


MVS!KALI50iE   LEIIVNCv  O.EHOFKAPELLMEiSTER 

HERMAN  ZVMPE  FRANZ  FISCHER  HVC°  R°HR. 
BERNHARD  5TAVENHACEN. 

LEiTER  der  AVFF^HRVNCEN  = 
JNTENDANT  ERNSTv.P°SSART, 

OBERREC.ISSEVR  ANT.  FVCHS,  REGISSEVR  ROB. MILLER 

DEKORATiVERJHEiL: 

KCLDiREKTOR  KARLLAVTENSOH LAGER. 


85 


Emil  Rudolf  Weiss 
3  Poster  for  First  International  Exhibition 
of  Art-Photographs  in  the  Secession  (Erste 
Internationale  Ausstellung  von  Kunst— 
Photographien  in  der  Secession).     1898 
Lithograph  on  paper,  42^6  x  %<)%(," 
(107.5  x  7°  cm-) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


A*iot2jng 


"[A.GUCM  6(6fFN£T. 


f?AKAT£M  jind  LlTHOGRAIflieM 
K2JNSr&6WtRB€. 


£intkitm/Aark. 


Bruno  Paul 

4  Poster  for  Art  in  Handicrafts  Exhibition 
(Ausstellung  Kunst  im  Handiverk).     1901 
Lithograph  on  paper,  34%  x  2.37k;" 
(88.5  x  59.5  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Albert  Weisgerber 

5  Peacock  Dance  (Pfauentanz).     1902 
Pen  and  brush,  tusche  and  tempera  on 
paper,  16  x  n^is"  (40.7  x  30.1  cm.) 
Stiftung  Saarlandischer  Kulturbesitz, 
Saarbriicken 


.  .tfiichen 

AvWellvnq  im  Alter)  National 
mevm'teimtliQnvr56^ua 

Kvrcfihfiandwfll 


87 


8*. 


Thomas  Theodor  Heine 
|6  Poster  for  Simplicissmns.     1897 
Lithograph  on  paper,  34V16  x  ziVu" 
(86.5x59.5  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Ludwig  von  Zumbusch 

t7  Poster  for  Youth:  Munich  Illustrated 
Weekly  for  Art  and  Life  (Jugend:  Miinch- 
ner lllustrierte  Wochettschrift  fur  Kunst 
und  Leben).     1896 
Lithograph  on  paper,  2413/is  x  17%" 
(63x45  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Robert  Engels 

f8  Poster  for  Munich  Artists'  Theater 
(Miinchner  Kiinstlertheater).     1909 
Lithograph  on  paper,  4i5/i6  x  x-j^h" 
(105  x  70  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Ernst  Stern 

t9  Cafe  "Megalomania,"  Carnival  (Cafe 
"Grossenwahn,"  Karneval).     1902 
Portfolio  of  lithographs  on  paper,  9  sheets 
printed  on  both  sides,  each  12%  x  I9n/i6" 
(32  x  50  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtbibliothek  mit  Hand- 
schriftensammlung,  Munich 

Peter  Behrens 
roa-b  Two  Banners  (Zwei  Fahnen).     1900-01 
Oil  on  canvas,  each  312  x  37%"  (795  x 
95.6  cm.) 

Shown  at  entrance  to  Behrens's  house, 
Darmstadt  Kiinstlerkolonie 
Private  Collection 


Bruno  Paul 

11  "Art  Dream  of  a  Modern  Landscapist" 
("Kunsttraum  eines  modernen  Land- 
schafters").     1897 

Watercolor,  pencil  and  ink  on  paper, 
i6Yg  x  11%"  (41  x  30.2  cm.) 
Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 


Bruno  Paul 

12  "The  Munich  Fountain  of  Youth"  ("Der 
Miinchner  Jugendbrunnen").     1897 
Watercolor,  pencil  and  ink  on  paper, 
15  x  23%"  (38.1  x  60.4  cm.) 
Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 


Bruno  Paul 
13  Title  page  of  Jugend,  vol.  1,  no.  35, 
August  29,  1896 
ni3/i«x8"/lfi"  (30x21.7  cm.) 
Collection  Kunstbibliothek  Staatliche 
Museen  Preussischer  Kulturbesitz,  Berlin 


90 


Poppel  and  Kurz 

14  The  Glass  Palace  (Der  Glaspalast).     1854 
Photograph  of  engraving 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


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tA- 


91 


August  Endell 

15  Stair  Railing,  Hof atelier  Elvira,  Munich 
(Treppenraum  mit  Gelander,  Hofatelier 
Elvira,  Miinchen).     1896-97 
Photograph 

August  Endell 

16  Reception  Room,  Hofatelier  Elvira, 
Munich  (Empfangszimmer ,  Hofatelier 
Elvira,  Miinchen). 

Photograph 


August  Endell 
17  Entrance  Gate,  Hofatelier  Elvira,  Munich 
(Eingangsgitter,  Hofatelier  Elvira, 
Miinchen). 
Photograph 


h  II"  a 


92. 


JUGENDSTIL  ENVIRONMENT 


Hermann  Obrist  and  Richard 
Riemerschmid 

18  Room  for  a  Friend  of  the  Arts  (Zhmner 
ernes  Kunstfreundes).     ca.  1900 
Embroideries  by  Obrist,  music  stand  and 
chairs  by  Riemerschmid 
Photograph 
Collection  Museum  Bellerive,  Zurich 


94 


August  Endell 
19  Table  (Tiscb).     1899 

Oak,  271716  x  45%  x  373/is"  (71  *  115  x 

96  cm.) 

Private  Collection 


Hermann  Obrist 

20  Firelilies  (Feuerlilien).     ca.  1895-1900 
Gold  thread  flatstitch  brocade  on  silk, 
39%  x  I9n/u,"  (100  x  50  cm.) 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


95 


August  Endell 
21  Desk  Chair  (Schreibtischsessei).     1S9S 
Elm,  33  7k,"  (85  cm.)  h. 
Collection  Siegfried  Wichmann 


96 


Gertraud  Schnellenbiihel 

%%  Candelabra  (Tischlenchter).     1901-08 
Silver-plated  brass,  18V2  x  17M" 
(47  x  45  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Richard  Riemerschmid 

2.3  Music  Room  Chair  (Musikzimmerstithl). 
1898 

Elm,  3oly16"  (77  cm.)  h. 
Collection  Siegfried  Wichmann 


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97 


r 


Richard  Riemerschmid 

24  Study  for  Door  Frame  and  Stucco  Frieze 
(Entwurf  fiir  Tiirrahmen  und  Stuckfries). 
1899 

Pencil  with  colored  crayons  on  paper, 
I915/l<5  x   I75/k,"  (50-7  x  44  cm.) 
Architektursammlung  der  Technischen 
Universitat,  Munich 


Richard  Riemerschmid 

f'25  Phantom  Clouds  II  (Wolkengespenster  II). 
ca.  1897 

Tempera  on  canvas,  17%  x  3oyir," 
(45  x  77  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 

August  Endell 
26  Trunk  from  Heiseler  House,  Brannenburg 
(Truhe  aus  Haus  Heiseler,  Brannenburg). 
1899 

Prepared  elm  with  metal  sheathing,  17%  x 
S39/l6  x  29V8"  (45  x  136  x  74  cm.) 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


August  Endell 

27  Rug  (Bodenteppich).     ca.  1920 
Wool,  7715/16  x  65%"  (198  x  166  cm.) 
Collection  Museum  fur  Kunst  und 
Gewerbe,  Hamburg 


99 


Hermann  Obrist 
28a-b  Two  Chairs  (Ziuei  Stiihle).     ca.  1898 
Solid  moor  oak,  each  37"  (94  cm.)  h. 
Collection  Siegfried  Wichmann 

Hermann  Obrist 

29  Table  (Tisch).     ca.  1898 

Stained  solid  moor  oak,  19 V2  x  33%  x 
io7ifi"  (75  x  86  x52  cm.) 
Collection  Siegfried  Wichmann 


MURNAU  ENVIRONMENT 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
30  Writing  Desk  (Schreibtisch).     ca.  1911-13 
Painted  pine,  3i11/i6  x  35I4  x 
2-37/is"  (80.5  x  89.5  x  59.5  cm.) 
Collection  Gabriele  Miinter-Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

32  Bedside  Table  (Toilettenschrankchen). 
ca.  1911-13 

Painted  pine,  393/8  x  22. Vis  x  12%" 
(100  x  56  x  31.5  cm.) 
Collection  Gabriele  Miinter-Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
■f  31  Chair  (Stuhl).     ca.  1911-13 
Painted  pine,  34%  (87  cm.)  h. 
Collection  Gabriele  Miinter-Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
t33  Stairway  Decorated  with  Stenciled  Riders 
(Treppengelander  mit  schablonierten 
Reitern).     ca.  1911-13 
Photograph 

Collection  Gabriele  Miinter- Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
34  Stencil  with  Rider  (Schablone  mit  Reiter). 
1911 

Cardboard  stencil,  cutouts  from  stencil 
and  pencil,  9V2  x  13"  (24. 2  x  33  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbach- 
haus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

35  Meeting  (Begegnung).  ca.  1908-09 
Painted  wood,  14%  x  i6\/,"  (36.5  x 
42.5  cm.) 

Collection  Gabriele  MLinter-Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

36  Rider  (Reiter).     ca.  1908-09 

Painted  wood,  11  7/ic  x  9%"  (29  x  25  cm.) 
Collection  Gabriele  Miinter- Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

37  Watch  Stand  (Uhrenstander).     ca.  1908 
Painted  wood,  5%  x  3%  x  i%6" 

(15  x  8  x  4  cm.) 

Collection  Gabriele  Miinter- Johannes 

Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 


103 


Gabriele  Miinter 
38  Still  Life  with  St.  George  (Stilleben  mit 
Heiligem  Georg).     1911 
Oil  on  cardboard,  zoYg  x  z6%"  (51. 1  x 
68  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im 
Lenbachhaus,  Munich 


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Vasily  Kandinsky 
39  Sancta  Francisca.     1911 

Glass  painting  (oil  and  tempera  [?]  on 
glass),  6i/8  x  45/8"  (15-6  x  IX-8  cm-) 
Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


Franz  Marc 

f4o  Cock,  Goat  and  Boar  (Hahn,  Ziege  nnd 
Eber).     ca.  1911 

Wool  embroidery  on  muslin,  8u/k" 
(12  cm.)  d. 

Embroidered  by  Ada  Campendonk 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im 
Lenbachhaus,  Munich 


August  Macke 
41  Box,  "The  Judgment  of  Paris"  (Kastcben, 
"Das  Urteil  des  Paris").     1913 
Wood  box  with  embossed  silver-plate  and 
painted  lid,  z^/l6  x  7%  x  5 y4"  (7.4  x 
1S.7  x  13.2  cm.) 
Collection  Heirs  of  Dr.  W.  Macke,  Bonn 


Moissey  Kogan 

42  Female  Head  (Weiblicher  Kopf).     n.d. 
Wool  embroidery  on  linen,  69/k,  x  Q-">/\c'' 
(16.7  x  17.7  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im 
Lenbachhaus,  Munich 


105 


CAMPBELL  ENVIRONMENT 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

43  Painting  No.  199.     1914 

Oil  on  canvas,  63"%  *  48V&"  (162.4  x 
122..3  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


106 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

44  Painting  No.  201.     1914 

Oil  on  canvas,  63%  x  48V8"  (162.3  x 
12.2..8  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


107 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
45  Panel  (3).     1914 

Oil  on  canvas,  64  x  U'1  ■',"  (162.. 5  x  92  cm.) 
Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York,  Mrs.  Simon  Guggenheim 
Fund, 1954 


108 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

46  Panel  (4).     1914 

Oil  on  canvas,  64  x  3i1/£"  (162.5  x  80  cm.) 
Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York,  Mrs.  Simon  Guggenheim 
Fund,  1954 


109 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
47  Watercolor  Study  for  the  Panel  "Summer" 
for  Edwin  R.  Campbell  (Aquarellentwurf 
zu  dem  Paneel  "Sommer"  fiir  Edwin  R. 
Campbell).     1914 

Watercolor  and  tusche  over  pencil  on 
paper,  I33/16  x  9%"  (334  *  2-5-1  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im 
Lenbachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
48  Watercolor  "Idea  for  a  Mitral  for 
Campbell"  (Aquarell  "Idee  zu  einem 
Wandbild  fiir  Campbell").     1914 
Watercolor,  tusche  and  zinc  white  over 
pencil  on  paper,  i^/u  x  9%"  (33.3  x 
25.1  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im 
Lenbachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
49  Watercolor  Study  for  the  Panel  "Spring" 
for  Edwin  R.  Campbell  (Aquarellentwurf 
zu  dem  Paneel  "Friibling"  fiir  Edwin  R. 
Campbell).     1914 

Watercolor,  tusche  and  pencil  on  paper, 
i33/ifi  x  97/s"  (33-4  x  25-i  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im 
Lenbachhaus,  Munich 


JUGENDSTIL  METAPHOR 


August  Endell 

50  Facade,  Hof atelier  Elvira,  Munich. 
ca.  1896-97 
Photograph 


Franz  von  Stuck 

*5i  The  Guardian  of  Paradise  (Der  Wachter 
des  Paradieses).     1889 
Oil  on  canvas,  98%  x  6$l5/i6"  (250.5  x 
167.5  cm-) 
Collection  Museum  Villa  Stuck,  Munich 


113 


Hermann  Obrist 
*52  Whiplash  (Peitschenhieb).     1895 

Silk  flatstitch  embroidery  on  wool, 
47I/16  x  72.14"  (119.5  x  183.5  cm.) 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


114 


Hans  Schmithals 

53  Polar  Star  and  Star  Constellation  Dragon 
(Polarstern  itnd  Stembild  Drache).     1902 
Gouache  on  paper,  18%  x  435/i<;"  (48  x 
no  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


115 


Hans  Schmithals 
54  Composition  in  Blue  ({Composition  in 
BLm).     ca.  1900 

Pastel  and  mixed  media  on  paper, 
51%  x  3i'/)s"  (131. 5  x  79.5  cm.) 
Bayerische  Staatsgemaldesammlungen, 
Munich 


Il6 


Hans  Schmithals 

55  The  Glacier  (Der  Gletscher).     ca.  1903 
Mixed  media  on  paper,  4514  x  29VS" 
(114.8  x  74.7  cm.) 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York.  Matthew  T.  Mellon 
Fund  90.60 


117 


Hans  Schmithals 

56  Study  (Studie).     n.d. 

Pastel  and  crayon  on  paper,  n'/J  x  i$lY\c" 

(54  x  40.1  cm.) 

Collection  Siegfried  Wichmann 

AkseliGallen-Kallela 

57  Vlame  (Flamme).     1899;  1913 
Wool  rug,  120  x  67%"  (305  x  172  cm.) 
Collection  Museum  of  Applied  Arts, 
Helsinki 


118 


H9 


Hermann  Obrist 

58  Untitled  (Sea  Garden)  (Ohne  Titel 
[Meeresgarten]).     n.d. 

Pencil  on  paper,  7  Vis  x  3V2"  (i7-9  x 

8.8  cm.) 

Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 

Hermann  Obrist 

59  Untitled  ("Stone  Organ")  (Ohne  Titel 
["Steinerne  Or  gel"]),     ca.  1895 

Pencil  on  paper,  6V2  x  2%"  (16.5  x  7  cm.) 
Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 


Hermann  Obrist 

60  Study  for  a  Monument  (Entwurf  fur  einem 
Denkmal).     ca.  1898 

Pencil  on  paper,  5  7i6  x  4"  (14.5  x  10.1  cm.) 
Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 

Hermann  Obrist 

61  Rock  Grotto  with  Flaming  River  (Fels- 
grotte  mit  loderndem  Eluss).  ca.  1895 
Watercolor,  pastel,  pencil  and  charcoal 
on  paper,  1114  x  7%"  (28.5  x  18.8  cm.) 
Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 

Hermann  Obrist 

62  Vortex  Above  a  Battlement  (Strudel 
iiber  Zinnen).     ca.  1898 

Pencil  on  transparent  paper,  9%  x  4%" 

(24.5  x  12.5  cm.) 

Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 


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Hermann  Obrist 

63  "More  ground  out  of  which  .  .  ."  (Fire 
Flower  II)  (Feuerblume  II).     ca.  1895 
Pastel  and  pencil  on  paper,  6Y16  x  3%" 
(15.7  x  8.5  cm.) 
Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 


Hermann  Obrist 
64  Untitled  ("Smouldering  Plant")  (Ohne 
Titel  ["Schwelende  Pflanze"]).     ca.  1895 
Charcoal  and  pencil  on  transparent  paper, 
10%  x  7xY\h"  (27  x  19.8  cm.) 
Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 


Hermann  Obrist 

f65  Tu'isted  Bough  with  Branch  and  Flaming 
Blossom  (Gewundener  Ast  mit  Ziveig  und 
Flammenbliite).     ca.  1896 
Pencil  on  paper,  7%  x  21%"  (18.7  x 
68.9  cm.) 
Collection  Siegfried  Wichman 


I 


Hermann  Obrist 

66  Fantastic  Shell  (Phantastiscbe  Muschel). 
ca.  1895 

Charcoal  and  pencil  on  paper,  ioH/isX 
6%"  (27-i  x  J6.z  cm.) 
Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 


Hermann  Obrist 

67  "Yet  longer  beneath  .  .  ."  ("Thorny 
Stalk  .  .  .")  ("Noch  [anger  unten  .  .  ." 
["Dorniger  Stengel .  .  ."]).     ca.  1898 
Pencil  on  transparent  paper,  16%,;  x 
915/is"  (41  x  25.3  cm.) 
Staatliche  Graphische  Sammlung,  Munich 


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123 


Hermann  Obrist 

68  Arch  Pillar  (Gewolbepfeiler).     before  1900 
Photograph 

Collection  Museum  Bellerive,  Zurich 

Hermann  Obrist 

69  Tapestry  (Wandteppicb).     before  1897 
Photograph 

Collection  Museum  Bellerive,  Ziirich 


125 


Hermann  Obrist 

*70  Motion  Study  (Beivegttngsstudie). 
ca.  1895 

Reworked  cast  plaster,  two  sections,  total 
72  7i6  x  28%  x  28%"  (184  x  73  x  73  cm.) 
Collection  Museum  Bellerive,  Zurich 


iz6 


Hermann  Obrist 

71  Sketch  for  a  Monument  (Entivurf  zu 
einem  Denkmal).     ca.  1898-1900 
Reworked  cast  plaster,  34n/i6  x  14^6 
x  20%"  (88  x  38  x  52  cm.) 
Collection  Museum  Bellerive,  Zurich 


12-7 


APPRENTICESHIP 


Anton  Aibe 

7a  In  the  Harem  (Im  Harem),     ca.  1905 
Oil  on  canvas,  ij1/^  x  zoYic,"  (44.3  x 
51.3  cm.) 
Collection  Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana 


128 


Anton  Azbe 

73  Self-Portrait  (Selbstbildnis).     1886 

Oil  on  canvas,  25%  x  ao1/^"  (65  x  51  cm-) 
Collection  Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana 


129 


Anton  Azbe 
74  Hal) '-Nude  Woman   Weiblichei  Halbakt). 

iSSS 

Oil  on  canvas,  39%  x  }l%"  (100  x  Si  cm.) 

Collection  Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana 


130 


Anton  Azbe 

75  Portrait  of  a  Negress  (Bikinis  einer 
Negerin).     1895 

Oil  on  wood,  21%  x  15V2"  (S5-2-  x 
394  cm.) 
Collection  Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana 


131 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
76  Six  Female  Nudes.  Standing  (Sechs  iveib- 
liche  Akte,  stehend).     ca.  1 897-1900 
Tusche,  pen  and  brush  on  paper,  8X16  x 

12.%"  (lO.8x3i.7cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
77  Five  Male  Nudes  (Fiinf  mannlicbe  Akte). 
ca.  1 897-1900 

Tusche,  pen  and  brush,  watercolor  and 
opaque  white  on  paper,  8'/i  x  n'^r," 
(20.9  x  31.6  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


132 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

78  Female  Nudes  and  St.  Httbertus  (Weib- 
licbe  Akte  nnd  St.  Hubertus). 
ca. 1897-1900 

Tusche,  pen  and  brush  and  watercolor  on 
paper,  8*4  x  12%"  (20.9  x  32.7  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
79  Sketchbook  (Skizzenbuch).     1897-1900; 
1910-n 

Page  3  of  53  sheets,  pencil  on  paper,  14  x 
SH/ifi"  (35-5  x  12  cm.) 
Collection  StSdtische  Galerie  im  I.en- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


•■,... 


-I; 


133 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

80  Munich,     ca.  1901-02. 

Oil  on  canvasboard,  9%  x  tzYs"  (23.8  x 
32. 1  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


134 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

3i  English  Garden  in  Munich  (Englischer 
Garten  in  Munchen).     1901 
Oil  on  canvasboard,  9%  x  I2.n/l6"  (2-3-7  x 
32.. 3  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


135 


Franz  von  Stuck 
82  Autumn  Evening  (Autumn  Landscape  with 
Rider)  |  Herbstabend  [Herbstlandschaft 
mit  Reiterl).     1893 
Oil  on  canvas,  24V1  x  }oYs"  (61.5  x 
76.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


136 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
83  In  the  Forest  (Im  Walde).     1903 

Tempera  on  wood,  io^j  x  y^/n"  (26  x 
19.8  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
84  Sketchbook  (Skizzenbitch).     ca.  1903 
Rider  in  Landscape  (Reiter  in  Landscbaft), 
page  30  of  40  sheets,  colored  pencil  on 
paper,  & Vie  x  45/16"  (17x11  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Karl  Schmoll  von  Eisenwerth 
85  Forest  Ride  (Waldritt).     ca.  1904 
Color  woodcut  on  paper,  8%  x  jVk" 
(22  x  19.5  cm.) 

Collection  Professor  J.  A.  Schmoll- 
Eisenwerth,  Munich 


137 


Franz  von  Stuck 
86  From  and  Mary  Stuck— Artists'  Festival 
(Franz  und  Mary  Stuck— Kiinstlerfest). 
1900 

Oil  on  wood,  19M,;  x  19V2"  (49  x  49.5  cm.) 
Collection  Stiidtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


138 


Franz  von  Stuck 
87  Amazon  (Amazone).     1897 
Bronze,  i^/\<"  (36  cm.)  h. 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 

Munich 


139 


140 


Franz  von  Stuck 

;  Villa  Stuck  with  Poplars  (Villa  Stuck  mit 
Pappelgruppe) 
Photograph 
Courtesy  Gerhard  Weiss,  Munich 


mii'n 


Franz  von  Stuck 

i  Sketch  for  Furniture  in  the  Villa  Stuck 
(Entwurf  fiir  Mobel  in  der  Villa  Stuck). 
ca.  1895-97 

Pencil  and  pen  with  tusche  on  yellowish 
paper,  12%  x  8%"  (32.8  x  21.2  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


141 


**^ 


- 


1$ 


■ 


142 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

90  Young  Woman  in  Oriental  (?)  Costume 
(Jitnge  Fran  in  orientalischer  [?]  Tracht). 
ca.  1900 

Watercolor  over  pencil  on  paper,  7%  x 
4Vt"  (19.3  x  10.8  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

91  Townsmen  and  Peasant  Costumes  of  the 
16th  Century  (Burger  und  Bauerntracbt 
des  16.  Jabrhunderts).     n.d. 

Colored  pencil  on  gray-blue  paper,  8V2  x 
12. y8"  (21.7x31.4  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

92  Comet  (Night  Rider  ?)  (Der  Komet 
[Nachtlicher  Reiter  ?]).     1900 
Tempera  and  goldbronze  on  red  paper 
mounted  on  black  cardboard,  71%6  x  9" 
(19.8  x  22.9  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


J43 


II.  PHALANX:  ENCOUNTER  AND  AVANT    GARDE 


Franz  von  Stuck 
93  Poster  for  International  Art  Exhibition 
(Internationale  Kunstausstellung).     1893 
Lithograph  on  paper,  24 %  x  14%"  (61.5 
x  36.5  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


INTERNATIONALE 

KUNST- 
AUSSTELLUNG 

des-  vereins-  bildender-  kunstler 
a\Unchens 

(SECESSION) 

PRINZ-  REOENTEN-STRASSE: 

VOKi  •  1  J U  N I  •  Bl S  •  E N  D  E  •  OCTOBER 

AGUCH.  GEOFFNET- VON  •  9  "  6  •  UHR 


144 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
94  Poster  for  First  Phalanx  Exhibition 
(I.  Phalanx  Ausstellting).     1901 
Color  lithograph  on  paper,  18%  x  2.3%" 
(47.3  x  60.3  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York,  Gift,  Kenneth  C. 
Lindsay,  Binghamton,  New  York 


145 


PHALANX  I 


Thomas  Theodor  Heine 

95  Guest  Performance:  The  Eleven  Execu- 
tioners (Gastspiel:  Die  Elf  Scharfrichter). 
1903 

Color  lithograph  on  paper,  43u/ic  x  2.6" 
(in  x  66  cm.) 
Collection  Kunsthalle  Bremen 


146 


Waldemar  Hecker 
96a-g  Seven  Puppets  (Sseben  Marionetten). 
n.d. 

Painted  wood,  each  15%"  (40  cm.)  h. 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


147 


Albert  Bloch 
97  The  Green  Dress  (Das  grihic  Gcu\ind). 
1913 

Oil  on  canvas,  51^  x  33V2"  (130.8  x 
85.1  cm.) 

Private  Collection  on  extended  loan  to 
Everson  Museum  of  Art,  Syracuse, 
New  York 


Rolf  Niczky 

!  Poster  for  Munich  Lyric  Theater  "Uber- 
brettl"  (Lyrisches  Theater  Miinchner 
Uberbrettl).     ca.  1900 
Lithograph  on  paper,  44%  x  34%"  (114 
x  88.5  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


umiscHcs 

THCRTCn 


DineCTION:  WiLLYRflTH. 


10TCL  TRGFLe 
vlORNG     Lf\NDW£HnSTnRS5£ 


149 


Wilhclm  Hiisgen 
99  Mask  of  Frank  Wedekind  (Maske  von 

Frank  Wedekind).     ca.  1901-02 
Plaster  cast,  13V2  x  10%"  (35  x  2-  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtbibliothek  mit  Hand- 
schriftensammlung,  Munich 


Ernst  Stern 

100  Program  for  the  Eleven  Executioners  (Elf 
Scharfrichter  Programm).     November 
1903 

Lithograph  on  paper,  10V2  x  7>4"  (26  x 
18  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtbibliothek  mit  Hand- 
schriftensammlung,  Munich 


¥ 


Ernst  Stern 

101  Program  for  the  Eleven  Executioners  (Elf 
Scharfrichter  Programm).     February  1902 
Lithograph  on  paper,  10V2  x  7 14"  (26  x 

18  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtbibliothek  mit  Hand- 

schriftensammlungen,  Munich 

Arpad  Schmidhammer 

102  Cover  for  Program  for  the  Eleven  Execu- 
tioners (with  program  for  Wedekind's 
"Lulu")  (Umschlag  fur  Elf  Scharfrichter 
Programbuch  [mit  Programm  fiir  Wede- 
kinds  "Lulu"]),     n.d. 

Lithograph  on  paper,  10V2  xjVt"  U<>  x 
18  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtbibliothek  mit  Hand- 
schriftensammlungen,  Munich 


150 


Ernst  Stern 

j-103  Program  for  the  Eleven  Executioners  (Elf 
Scharfrichter  Programm).     April  13,  1901 
Lithograph  on  paper,  10V2  x  7V4"  (2.6  x 
18  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtbibliothek  mit  Hand- 
schriftensammlungen,  Munich 


/.  PulUi. 


n*\  "t\   •*  +* 


DIE  SCHWARZE 

FLASCHE 

""""*"""'  "  """  ""            paLl'lLT" 

LULU 

Tta**  !•..<»„«*«  «.&***> 

" FRANK  WEDEKIND 

Dr'AI.0"^,""' 

£Eiir 

M,h'Ci.. ::::::: 

:       MANS   Mm" 

t£ 

PAUL  SCHLESINGER 

I51 


152 


104  Frank  Wedekind  with  Seven  Members  of 
the  Eleven  Executioners  (Frank  Wedekind 
mit  Sieben  Mitglieder  der  Elf  Scbarfricbter) 
Photograph 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


105  Marya  Delvard  and  Marc  Henry,  ca.  1905 
Photograph 

Collection  Delvard  Nachlass,  Miinchner 
Stadtmuseum,  Munich 


106  Marya  Delvard  with  Wilhelm  Hiisgen. 
1958 

Photograph 

From  album  of  Doris  Hiisgen;  courtesy 
David  Lee  Sherman 


153 


PHALANX  II 


Peter  Behrens 

fi07  Poster:  A  Document  of  German  Art 

(Plakat:  Bin  Dokument  Deutscber  Kunst). 

1901 

Color  lithograph  on  paper,  49%  x  i61Yk," 

(116x43  cm-) 

Collection  Hessisches  Landesmuseum, 

Darmstadt 


XVII    Jahrgamj.  Heft 


Peter  Behrens 

108  Cover  for  Die  Knnst  fiir  Alle.     October 
1,  1901 

n-Xis  x89/u"  (30.9  x  2.1.7  cm.) 
Collection  Kunstbibliothek  Staatliche 
Museen  Preussischer  Kulturbesitz,  Berlin 


154 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
109  Sketchbook  (Skizzenbucb).     1897-1900; 
1 902.-03 

Furniture  (Mobel),  page  40  of  51  sheets, 
pencil,  watercolor,  goldbronze  and  col- 
ored crayon  on  paper,  8'/2  x  55/i6"  (2.1-5  x 
13.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
no  Sketchbook  (Skizzenbuch).     ca.  1902-03 
Designs  for  Furniture  (Mobelentwiirfe), 
page  34  of  34  sheets,  pencil  on  paper, 
6%  x  10%"  (17-5  x  26  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


\    4 


155 


Hans  Christiansen 
in  Presentation  Vase  with  Red,  Green  and 
Blue  Decoration  with  Gold  Overlay 
(Prunkvase  mit  rotem,  griinem  itnd 
blauem  Dehor,  Goldauflage).     1901 
Glazed  earthenware,  6V2  x  l^^is"  (i<»-5 
x  31.5  cm.) 

Collection  Wachtersbacher  Keramik, 
Brachttal,  Germany 


156 


Hans  Christiansen 

112  Study  for  Presentation  Vase  with  Red, 
Green  and  Blue  Decoration  with  Gold 
Overlay  (Entwnrf  fiir  Prttnkvase  mit 
rotem,  griinem  iind  blanem  Dekor,  Gold- 
auflage).     1901 

Watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper,  10%,-,  x 
19"  (25.9  x  48.2  cm.) 
Collection  Wachtersbacher  Keramik, 
Brachttal,  Germany 

Vasily  Kandinsky 

113  Studies  for  the  Decoration  of  Vases  (Ent- 
wiirfe  fiir  die  Bemalung  von  Gefassen). 
n.d. 

Lead  and  colored  pencils  on  paper,  5%  x 
415/i<s"  (14.9  x  12.6  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


157 


Hans  Christiansen 
114  Cylindrical  Vase  with  Stylized  Leaves 
(Zylindrische  Vase  mit  stilisierten  Blatt- 
ranken).     1901 

Stoneware,  i23/i<-,  x  3%"  (31  x  9.5  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtisches  Museum  Flensburg 


Hans  Christiansen 

115  Study  for  a  Cylindrical  Vase  with  Stylized 
Leaves  (Entwurf  fiir  eine  Zylindrische 
Vase  mit  stilisierten  Blattranken).     1901 
Watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper,  I5n/i6 
x  4%"  (39-8  x  11.7  cm.) 
Collection  Wachtersbacher  Keramik, 
Brachttal,  Germany 


158 


Hans  Christiansen 

116  Vase  with  Green  and  White  Point  and 
Line  Decor  (Vase  mit  griin-iveissem  Punkt 
and  Liniendekor).     ca.  1901 
Glazed  earthenware,  315/is  x  0/u"  (10.1  x 
15.7  cm.) 

Collection  Wachtersbacher  Keramik, 
Brachttal,  Germany 


Hans  Christiansen 

117  Study  for  a  Small  Green  Vase  with  Points 
and  Lines  (Entwurf  fur  kleine  grime  Vase 
mit  Punkten  und  Linien).     ca.  1901 
Tempera,  watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper, 
io15/is  x  7"  (Z7.8  x  17.8  cm.) 
Collection  Wachtersbacher  Keramik, 
Brachttal,  Germany 


159 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

118  Four  Studies  for  Beaded  Embroidery  (Vier 
Entiviirfe  fiir  Perlenstickereien).     n.d. 
Pencil  on  paper,  SYk,  x  io%"  (2.0.8  x 
27  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
hachhaus,  Munich 


Ferdinand  Hauser 

119  Brooch  with  Pendants  (Brosche  mit 
Anhanger).     ca.  1902-13 
Gold,  silver,  enamel  and  moonstones, 
I'Vic"  (4-3  cm.)  d. 

Collection  Wiirttembergisches  Landes- 
museum,  Stuttgart 


160 


Hans  Christiansen 

120  Study  for  Inkwell  (Entwurf  fiir  ein  Tin- 
tenjass).     ca.  1901 

Watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper,  9%  x 
915/i6"  (24.8x25.2  cm.) 
Collection  Wachtersbacher  Keramik, 
Brachttal,  Germany 


r 


Hans  Christiansen 

121  Study  for  a  Flat  Plate  with  Blue  and  Green 
Leaf  Decoration  (Entwurf  fiir  einen 
flachen  Teller  mit  blauem  und  griinem 
Blattdekor).     1901 

Gouache  on  paper,  S9Ac,"  (21.7  cm.)  d. 
Collection  Stadtisches  Museum  Flensburg 

Hans  Christiansen 

122  Study  for  a  Plate  (Serving  Plate)  (Entwurf 
fiir  erne  Platte  [Servierplatte]).     ca.  1901 
Watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper,  12%  x 
*%XA"  (32-4  x  46.3  cm.) 

Collection  Wachtersbacher  Keramik, 
Brachttal,  Germany 


•A     ^      «% 


161 


Patriz  Huber 

123  Belt  Clasp  (Giirtelschliesse).     ca.  1900 
Silver,  gold  and  agate,  1%  x  2%"  (4.8  x 
7.2  cm.) 

Collection  Badisches  Landesmuseum, 
Karlsruhe 


Patriz  Huber 

124  Money  Purse  (Geldborse).     Mainz,  1902 
Silver,  goatskin  and  calfskin,  4u/i6  x  }Vs 
x  %"  (11  x  8  x  2  cm.) 
Collection  Wiirttembergisches  Landes- 
museum, Stuttgart 


162 


Hans  Christiansen 

125  Studies  for  Silver  (Toilet  Articles)  (Ent- 
wtirfe  fur  Silberarbeiten  [Toilettentisch 
Garnitur]).     1901 

Watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper,  15%  x 
11V16"  (39  x  28. z  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtisches  Museum  Flensburg 


S&&*&- 


To i LEXfbM  TTJOJ  W^RHITOt^  L 


163 


Peter  Behrens 

126  The  Kiss  (Der  Kuss).     1898 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  10%  x  8V2" 
(17.1  x  11. 6  cm.) 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York,  Gift  of  Peter  H.  Deitsch 


Rudolf  Bosselt 

fi27  Medal  with  Dedication  to  Grand  Dttke 
Ernst  Ludwig  (Medaille  mit  Widmiing  an 
Grossherzog  Ernst  Ludwig).     1901 
Silver,  2%"  (6  cm.)  d. 
Collection  Hessisches  Landesmuseum, 
Darmstadt 


Emmy  von  Egidy 

128  Picture  with  Branch  and  Moon  (Bild  mit 
Ast  und  Mond).     n.d. 

Watercolor  and  colored  chalk  on  paper, 
17%  X4ivU"  (45  x  105  cm.) 
Collection  Siegfried  Wichmann 

Emmy  von  Egidy 

129  Candy  Dish  (Bonbonniere).     ca.  1901 
Ceramic  with  silver,  z1Yk,  x  9~!/i6X  5%" 
(7.5  x  24  x  15  cm.) 

Collection  Siegfried  Wichmann 


164 


i65 


Richard  Riemerschmid 

130  Arm  Chair  (for  Music  Room)  (Lehnstuhl 
Ifiir  Musikzimmerj).     1899 

Oak  and  leather,  32.15is"  (83.1  cm.)  h. 
Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York.  Joseph  H.  Heil  Fund 

Richard  Riemerschmid 

131  Small  Table  with  Brass  Top  (Tischchen 
mit  Messingplatte).     1900 

Stained  walnut  and  brass,  30%  x  t^/ir,  x 
I515/U"  (78  x  39.5  x  40.5  cm.) 
Collection  Siegfried  Wichmann 


166 


Richard  Riemerschmid 

132  Textile  Decorations  (Dekorationsstoffe). 
ca.  1900 

Cotton  linen,  84y8  x  5i3/V  (215  x 
130  cm.) 
Collection  Siegfried  Wichmann 


167 


Hans  Christiansen 
133  Study  for  Book  Design:  The  Four  Ele- 
ments: Fire  (Entwurf  fiir  cineti  Binh- 
schmuck:  Die  Vier  Elemente:  Feuer). 
1S98 

Gouache  on  paper,  iz1/:  x  9%6"  (31-8  x 
24  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtisches  Museum  Flensburg 


Hans  Christiansen 
134  Study  for  Book  Design:  The  Four  Ele- 
ments: Earth  (Entwurf  fiir  einen  Bitch- 
schmuck:  Die  Vier  Elemente:  Erde). 
1898 

Gouache  on  paper,  tz1/2  x  9%"  (31.8  x 
23.8  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtisches  Museum  Flensbure 


168 


Hans  Christiansen 

135  Study  for  Book  Design:  The  Four  Ele- 
ments: Water  (Entwurf  fiir  einen  Buch- 
schmuck:  Die  Vier  Element e:  Wasser). 


Hans  Christiansen 
136  Study  for  Book  Design:  The  Four  Ele- 
ments: Air  {Entwurf  fiir  einen  Buch- 
sclnnuck:  Die  Vier  Elemente:  Luft). 


Gouache  on  paper,  nYs  x  9%"  (32  x 

23.8  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtisches  Museum  Flensburg 


Gouache  on  paper,  11%  x  914"  (31.5  x 

13.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtisches  Museum  Flensburg 


I<J9 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

137  The  Hunter  (Der  Jdger).     1907 

Color  linocut  on  paper,  9%  x  z%"  (24.5  x 
6.7  cm.) 

Collection  Stiidtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


170 


Hans  Christiansen 

138  Autumn  1  (Herbst  1).     1901 

Wool  and  hemp  tapestry,  2.85/i<;  x  SiYu" 

(72  x135  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtisches  Museum  Flensburg 


171 


\  asily  Kandinsky 
i  ^9  Walled  City  in  Autumn  Landscape  (Um- 
mauerte  Stadt  in  Herbstlandschaft). 
ca.  iqoi 

Colored  crayon  and  tempera  on  red 
paper,  <>'  j  \  14  \"  (15.8  x  36.6  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


^jty  - 


i^^^^BBw 


17Z 


Ludwig  von  Hofmarin 

140  The  Island  (Die  Insel).  ca.  1913-16 
Oil  on  canvas,  ii^ic,  x  ziYu,"  (54.5  x 
54.5  cm.) 

Collection  Staatliche  Museen  Preussischer 
Kulturbesitz,  Nationalgalerie,  Berlin 


173 


Peter  Behrens 
141  Brook  (Bach).     1900 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  i^Yia  x  zo9/\d' 
(38.9  x  5Z.3  cm.) 

Collection  Kunstbibliothek  Staatliche 
Museen  Preussischer  Kulturbesitz,  Berlin 


174 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

142  Moonrise  (Mondaufgang).     1904 
Color  woodcut  on  paper,  9XY\(,  x  5liAd' 
(24.9  x  14.8  cm.) 

Graphische  Sammlung,  Staatsgalerie 
Stuttgart 

Adolf  Holzel 

143  Winter— Thawing  Snow  (Winter — 
Tauscbnee).     1900 

Oil  on  canvas,  19%  x  x^Yk,"  (50.5  x 
60.5  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


Adolf  Holzel 

144  Birches  on  the  Moor  (Birken  im  Moos). 
1902 

Oil  on  canvas,  15%  x  18%"  (39  x  49  cm.) 
Collection  Mittelrheinisches  Landes- 
museum,  Mainz 
See  fig.  22,  p.  53 


175 


I 


I 


,  ,..., 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

145  Sketch  of  a  Dress  for  Gabriele  Miinter 
(Entwurf  eines  Kleides  fi'ir  Cabriele 
Miinter).     n.d. 

Pencil  and  ink  on  paper,  S^Yk,  x  d^/x^' 
(20.8  x  16.7  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

146  Sketch  of  a  Dress  for  Gabriele  Miinter 
(Entwurf  eines  Kleides  fi'ir  Gabriele 
Miinter).     n.d. 

Pencil  on  paper,  8%  x  nx/%"  (2.2-2.  x 
28.3  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


•y- 


176 


I47a"b  Gabriele  Miinter  in  Dresses  Designed  by 
Kandinsky  (Gabriele  Miinter  in  Kleidem 
entworfen  von  Kandinsky) 
Photographs 


177 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
148  Sketchbook  (Skizzenbuch).     1904 

Designs  for  Rings  (Entwiirfe  fiir  Finger- 
ringe),  page  23  of  1 1 1  sheets,  pencil  on 
paper,  6Yk,  x  4^"  (16  x  10.5  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
149  Sketchbook  (Skizzenbuch).     ca.  1900-04 
Designs  for  Locks  and  Keys  (Entwiirfe  fiir 
Schliisselochbeschlage  unci  Schliissel), 
page  52  of  52  sheets,  pencil,  watercolor 
and  goldbronze  on  graph  paper,  5 14  x 
8V2"  (13.3  x  21.5  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


C^r~^ 


178 


August  Macke 

150  Keyhole  Designs  (Schlusselloch  Entwiirfe). 
1910 

Pencil  on  paper  (reverse  of  telegram 
form),  8Yia  x  ioi/j"  (2.1.1  x  26  cm.) 
Collection  Heirs  of  Dr.  W.  Macke,  Bonn 


Franz  Marc 
tisi  Keyhole  Fitting  (Schliissellochbeschlag). 
n.d. 

Bronze,  2%  x  1V2"  (7  x  3.8  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Franz  Marc 
fi52  Keyhole  Fitting  (Schliissellochbeschlag). 
n.d. 

Bronze,  2%  x  2n/i<;"  (7  x  6.8  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 

Franz  Marc 

fi53  Belt  Clasp  (Giirtelschliesse).     1910 
Bronze,  2%  x  2iyi6"  (6  x  7.2  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
fi54  Embroidery — Designs  with  Landscapes 
(Stickerei — Entwiirfe  mit  Landschaften). 
1902-05 

Pencil  on  paper,  io5/8  x  8^5"  (27  x 
20.8  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


179 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
155  Bird  in  a  Circle  and  Other  Designs 

(Vogel  im  Rund  itnd  andere  Entwiirfe). 

May-June  1904 

Pencil  on  paper,  sylf,  x  6l/s  (10.8  x 

15.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 

bachhaus,  Munich 


' 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
156  Three  Designs  for  Pendants  (Drei  Ent- 
wiirfe fiir  Anhanger).     n.d. 

Pencil  on  paper,  4%  X9H/16"  (11.1  x 

24.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 

bachhaus,  Munich 


Vy  V 


180 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

157  Embroidery  Design  with  Stylized  Trees 
(Stickereientwurf  mit  stilisierten  Baumen). 
1902.-05 

Tempera  and  white  crayon  on  black 
paper,  4,lV\6  x  75/i6"  (12.5  x  18.5  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
158  Volga  Ships  (Wolgaschiffe).     1905 

Applique  with  beaded  embroidery, 
20%  x  32n/i<;"  (53  x  83  cm-) 
Executed  by  Gabriele  Miinter 
Collection  Gabriele  Munter-Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 


Vasty  Kandinsky 
159  Embroider,-  Design  with  Sun  and  Small 
Apple  Trees  ,  Stickereientuiirf  mrt  Sonne 
und  Apfelbaumchen).     n.d. 
Tempera  and  white  crayon  on  black 
71?;:-  -~r  x  _: , "    :7;i:;  -  ~" 
Go  Section  SrSdrische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhans.  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
rifin-d  z  ~ .  r  Small  Purses  for  Sewing  Articles 

V  a  Tosdhtbai  fm  Nabzmg).     ca.  1905 

i  ;i7rd  embroidery,  a.  5*-  \  \  ■  ' . 

7  =  X  Ij  777. 

Executed  by  Gabriele  Miinter 
Collection  Gabriele  Miinter-Johannes 
Ekhner  Snftuns.  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

161  Tu-o  Ladies  in  a  Park  u-ilh  Monopteros 
a md  Fond  | Zu 'ei  Dair.cn  in  einer  Tarhan- 
Isge  'nit  Monopteros  und  Taeb  . 
ca.  1903 

Pencil  on  transparent  paper,  s5g  x  2%" 
7_.i  x  6  an.'] 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


I S3 


August  Macke 

162  Sketch  for  Worringer  Tea  Salon  (Entwurf 
fur  Worringer  Tee-Salon).     1912 
Pencil  on  paper,  51/,  x  3^"  (13.3  x 

8.z  cm.) 

Collection  Heirs  of  Dr.  W.  Macke,  Bonn 

August  Macke 

163  Study:  Two  Vases  with  Handles  (Ent- 
wurf: Zwei  Hcnkelkannen).     1911 
Watercolor  on  paper,  10%  x  12%"  (27  x 
32  cm.) 

Collection  Heirs  of  Dr.  W.  Macke,  Bonn 


August  Macke 
164  Study:  Two  Vases  (Entwurf:  Zwei  Bauch- 
vasen).     19 12 

Watercolor  on  paper,  10%  x  12%"  (27  x 
32  cm.) 
Collection  Heirs  of  Dr.  W.  Macke,  Bonn 


'  f 

Y 


© 


184 


i6$Hermann  Obrist  and  Wilhelm  von  Deb- 
schitz  in  Obrist's  Studio  (Hermann  Obrist 
und  Wilhelm  von  Debscbitz  im  Atelier 
von  Obrist).     190Z 
Photograph 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Wolfgang  von  Wersin 
166  Abstract  Study  (Abstrakte  Studie). 
1903-04 

Watercolor  and  lithograph  on  paper,  6n/u 

x  9?is"  (17  *  23.6  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 

Munich 


Wolfgang  von  Wersin 
167  Abstract  Study  (Abstrakte  Studie).     n.d. 
Watercolor  and  lithograph  on  paper,  <$7i<-, 
x95/8"  (16.3  x  14.5  cm.) 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


186 


Wolfgang  von  Wersin 

168  Abstract  Study  (Abstrakte  Studie). 
1903-04 

Watercolor  and  lithograph  on  paper,  $Y\s 
x  iVu"  (13.5  x  zo.8  cm.) 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Wolfgang  von  Wersin 

169  Abstract  Study  (Abstrakte  Studie).     n.d. 
Watercolor  and  lithograph  on  paper,  in/is 
X5V2"  (6.7  x  13.9  cm.) 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Wolfgang  von  Wersin 

170  Abstract  Study  (Abstrakte  Studie).  1903-04 
Watercolor  and  lithograph  on  paper,  5  x 
7V4"  (11.7x18.5  cm.) 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


187 


Paul  Klee 

i-i  Ten  Studies  for  Diverse  Sketches  for  End- 
papers (Zehn  diverse  Entiviirfe  fiir  Vor- 
satzpapier).     1909-14 
Pen  and  India  ink  over  pencil  and  water- 
color  on  checkered  writing  paper  on  card- 
board, 12%  x  91/:"  (32.1  x  24.1  cm.) 
Collection  Paul  Klee-Stiftung,  Kunst- 
miiseum  Bern 


■WM 


$&&&■ 


m 


After  Franz  Marc 

172  Orpheus  and  the  Animals  (Orpheus  und 
die  Tiere).     1907 

Oil  on  canvas,  zyYic,  x  5215/i<;"  (74.5  x 
134.5  cm0 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Franz  Marc 
173  £.v  Libris  Daniel  Pesl.     1901 

Color  lithograph  on  paper,  4*4  x  2%'' 
(10.8  x  7  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Franz  Marc 

174  £.v  Libris  Paul  Marc.     1901 

Color  lithograph  on  paper,  ■}}{(,  x  2%" 
(8.7  x  7.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
hachhaus,  Munich 


Franz  Marc 
fi75  Ex  Libris  Daniel  Pesl.     1902 

Color  lithograph  on  paper,  $Y\(,  x  ili/u," 
(12.8  x  4.6  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Franz  Marc 
176  Ex  Libris.     1902 

Color  lithograph  on  paper,  $x/\g  x  ixj,/\(," 
(12.8  x  4.6  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


190 


Franz  Marc 

177  Ex  Libris.     1905 

Color  lithograph  on  paper,  3V2  x  3V2" 
(8.9  x  8.9  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

178  Sketch  for  a  Poster  for  a  French  Brewery 
(Entwurf  fur  eine  Affiche  einer  franzo- 
sischen  Brauerei).     1906-07 
Gouache  on  paper,  17V2  x  2.0% "  (44.5  x 
51.5  cm.) 
Lent  by  Davlyn  Gallery,  New  York 


191 


PHALANX  IV 


Akseli  Gallen-Kallela 

179  Defense  of  the  Sampo  (Verteidigitng  des 
Sampos).     1900 

Gouache  and  paper  on  cardboard 
mounted  on  canvas,  5 7 '/2  x  S9%6"  U46  x 
152.  cm.) 

Collection  The  Art  Museum  of  the 
Ateneum,  Helsinki,  Antell  Collection 


192. 


Akseli  Gallen-Kallela 

180  Landscape  Under  Snow  (Winterbild). 
1902. 

Tempera  on  canvas,  z^Yit  x  56n/is" 
(76  x  144  cm.) 

Collection  The  Art  Museum  of  the 
Ateneum,  Helsinki,  Antell  Collection 


% 

*>; 


193 


Akseli  Gallen-Kaliela 

181  Wing  (Flugel).     1900-02. 

Applique  and  embroidery  on  broadcloth 
and  cotton  cushion,  14% <•/'  (36  cm.)  d. 
Executed  by  Mary  Gallen-Kaliela 
Collection  Gallen-Kaliela  Museum, 
Espoo,  Finland 


Akseli  Gallen-Kaliela 
182  Seaflower  (Meeresblume).     1977  copy  of 
1900-02  original 

Applique  and  embroidery  on  broadcloth 
cushion,  15%  x  15  %"  (39  x  39  cm.) 
Collection  Gallen-Kaliela  Museum, 
Espoo,  Finland 


194 


Akseli  Gallen-Kallek 

183  Defense  of  the  Sampo  (Verteidigung  des 
Sampos).     1895 

Woodcut  on  paper,  9Vlfi  x  7V&"  (13  x 
18  cm.) 

Collection  Gallen-Kallela  Museum, 
Espoo,  Finland 


195 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
184  Twilight  (Dammerung).     1901 

Tempera,  colored  and  black  pencil,  silver 
and  goldbronze  on  cardboard,  fi3/^  x 
18%"  (i5-7  x  47-7  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

185  Trumpet  (Trompete).     1907 

Color  linocut  on  paper,  i%g  x  8%"  (6.5  x 
2.2.6  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

fi86  Sketchbook  (Skizzenbuch).     ca.  1903-04 
Trumpet-Blowing  Rider  (Trompete- 
blasenden  Reiter),  page  31  of  40  sheets, 
pen  and  ink  on  paper,  6%  x  ^/k"  (16.8  x 
11  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
187  Landscape  with  Trumpet-Blowing  Rider 
(Landschaft  mit  trompeteblasendem 
Reiter).     1908-09 

Tusche  brush  over  pencil  on  paper,  6V2  x 
814"  (16.5  x  20.9  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
fi88  Landscape  with  Rider  and  Bridge  (Land- 
schaft mit  Reiter  nnd  Briicke).     1908-09 
Oil  on  paper  mounted  on  cardboard,  12% 
x  10"  (32.7  x  25.4  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
9a-f  Six  Letters  to  Akseli  Gallen-Kallela 
(Sechs  Briefe  an  Axel  Gallen-Kallela). 
March  19,  May  8,  May  26,  June  9,  June 
10,  June  13,  1902 

Pen  and  ink  on  paper  (Phalanx  letter- 
head), each  ca.  8V2X  5%"  (21.6x14.6  cm/ 
Collection  Gallen-Kallela  Museum, 
Espoo,  Finland 


Gustav  Freytag 
fi90  Letter  to  Akseli  Gallen-Kallela  (Brief  an 
Axel  Gallen-Kallela).     April  28,  1902 
Pen  and  ink  on  paper  (Phalanx  letter- 
head), ca.  8I/2  x  5%"  (21.6  x  14.6  cm.) 
Collection  Gallen-Kallela  Museum, 
Espoo,  Finland 


197 


PHALANX  VII,  VIII,  IX: 

IMPRESSION  VERSUS   IMPROVISATION 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
191  Poster  for  V/7  Exhibition  of  Phalanx  (VU. 
Ausstellung  Phalanx).     1903 
Color  lithograph  on  paper,  32%  x  14  Vis" 
(83.5  x  61. 2.  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


MAI  BIS  JULI  1903 

AUSSTELLUHG 


PHALAMX 

K0LLLKTI0M     ™wrmwsTR.i5. 

CLAUDE!  MONET 


VOM  9-6UhR.  DMTRITTM.-  50. 


Gabriele  Miinter 
19a  Portrait  of  Kandinsky.     1906 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  io1/!  x  7 1/2" 
(25.9  x  19  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


199 


Gabriele  Miinter 
193  Kandinsky  at  Landscape  Painting  (Kan- 
dinsky  beim  Landschaftsmalen).     1903 
Oil  on  canvasboard,  6%  x  9' Mr,"  (16.9  x 
2.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

194  Gabriele  Miinter  Painting  in  Kallmiwi. 
(Gabriele  Miinter  beim  Malen  in 
Kallmiinz).     1903 

Oil  on  canvas,  2.3V16X  23 Vie"  (58.5  x 
58.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
195  Sunday,  Old  Russian  (Sonntag,  altrus- 
sisch).     1904 

Oil  on  canvas,  17%  x  377i6"  (45  x  95  cm.) 
Collection  Museum  Boymans-van  Beu- 
ningen,  Rotterdam 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
196  Beach  Baskets  in  Holland  (Strandkorbe 
in  Holland).     1904 

Oil  on  canvasboard,  97^  x  12.%"  (24  x 
32.6  cm.) 

Collection  StSdtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


■£*■  ',■  -.*  - 


Carl  Strathmann 

197  The  King  of  Fishes  (Der  Konig  der 
Fische).     ca.  1900 

Gouache,  watercolor  and  ink  on  paper- 
board,  20 Via  x  14^16"  (51  x  37.6  cm.) 
Collection  Badisches  Landesmuseum, 
Karlsruhe 


Carl  Strathmann 
fi98  Title  Page  Design,  "Before  My  Chamber 
Door,  Lullaby,  Before  the  Battle,  Dance 
of  Death"  (Titelblattentwtirf,  "Vor  meiner 
Kammertiir ,  Schlummerlieder ,  Vor  der 
Schlacht,  Totentanz").     before  1899 
Tusche  and  watercolor  highlighted  with 
gold  on  paper,  13%  x  10%"  (34.5  x 
27  cm.) 

Collection  Munchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


*TO9te 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
199  Three-beaded  Dragon  (Dreikopfiger 
Drache).     1903 

Woodcut  on  paper,  5%  x  215/is"  (14.6  x 
7.4  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Carl  Strathmann 

200  The  World  Serpent  (Die  Weltschlange). 
before  1900 

Watercolor  and  ink  on  paper,  9%  x  9V8 
(2.3.2.  x  23.2.  cm.) 

Collection  Badisches  Landesmuseum, 
Karlsruhe 


203 


Carl  Strathmann 

201  Satan.       1902. 

Watercolor  on  cardboard,  2811/i6  x 
i8»/16"  (72.8x72.5  cm.) 
Collection  Munchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


104 


Carl  Strathmann 

202  Decorative  Painting  with  Frame  (Deko- 
ratives  Bild  mit  Rahmen).     ca.  1897 
Tusche  and  watercolor  on  paper,  ca. 
1911/16  x  235/s"  (50  x  60  cm.) 
Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Carl  Strathmann 

203  Small  Serpent  (Kleine  Scblange). 
1897-98 

Watercolor  on  paper,  91/)  x  1^/4"  (2-3-5  x 
35  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


205 


Paul  Klee 
204  Untitled/2  Fish,  2  Hooks,  2  Worms  (Obne 
Originaltitel/ 2  Fiscbe,  2  Angethaken, 
2  Wiirmer).     1901 

Watercolor  and  ink  on  paper,  6  x  8%f," 
(15.1  x  2.1.7  crn-) 
Collection  Felix  Klee,  Bern 


Paul  Klee 

205  Untitled/ 1  Fish,  2  Hooks,  1  Little  Crea- 
ture (Ohne  Originaltitel  / 1  Fisch,  2  Anget- 
haken, 1  kleines  Geiter).     1901 
Watercolor  and  ink  on  paper,  6Y\t,  x  9V4" 
(16. 1  x  23.5  cm.) 
Collection  Felix  Klee,  Bern 


2.06 


Paul  Klee 

206  Untitled!  1  Fish,  1  Hook,  1  Worm  (Ohne 
Originaltitel/2  Fische,  1  Angelhaken,  1 
Wurm).     1901 

Watercolor  and  ink  on  paper,  fi%  x  jYu" 
(16.2  x  23.3  cm.) 
Collection  Felix  Klee,  Bern 


Paul  Klee 

207  Untitled/ 2  Fish,  One  on  the  Hook  (Ohne 
Originaltitel 1 '2  Fische,  einer  am  Haken). 
1901 

Watercolor  and  ink  on  paper,  6  x  8%" 
(15.2  x  22.6  cm.) 
Collection  Felix  Klee,  Bern 


Z07 


Alfred  Kubin 
208  The  Pearl  (Die  Perle).     1906-08 
Tempera  on  paper,  15  x  16%"  (38  x 
4Z.5  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


Z08 


Alfred  Kubin 
209  Portfolio  with  Facsimile  Prints  After  15 
Colored  Pen  Drawings  (Mappe  mit  Fak- 
simile  Drucken  nach  15  getonten 
Federzeichmmgen).     1903 
Each  sheet,  9%  x  i43/i6"  (15  x  I6  cm-) 
Published  by  Hans  von  Weber,  Munich 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Z09 


II.  THE   LYRIC  MODE:  ENCOUNTERS  WITH 

WOODCUT,  POETRY,  CALLIGRAPHY,  THEATER 


POETRY  AND   WOODCUTS 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

210  Title  Page  for  '"Verses  Without  Words" 
("Gedichte  ohne  Worte").  ca.  1903-04 
Woodcut  on  paper,  93/i<;  x  6%«"  (23.3  x 
16.7  cm.) 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York,  Gift  of  Mrs.  John  D. 
Rockefeller  3rd 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
|2ii  Bustling  Life  from  "Verses  Without 

Words"  (Bewegtes  Leben  von  "Gedichte 

ohne  Worte").     1903 

Woodcut  on  paper,  ^Ylf,  x  67k;"  (7-8  x 

16.4  cm.) 

Collection  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 

New  York,  Gift  of  Mrs.  John  D. 

Rockefeller  3rd 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
212  Xylographies.     1909 

Portfolio  of  5  prints  plus  cover  and  title 
page,  heliogravure  on  paper,  each  12% 
x  12%"  (32  x  32  cm.) 
Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
213  Birds  (Vogel).     1907 

Woodcut  on  paper,  5%  x  5n/is"  (13.6  x 
14.4  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
214  The  Night  (Die  Niicht).     1907 

Tempera  and  white  ink  on  dark  gray 
lined  cardboard,  11%  x  19%"  (29.8  x 
49.8  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


J 


c  «~'     \      «       t  * 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
215  Farewell  (Abscbied).     1903 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  n1^  x  ii^g" 
(30  x  31  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


213 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

216  The  Mirror  (Der  Spiegel).     1907 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  11V2  x  6lA" 
(31.1  x  15.9  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

217  In  Summer  (Im  Sommer).     1904 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  izVie  x  5%' 
(30.6  x  15  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


214 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

f2i8  Night  (Large  Version)  (Die  Nacht  [Grosse 
Fassung]).     1903 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  n%6  x  4%" 
(29.4  x  12.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

219  The  Golden  Sail  (Das  goldene  Segel). 
1903 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  5  x  11%"  (12.7 
x  30.2  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


215 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
220  Russian  Village  on  a  River  with  Boats 
(Russisches  Dorf  am  FIuss  mit  Schiffen). 
ca.  1901 

Tempera  and  colored  pencil  on  paper, 
6%sx6%s"  (17.3x16.7  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Karl  Bauer 
221  Stefan  George  Circle:  George  with  Wolf- 
skehl,  Schiller,  Klages,  Verwey  in  Munich 
(Stefan  George  Kreis:  George  mit  Wolf- 
skebl,  Scbiiler,  Klages,  Verwey  in 
Miinchen).     1901 
Photograph 

Collection  Schiller-Nationalmuseum, 
Marhach 


216 


J.  Hilsdorf  Bingen 

222  Stefan  George.     Munich,  ca.  1903 
Photograph 

Collection  Wiirttembergische  Landes- 
bibliothek,  Stuttgart 


Karl  Bauer 

223  Portrait  of  Karl  Wolfskehl  (Bildnis  Karl 
Wolfskehl).     1900 

Lithograph  on  paper,  7%  x  7%"  (20  x 
18.6  cm.) 

Collection  Schiller-Nationalmuseum/ 
Deutsches  Literaturarchiv,  Marbach 


ZI7 


Anonymous 
224  Poster  for  Alexander  Sacharoff.     ca.  1910 
Lithograph  on  paper,  41%  x  31V2" 
(104.5  x  80  cm-) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Fritz  Erler 

225  Stage  Designs— Brakls  Modern  Art  Gal- 
lery— Faust — Hamlet  (Buhnenentwiirfe — 
Brakls  Moderne  Kunsthandlung— Faust- 
Hamlet),     ca.  1908? 

Lithograph  on  paper,  39%  x  235/s"  (100  x 
60  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


Bi-mcnenTwwc 

FP\ITZ  CKL6K- 

F7\V5T-mDET 

pj  rakl?  vn°ocv,r\c  i^vnsTi-iAiAPLyn^ 
G6TH(LSTRA5Se  64- 


OSCAR  cpnsee  mviwitnt. 


ZI9 


Max  Littmann 

226  Mode!  for  Munich  Artists'  Theater 

Modell  des  Mi'mchner  Kiinstlertheaters). 
ca.  1907-08 

Wood,  51V2  x  65  x  20%"  (80  x  165  x 
53  cm.) 

Collection  Deutsches  Theatermuseum, 
Munich,  Fruher  Clara  Ziegler-Stiftung 


Fritz  Erler 
*227  Set  Design  for  "Faust  I"  (Biibnenbildent- 
wurf  zu  "Faust  1").     1908 
Photograph 

Collection  Deutsches  Theatermuseum, 
Munich,  Friiher  Clara  Ziegler-Stiftung 


Adolf  Hengeler 
zi$  "Hoopoe"  (Lark  No.  1 1,  Figure  for  Joseph 
Kiiderer's  "Wolkenkuckucksheim" 
("Hoopoe"  [Wiedehopf  Nr.  i],  Figur  fur 
Joseph  Riiderers  "Wolkenkuckucks- 
belm").     1908 

Watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper,  io-Vs  x 
j%"  (2.6.3  x  19-8  cm.) 
Collection  Deutsches  Theatermuseum, 
Munich,  Friiher  Clara  Ziegler-Stiftung 


Rolf  Hoerschelman 

229  Cover  for  Sclnvabinger  Schattenspiel. 
Prospectus  1908  by  Alexander  Freiherr 
von  Bernus  (F.inband,  Schivabinger 
Schattenspiele  Prospektbuch  1908  von 
Alexander  Freiherr  von  Bernus).     1908 
Tusche  on  paper,  7X15  x  \>/%    (18.3  x 
11. 7  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtbibliothek  mit  Hand- 
schriftensammlung,  Munich 


5CHWMBiNGER^ 
5CHATTEN5PJELE 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
230  Study  for  a  Cover  or  Title  Page  of  an 
Album  with  Music  and  Graphics  (Ent- 
wurf  fiir  Einband  oder  Titelblatt  eines 
Albums  mit  Musik  und  Graphik). 
1908-09 

Watercolor  over  pencil  on  paper,  io1^  x 
9Vu"  (z-7-8  x  2-3  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
131  The  Veil  (Die  Schleier).     1907-08 

Watercolor  over  pencil  on  paper,  6%  x 
87s"  (17.6x22.5  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

232  Four  Musicians  in  a  Landscape  (Vier 
Musikanten  in  Landschaft).     1908-09 
Watercolor  and  charcoal  over  pencil  on 
paper,  4%6  x  7lA"  (11.7  x  18.4  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


.  ,    1  ■  ■  »  •  «  o  ■„  i*i(, 

::.-.vfltffofe\v 


223 


CALLIGRAPHY 


Adolf  Holzel 

233  BLick  Ornaments  on  Brown  Ground 
(Schwarze  Ornament e  auf  braunem 
Grttnd).     before  1900 
Tusche  on  brown  paper,  13  x  8>4"  (33  x 
21  cm.) 
Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 


Adolf  Holzel 

234  Abstract  Ornament  with  Text:  30  July 
189S  (Abstraktes  Ornament  mit  Schrift: 
30  Jtili  1S98J.     1898 
Ink  on  paper,  3:yic  x  ^Yu"  (10  x  24  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


Adolf  Holzel 

235  Abstract  Ornament  with  Text  (Abstraktes 
Ornament  mit  Schrift).     ca.  1898 
India  ink  on  paper,  13  x  8*4 "  (33  x  21  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


&?s£^^s?&zt  - 


Z24 


Paul  Klee 

236  Monogram  PK  (Monogramm  "PK"). 
1892 

Watercolor  and  India  ink  on  school  note- 
book cover,  9V6  x  73/is"  (23.2  x  18.2  cm.) 
Collection  Felix  Klee,  Bern 


Adolf  Holzel 

237  Initial  "R"  (Initiate  "R").     before  1900 
India  ink  on  paper,  4V2  x  8Vis"  (11.5  x 
20.5  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


2.25 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
238  Sketchbook  (Skizzenbuch).     1903-04 
Designs  for  Embroideries  (Entwiirfe  fiir 
Stickereien),  page  45  of  45  sheets,  pencil 
on  paper,  6Vg  x  ^Y\"  (15.5  x  10  cm.) 
Collection  Stiidtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

239  Study  with  Loop  Motifs  (Entivurf  mit 
Schlingenmuster).     ca.  1903 
Tempera  and  white  crayon  on  black 
paper,  5VI,  x  6iYu,"  (13.4  x  17.7  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

240  Sketchbook  (Skizzenbuch).     1904 

Decorative  Design  (Dekorativer  Entwurf), 
page  21  of  112  sheets,  pencil  on  graph 
paper,  6%  x  4V16"  [16.1  x  10.3  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


226 


Adolf  Holzel 

241  Ornamental  Figure  Composition  in  Cir- 
cular Forms  (Adoration)  (Ornamenta- 
lische  Figuren-Komposition  in  Kreisen- 
den  Formen  [Huldigung]).     n.d. 
Pencil  on  paper  (envelope),  4  x  7"  (io.z  x 
17.8  cm.) 
Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 

Adolf  Holzel 

242  Four  Bowing  Figures  with  Text  Base 
(Vier  sich  verneigende  Figuren  mit 
Scbriftsockel).     ca.  1914-15 

Pen  and  ink  on  lined  paper,  13  x  95/u" 
(33  x  20.8  cm.) 
Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

243  Untitled  Watercolor  (with  Text)  (Aqua- 
rell  ohne  Titel  [mit  Schrift]).     ca.  1913 
Watercolor  and  tusche  on  paper,  <)7/i6  x 
n13/i6"  (2.3-9x30.3  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


<utotmirtfy*k*<*fo'fy<& .ScAwwWiwwfe  W*^f^K^flSfwOT^/*»*• 
tut  •fieiae&oSQte&otltm-  o&ixaaMi&Z donor &ea**stM<  •  jod/tf&ns^ 

for]-/.-.-:  W  ^to£HW^,^aWW^*^^^NaWW*«*t  w 

jK^C&tQt^f  crrrPrrt  ■■'——'  -fr-r-V— k~— "r  *ffi***m 9   ttOtmliiiVeJStmt. 
Jplufafi*tfi0^fai.<&^*vrtjfawt^tu^&£bsr$tm8mt,tJS*i, 


j*aW1wrae^5iwV/g*^f(S«B^<q^««-.'^.6L*,..    -  _ v~JV-    v 

M,  >  tkg&MH.  foil  ennuis  DftHMobcga  ThKiwll&Su*,.  SWSfcflrftti 
lu)  am  H*«  Sm-ft*  *~«f-**t.2i#Jt  £mn$S&»jrfr3£~^m&, 

<%&a,«tt$,<xa,asr«£,nartifai«  «*f«ifcs<£«c,w,.  „ 


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227 


Adolf  Holzel 
244  Composition.  Picture  and  Text  Pen 

Drawing  (Komposition.  Bild  itnd  Schrift 
Federzeichnung)    n.d. 
Pen  and  ink  on  gray  paper,  9%  x  6V2" 
(25  x  16.5  cm.) 
Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 


228 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

245  Sketchbook  from  the  Tunisia  Trip 
(Skizzenbnch  von  der  Tunis  Reise). 
1905 

Arabic  Calligraphy  (Arabischer  Kalligra- 
phie),  page  31  of  40  sheets,  pencil  on 
paper,  6V2  x  4^6"  (16.5  x  11  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


August  Macke 
246  Abstract  Signs  III  (Abstrakte  Zeichen 
III),     ca.  1913 

Tusche  on  paper,  4  x  6%"  (10.2  x 
16.2  cm.) 
Collection  Heirs  of  Dr.  W.  Macke,  Bonn 


"T 


a 


±$^:y  Ikih^ 


August  Macke 

247  Abstract  Signs  X  (Abstrakte  Zeichen 
X).     ca.  1913 

Tusche  on  paper,  4  x  6%"  (10.2  x 
16.2  cm.) 
Collection  Heirs  of  Dr.  W.  Macke,  Bonn 


229 


Adolf  Holzel 
248  Ornamental  Figure  Composition  (Orna- 
mentalische  Figuren-Kotnposition). 
n.d. 

Quill  pen  and  ink  on  paper,  11%  x  8%" 
(19.5  x  21.8  cm.) 
Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 


Adolf  Holzel 
249  Composition  with  Two  Abstract  Figura- 
tions (Komposition  mit  zwei  abstrakten 
Figurationen).     n.d. 

Quill  pen  and  ink  on  paper,  n'VU  x  8%'' 
(19.7x21.7  cm.) 
Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 


Adolf  Holzel 

250  Figuration  in  Black,  Green  ami  Orange 
(Figuration  in  Schwarz,  Griin  unci 
Orange),     n.d. 

Tusche  and  vvatercolor  on  paper  (pros- 
pectus sheet),  6V4  x  8"  (15.8  x  20.3  cm.) 
Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 


230 


Z3* 


Adolf  Holzel 

251  The  Battle  (Die  Schlacht).     n.d. 

Pen  and  ink  with  colored  pencil  on  news- 
print, 7%  x  615/i<s"  (19.7  x  17.7  cm.) 
relikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 

Adolf  Holzel 

252  Figure  Ornament  with  Edging  Strip 
(Figurenornament  mit  Randleiste). 
ca.  1916 

Quill  pen  and  ink  on  paper,  13  x  8>4" 
(33  x  21  cm.) 
Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 


Adolf  Holzel 

253  Free  Ornament  (Freies  Ornament). 
ca.  1915-16 

Quill  pen  drawing  on  paper,  8V>  x  7%" 
(21.6  x  20  cm.) 
Pelikan-Kunstsammlung,  Hannover 


232. 


233 


Paul  Klee 

254  Suburb  (North  Munich)  (Vorstadt 
MiinchenNord]).     1913 
Pen,  brush,  tusche,  wash  and  zinc  white 
on  paper,  4^  x  7%"  (11. 1  x  194  cm-) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Eupen  von  Kahler 
255  Garden  of  Love  (Liebesgarteu).     1910-11 
Watercolor  and  ink  on  paper,  7V2  x 
ioH/k,"  (19  x  27-1  cm-) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Albert  Bloch 
256  To  the  Clown  Picture  IV  (Zum  Klownbild 
IV).     1914 

Watercolor  on  paper,  13%  x  i^Vu" 
(34.9  x  44.9  cm.) 
Collection  Felix  Klee,  Bern 


Alfred  Kubin 
257  The  Fisherman  (Der  Fischer).     1911-19 
Ink  on  paper,  8%  x  5%"  («-5  x  T4-8  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


2.34 


2-35 


V.  DEPARTURES  AND   RETURNS: 

TRANSITION   AND   SELF-REALIZATION 


236 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

258  Riding  Couple  (Reitendes  Paar).     1907 
Oil  on  canvas,  iin/is  x  19%"  (55  x 
50.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 

Martha  Cunz 

259  View  of  the  Santis  (Blick  auf  den  Sdntis). 
1904 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  9%  xn'/j" 

(24.7  x  29.8  cm.) 

Collection  Kunstmuseum  St.  Gallen 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

260  Landscape  near  Murnau  with  Locomotive 
(Miirnaidandschaft).     1909 
Oil  on  board,  19%  x  25%"  (50.4  x  65  cm.) 
Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


2-37 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
261  Improvisation  VI  (African)  (Improvisa- 
tion VI  /Afrikanisches]).     1909 
Oil  on  canvas,  42^  x  37%"  (107  x 
95.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galcrie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


238 


Adolf  Holzel 
262  Composition  in  Red  I  (Komposition  in 
Rot  1).     1905 

Oil  on  canvas,  26%  x  33V2"  (68  x  85  cm.) 
Kunstmuseum  Hannover  mit  Sammlung 
Sprengel— Loan  from  Pelikan- 
Kunstsammlung 


-39 


Adolf  Holzel 

*z6$  Prayer  of  the  Children  (Gebet  der  Kinder). 
1916 

Collage  on  canvas,  19^'u,  x  15  v,"  (50  x 
40  cm.) 

Kunstmuseum  Hannover  mit  Sammlung 
Sprengel— Loan  from  Pelikan- 
Kunstsammlung 


240 


Adolf  Holzel 

264  Autumn  (Herbst).     1914 

Oil  on  canvas,  33V2  x  26%"  (85  x  67  cm.) 
Kunstmuseum  Hannover  mit  Sammlung 
Sprengel— Loan  from  Pelikan- 
Kunstsammlung 


24 1 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
265  White  Sound  (Weisser  Klang).     1908 
Oil  on  cardboard,  27%  x  17  Y,"  (70.2  x 
70.5  cm.) 

Collection  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benjamin  J. 
Fortson,  Fort  Worth 


2.42. 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
266  White  Sound  (Weisser  Klang).     1911 
Color  woodcut  on  paper,  3  7/k,  x  ^/xd 
(8.8  x9.7  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


243 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
267  Lyrical  (Lyrisches).     191 1 

Oil  on  canvas,  37  x  51  Mr,"  (94  x  130  cm.) 
Collection  Museum  Boymans-van 
Beuningen,  Rotterdam 

Vasily  Kandinsky 
|268  Lyrical  (Lyrisches).     191 1 

Color  woodcut  on  paper,  5n/ir>  x  89'ir," 
(14.5  x  21.7  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
hachhaus,  Munich 


M4 


245 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
269  Archer  (Bogenschiitze).     1908-09 
Color  woodcut  on  paper,  12%  x  9V2" 
(31.4  x  24.2  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


Z46 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
270  The  Guardian  (Der  Wachter).     ca.  1907 
Pencil  and  zinc  white  on  blue  paper,  6%6 
x  io5/ir,"  (15-7  x  2.6.Z  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


2-47 


NEUE  KUNSTLERVEREINIGUNG 
MUNCHEN  I  AND  II 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

271  Poster  for  /  Exhibition  of  the  Neue 
Kiinstlervereinigung  Miinchen  (Neue 
Kiinstlervereinigung  Miinchen,  Ausstel- 
lung  1).     1909 

Lithograph  on  paper,  10%  x  8V2"  (2.7-1  x 
21.7  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


NEUE 


AV/5STELLUNG I 

IN   DER  „M0DERNEN  GALERIE" 

VON  H.THANNHAVSER     THEAT1NERSTR.  7. 

VON  I  BIS   15  DEZEMBER    1909 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

272  Study  for  Signet  for  the  Nene  Kunstler- 
vereinigung Miinchen  (Entwurf  fiir  das 
Signet  der  Neiten  Kunstlervereinigung 
Miinchen).  1908-09 
Wash  over  pencil  on  paper,  2%  x  47i6" 
(7.1  x  11. 2  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
273  Study  for  Signet  for  the  Nene  Kiinstler- 
vereinignng  Miinchen  (Entwurf  fiir  das 
Signet  der  Nenen  Kunstlervereinigung 
Miinchen).  1908-09 
Wash  over  pencil  on  paper,  2%  x  aP/\" 
(7.4  x  11. 2  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

274  Study  for  Signet  for  the  Nene  Kunstler- 
vereinigung Miinchen  (Entwurf  fiir  das 
Signet  der  Neuen  Kunstlervereinigung 
Miinchen).     1908-09 
Wash  over  pencil  on  paper,  2iV\c,  x  4V2" 
(7.8  x  11. 5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


249 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

275  Cliffs  (Felsen).     1908-09 

Woodcut  on  paper,  4%  x  5"  V  (12.3  x 
14.4  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
1276  Membership  Card  for  the  Neue  Kiinstler- 
vereinigung Miinchen  (Neue  Kiinstler- 
vereinigung Miinchen,  Mitgliedskarte). 
1909 

Woodcut  on  paper,  6Y\h  x  6%"  (16  x 
16.6  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

277  Poster  for  //  Exhibition  of  the  Neue 
Kiinstlervereinigung  Miinchen  (Neue 
Kiinstlervereinigung  Miinchen,  Ausstel- 
lungll).     1910 

Lithograph  on  paper,  10%  x  8V2"  (27  x 
21.5  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtsmuseum, 
Munich 


NEUE 


AV5STEWM II 

IN   DER  .WHEN  GALERIE 
VON  H.THANNHAV5ER    ARCOPALAIS 
THEATINERSTR.Z  EINGANG  MAFFEISTR. 
VOH  I.  BIS  1%.  SEPTEMBER    1910.  * 


250 


278  Nene  Kiinstlervereinigung  Miinchen: 
Entry  Card  for  the  Exhibition  Sponsored 
by  the  Society  (Eintrittskarte  fur  die  von 
der  Vereinigung  veranstalteten  Ausstel- 
lung).     ca.  1909 

Multiple  copy  typeset  on  pasteboard,  3  V4 
X45/u"  (8-3  x  11  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


279  Neue  Kiinstlervereinigung  Miinchen:  Jury 
Form  for  the  Exhibitions  of  the  Society 
(Vordruck  fiir  die  fury  der  Ausstellungen 
der  Vereinigung).     ca.  1909 
Multiple  copy  typeset  on  paper,  6lY\ s  x 
4%"  (17.7x11.2  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


NEUE  KUNSTLER- 
VEREI  NIGUNG 
MUNCHEN    E.   V. 


NEUE  KUNSTLER- 
VEREINIGUNG 
MUNCHEN    E.   V. 

EINTRITTS-KARTE 


Ew.  Hochwoblgeboren! 

Hiardurch  teilen  wir  Ihnen  das 
Resultat  der  Jury  Ihrer  Werke 
hoflichst  mit: 


FUR  DIE  ZEIT  VOM 

BIS 


HochachtungsvoH 
Der  Vorstand. 


2-51 


280  Neite  Kiinstlerveremigung  Miinchen: 
Communication  Inviting  Participation  in 

the  Catalogue  of  the  Second  Exhibition 
of  the  Society  (Mitteilung  zur  Gestaltung 
des  Kataloges  der  zweiten  Ausstellung  der 

Vereinigung).     1910-11 

Multiple  copy  typeset  on  paper,  8%  x 

615/ir,"  (21.2  x  17.7  cm.) 

Private  Collection 


281  Nene  Kiinstlerveremigung  Miinchen: 
Communication  Inviting  Participation  in 
the  Catalogue  of  the  Second  Exhibition 
of  the  Society  (Mitteilung  zur  Gestaltung 
des  Kataloges  der  zweiten  Ausstellung  der 
Vereinigung).     1910-n 
Multiple  copy  typeset  on  paper,  8%  x 
6lYi ("  (22.2  x  17.7  cm.) 
French  text 
Private  Collection 


CHEN,   jun*         j- 


mm 

-  :      tli  rvareir.igung 

: 

NEUE  KUNSTLER- 

,  .  -                                   -  -  - 

VEREINI  CUH C 

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MUNCHEN.    E.  V. 

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252 


282  Neue  Kiinstlervereinigiing  Miinchen: 
Circular  Announcing  Society  on  Folded 
Sheet  (Zirkular  auf  Faltblatt).     ca.  1909 
Multiple  copy  typeset  on  paper,  8%  x 
615/16"  (22.2x17.7  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


Moissey  Kogan 

283  Medal  for  the  Neue  Kiinstlervereinigiing 
Miinchen  (Medaille  der  Neuen  Kiinstler- 
vereinigung  Miinchen).     1910 
Cast  bronze,  iVs"  (2-9  cm.)  d. 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


NEUE  KUNSTLER- 
VEREINICUNC 

MUNCH  EN     qod 


EW.  HOCHWOHLGEBOREN! 

Wir  erlauben  una,  Ihre  Aufmerksamkeit 
auf  eine  KUnatlervereinigung  zu  lenken,  die  iin 
Januar  1989  ine  Leben  getreten  ist  und  die 
H  of  fining  hegt,  durch  Ausstellung  ernater 
Kunstwerke  nach  ihren  Krafien  an  der  For- 
derung  kiinstlcriacher  KuHur  mitzuarbeiten. 
Wir  gehen  aui  von  dem  Gedanken,  dass  der 
KDnatler  auiter  den  Eindrucken,  die  er  von 
der  Susaeren  Well,  der  Natur,  erhalt,  for!- 
wahrend  in  einer  inneren  Welt  Erlebnisee 
•ammell;  und  das  Suchen  nach  kfinatleriachen 
Formen ,  arelche  die  gegenseitige  Durchdrin- 
gung  dieser  aSmtlichen  Erlcbnisae  zum  Aus- 
druok  bringen  aollen  —  nach  Formen,  die  von 


allem  Nebensachlichen  faefreit  sein  milssen, 
um  nur  daa  Notwendige  stark  zum  Ausdruck 
zu  bringen,  —  kurz,  das  Streben  nach  klinst- 
lerischer  Synthcse,  dies  scheint  uns  eine 
Losung,  die  gegenwartig  witder  immer  mehr 
KQnstler  geistig  vereinigt.  Durch  die  Griindung 
unserer  Vereinigung  hoffen  wir  dieaen  geisti- 
gen  Beziehungen  unter  Kiinstlern  eine  male- 
rielle  Form  zu  geben,  die  Gelegenheit  schaffen 
wird,  mil  vereinten  KraHen  lur  Oeffentlichkeit 
zu  sprechen. 

Hochachtungsvollst 

NEUE  KUHSTLERVEREIMIGUNG 
MUNCHEN. 


2.53 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
284  Group  in  Crinolines  (Reifrockgesell- 
schaft).     1909 

Oil  on  canvas,  37V2  x  59Vs"  (95--  x 
150. 1  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


2-54 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
285  Study  for  "Composition  II"  (Skizze  fiir 
"Komposition  2").     1909-10 
Oil  on  canvas,  38%  x  $1%"  (97.5  x 
131. 2  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


2-55 


Pierre  Girieud 

286  judas.     ca.  1909 

Oil  on  canvas,  36^6  x  28%"  (92.3  x 

73  cm-) 

Lent  by  Galerie  Gunzenhauser,  Munich 


256 


Erma  Barrera-Bossi 

287  Moonlit  Night  (Mondnacht).     1909 
Oil  on  canvas,  2.6  x  34V1,-,"  (66  x  86.5  cm.) 
Private  Collection 


^■anK: .  ■  ■ 


2-57 


Marianne  von  Werefkin 

288  Early  Spring  (Vorfriihling).     1907 

Oil  and  tempera  on  board,  21%  x  28%' 

(55.2x73  cm.) 

Collection  Thomas  P.  Whitney 


258 


Franz  Marc 
289  Poster  for  Franz  Marc  Exhibition,  Brakls 
Modern  Art  Gallery  (Ansstellung  Franz 
Marc,  Brakls  Moderne  Kunstbandlung). 
1909-10 

Lithograph  on  paper,  3  6*4  x  25"  (92  x 
63.5  cm.) 

Collection  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich 


AUSSTELLUNC 

FRANZ  MA 


KLS 


rvi  r\  n> 


KUN5THANDLUNC 

MUE NCH  E  N      GO ETH  E 5TR.  6 4- 


2-59 


MURNAU  CIRCLE 


Gabriele  Miinter 
290  Jawlensky  and  Marianne  von  Werefkin. 
1908-09 

Oil  on  cardboard,  11%  x  1714"  (32.7  x 
44.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


260 


Gabriele  Miinter 

291  Man  in  a  Chair  (Paul  Klee)  (Mann  im 
Sessel  [Paul  Klee]).     1913 
Oil  on  canvas,  37^6  x  445/k;"  (95  x 
112..5  cm.) 

Bayerische  Staatsgemaldesammlungen, 
Munich 


261 


poftFarfo 


%£k.    %• ■  MlUiLlL 
£*£. ^AY^.L.nJK 


M 


vlxjuk.il. 


Mjx-  ItLytitu. 


Paul  Klee 

292  Drawing  for  an  Occasion  (Figure  with 
Streaming  Hair)  (Gelegenheitszeichnung 
[Figur  mit  Haarstrahnen]).     1913 
Ink  on  paper,  2%  x  2"  (6.6  x  5.1  cm.) 
Postcard  to  Miinter  dated  June  26,  1913 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Franz  Marc 
293  Byzantine  Saint  (Seated  Saint)  (Byzan- 
tinischer  Heiliger  [Sitzender  Heiliger]). 
1913 

Tempera  and  oil  on  paper,  5V2  x  iVu," 
(14  x9  cm.) 

Postcard  to  Kandinsky  dated  June  8,  1913 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Franz  Marc 

294  Cinnabar  Greeting  (Zinnobergrnss). 
1913 

Tempera  on  paper,  51/:  x  3%s"  (14  x 

9  cm.) 

Postcard  to  Kandinsky 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 

bachhaus,  Munich 

Franz  Marc 

295  Four  Foxes  (Vier  Fiichse).  1913 
Watercolor  on  paper,  5V3  x  }7/ic" 
(14  x9  cm.) 

Postcard  to  Kandinsky 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 

bachhaus,  Munich 


2.6% 


263 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
296  Blue  Mountain  (Der  blaue  Berg). 
1908-09 

Oil  on  canvas,  41-%  x  38"  (106  x  96.6  cm.) 
Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


264 


Vladimir  von  Bechtejeff 

297  Battle  of  the  Amazons  (Die  Amazonen- 
scblacht).     1910 

Oil  on  canvas,  41%  x  6i7i<;"  (105  x 
156  cm.) 

Bayerische  Staatsgemaldesammlungen, 
Munich 


265 


Gabriele  Miinter 
298  Man  at  the  Table  (Kandinsky)  (Mann  am 
Tisch  [Kandinsky]).     191 1 
Oil  on  cardboard,  zoYu,  x  27"  (51.6  x 
68.5  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


2.66 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

299  Before  the  City  (Vor  der  Stadt).     1908 
Oil  on  paper,  27V6  x  i^Ad'  (68.8  x  49  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


z67 


V.  THE  BLUE  RIDER: 

EXORCISM   AND   TRANSFORMATION 


168 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

*300  Composition  V.     1911 

Oil  on  canvas,  74^16  x  ioSYu"  (190  x 

2-75  cm-) 

Private  Collection,  Switzerland 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
301  Cover  Design  for  "Concerning  the  Spirit- 
ual in  Art"  (Einbandentwurf  fiir  "Uber 
das  Geistige  in  der  Knnst").     ca.  1910 
Tusche  and  opaque  colors  over  pencil  on 
paper  mounted  on  paper,  6%  x  51/4"  (17-5 
x  13.3  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


269 


Gabriele  Miinter 
302  First  BLitte  Reiter  Exhibition  (Erste  Ans- 
tellung  der  Blatter  Reiter).     191 1-12 
Photograph 

Collection  Gabriele  Miinter- Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 


Franz  Marc 
303  Yellow  Cow  (Gelbe  Kith).     1911 
Oil  on  canvas,  55%  x  74V2"  (140.5  x 
189.2  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


270 


VJX 


304  Figure  of  the  God  Xipe  Totec,  "The 
Flayed  God"  (Figitr  des  Gottes  Xipe 
Totec,  "Uitseres  tierm,  des  Geschun- 
deiien").     Aztec,  Huextla,  Mexico 
Clay,  67/I6"  (ifi.zcm.)  h. 
Collection  Staatliches  Museum  fiir 
Volkerkunde,  Munich 


*305  Sculpture  from  the  Cameroons  (PListik 
aits  Kamerun). 

Wood,  68'/;  x  i^Yir,"  (174  x  33.5  cm.) 
Collection  Staatliches  Museum  fiir 
Volkerkunde,  Munich 


1 

¥0  iGb 


272 


306  Dance  Mask  of  the  Demon  of  Disease, 
Maba-cola-sanni-yaksaya  (Tanzmaske 
des  Krankbeitsdamons  Maba-cola-sanni- 
yaksaya).     Ceylon 
Painted  wood,  47%  x  3i%s"  (izo  x 
79.8  cm.) 

Collection  Staatliches  Museum  fur 
Volkerkunde,  Munich 


2-73 


307  Chieftain's  Cape  (Hauptlingskragen). 
Tlingit  (Chilcat)  tribe,  Alaska 
Wool  and  leather,  36'/,"  (92.  cm.)  w. 
Collection  Staatliches  Museum  fiir 
Volkerkunde,  Munich 


2-74 


308  Stilt  (Stelzentritt).     Marquesas  Islands 
Wood,  ii'/k,"  (3icm.)h. 
Collection  Staatliches  Museum  fiir 
Volkerkunde,  Munich 

309  Mask  (Maske).     New  Caledonia 
Wood,  247/16"  (62  cm.)  h. 
Collection  Staatliches  Museum  fiir 
Volkerkunde,  Munich 


310  Ancestor  Figure  (Ahnenfigur).     Easter 
Islands 

Toomiro  wood?,  12%"  (32  cm.)  h. 
Collection  Staatliches  Museum  fiir 
Volkerkunde,  Munich 


2-75 


Vastly  Kandinsky 

311  Design  for  the  Cover  of  the  Blaue  Reiter 
Almanac  (Etttwurf  fi'tr  den  Umschlag  des 
Almanacks  "Der  Blaue  Reiter").     1911 
Watercolor  over  pencil  on  paper,  10%  x 
8V  (27-7  x  "-8  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

312  Design  for  the  Cover  of  the  Blaue  Reiter 
Almanac  (Entwurf  filr  den  Umschlag  des 
Almanacks  "Der  Blaue  Reiter").     1911 
Tusche,  watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper, 
10%  x  8iyu,"  (27-7  x  22.3  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


i 


276 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
313  Design  for  the  Cover  of  the  Blaite  Reiter 
Almanac  (Entwurf  fiir  den  Vmschlag  des 
Almanacks  "Der  Blaue  Reiter").     1911 
Watercolor  over  pencil  on  paper,  n  x 
89/1(-,"  (28  x11.7  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

314  Final  Design  for  the  Cover  of  the  Blaue 
Reiter  Almanac  (Endgiiltiger  Entwurf  fiir 
den  Vmschlag  des  Almanachs  "Der  Blaite 
Reiter").     19 11 

Tusche  and  watercolor  over  pencil  trac- 
ing on  paper,  n  x  8%"  (27.9  x  21.9  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


2-77 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
315  Design  for  the  Cover  of  the  BLute  Reiter 
Almanac  (Enticurf  fiir  den  Umschlag  des 
Almanacks  "Der  Blaue  Reiter").     191 1 
Tusche  and  watercolor  over  pencil  on 
paper,  10%  x  8%s"  (27.7  x  11.9  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


278 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

316  Design  for  the  Cover  of  the  Blaue  Reiter 
Almanac  (Entwurf  fur  den  Unischlag  des 
Almanachs  "Der  Blaue  Reiter").     1911 
Watercolor  over  pencil  on  paper,  10%  x 
8%fi"  (27.7x2.1.8  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
317  Design  for  the  Cover  of  the  Blaue  Reiter 
Almanac  (Entwurf  fur  den  Umschlag  des 
Almanacks  "Der  Blaue  Reiter").     191 1 
Watercolor  over  pencil  on  paper,  10%  x 
8%r,"  (2.7.5  x  m-8  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


2-79 


VI.  CONCLUSION:  TO  THE  EDGE  OF  ABSTRACTION 


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180 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
318  St.  George  II  (Heiliger  Georg  II).     191 1 
Glass  painting,  11%  x  ^/n"  (29-8  x 
14.7  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
319  St.  George  No.  3  (St.  Georg  Nr.  3).     1911 
Oil  on  canvas,  383/8  x  42.5/16"  (97.5  x 
107.5  cm-) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


281 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
320  Small  Pleasures  (Kleine  Freucien).     1911 
Glass  painting,  izVk,  x  15%"  (30.6  x 
40.3  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
hachhaus,  Munich 


282 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
321  Small  Pleasures  (Kleine  Frenden). 
June  1913 

Oil  on  canvas,  43^  x  47V6"  (109.8  x 
119.7  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


Z83 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
322  With  Three  Riders  (Mit  drei  Reitern). 
1911 

Tusche  and  watercolor  on  paper,  9%  x 
12%"  {25  x  32  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


184 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
323  Painting  with  White  Border  (Das  Bild  mit 
weissem  Rand).     May  1913 
Oil  on  canvas,  5514  x  78%"  (140.3  x 
200.3  cm-) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


285 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
324  Det.ul  Studies  for  "Painting  with  White 
Border"  (Detailstudien  ;u  "Bild  mil 
weissem  Rand").     191 3 

Pencil  on  gray  paper,  io'/'k,  x  14%" 
(27.5  x  37.8  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


186 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

325  Study  for  Painting  with  White  Border 
(Studie  zum  Bild  mit  weissem  Rand). 
191Z 

Ink  on  paper,  10  x  9%"  (15.5  x  Z4.6  cm.) 
Collection  Musee  National  d'Art 
Moderne,  Paris 


287 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
326  Color  Study  with  Lozenges  (Farbstudie 
>tiit  Rauten).     ca.  1913 
Watercolor  and  pencil  on  paper,  n1^  x 
9Vir"  (3°-3  x  14  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


288 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

327  Color  Study:  Squares  with  Concentric 
Rings  (Farhstudie:  Quadrate  mit  konzen- 
trischen  Ringen).     ca.  1913 
Watercolor  and  opaque  colors  with 
crayon  on  paper,  vVu  x  ii7is"  (z3-9  x 
31.6  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  ira  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
328  Color  Theory  Observations  and  Sketches 
(Farbtheoretische  Betrachtungen  und 
Skizzen).     ca.  1913 
Ink  on  paper,  io1^,;  x  85/i<-,"  (27.5  x 
11. 1  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
hachhaus,  Munich 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
329  Color  Theory  Observations  and  Sketches 
(Farbtheoretische  Betrachtungen  und 
Skizzen).     ca.  1913 
Ink  on  paper,  io1^  x  8%«"  (27.5  x 
21. 1  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


u,.,    1  =l>  <--  ^  *7 


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/  £*-_**■ 


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Z90 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
330  Color  Theory  Observations  and  Sketches 
(Farbtheoretische  Betrachtungen  und 
Skizzen).     ca.  1913 

Crayon  on  paper,  xo1^  x  85/ic,"  (27.5  x 
zi.i  cm.) 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


ir.w 


fe 


Z91 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
331  Landscape  with  Church  I  (Landschaft  mit 
der  Kirche  I).     1913 
Oil  on  canvas,  3on/ir,  x  39%"  (78  x 
100  cm.) 
Collection  Museum  Folkwang,  Essen 


292 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
332  Black  Lines  (Schwarze  Linien). 
December  1913 

Oil  on  canvas,  51  x  51%"  (12-9-4  x 
131.1  cm.) 

Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


2-93 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
333  Untitled  Watercolor  (Aquarell  ohne  Titel). 
1913 

Watercolor  on  paper,  i9n/i<;  x  21%" 
(50  x  65  cm.) 

Collection  Musee  National  d'Art 
Moderne,  Paris 


2.94 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

334  Paradise  (Paradies).     1911-12. 

Tusche  and  watercolor  over  pencil  on 
paper  mounted  on  cardboard,  <?%<;  x 
^Vu"  (M  x  16  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


2-95 


Franz  Marc 

335  Caliban:  Costume  Study  for  Shakespeare's 
"The  Tempest"  (Caliban:  Kostiimeutwurf 
zu  "Der  Sturm"  von  Shakespeare).     1914 
Watercolor  and  opaque  white  on  paper, 
i8V8  x  15%"  (46  x  39.7  cm.) 
Collection  Kupferstichkabinett,  Kunst- 
museum  Basel 


Franz  Marc 
336  Miranda:  Costume  Study  for  Shake- 
speare's "The  Tempest"  (Miranda:  Kos- 
tiimentwurf  zu  "Der  Sturm"  von 
Shakespeare).     19 14 

Watercolor  and  tempera  on  paper,  18%  x 
i5%<s"  (46  x39.6  cm.) 
Collection  Kupferstichkabinett,  Kunst- 
museum  Basel 


296 


Thomas  de  Hartmann 

f337  Fragments  of  the  Score  for  The  Yellow 
Sound  (Friigmente  der  Parthur,  Der  gelbe 
Klang).     ca.  1909 

Collection  Music  Library,  Yale  Univer- 
sity, New  Haven 

Vasily  Kandinsky 
f338  Scenario  for  The  Yellow  Sound  with 
Annotations  by  de  Hartmann  and  Kan- 
dinsky (Szenar,  Der  gelbe  Klang,  mit 
Anmerkungen  von  de  Hartmann  itnd 
Kandinsky).     ca.  1911 
Collection  Music  Library,  Yale  Univer- 
sity, New  Haven 


August  Macke 

339  ]est  on  The  Blue  Rider  (Persiflage  auf  den 
Blauen  Keiter).     1913 
Watercolor,  pencil  and  crayon  on  paper, 
to1A  x  S1/^"  (26  x  21  cm.) 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


297 


Arnold  Schonberg 

340  Vision.     1910 

Oil  on  canvas,  12%  x  7%"  (31  x  20  cm.) 
Collections  of  the  Library  of  Congress, 
Washington,  D.C. 

341  Arnold  Schonberg.     191 1 
Photograph 

Collection  Gabriele  Miinter- Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich 


£.'yj*-    K  or'  /C*v«V/ta<  /  y 


4  r* 


298 


Arnold  Schonberg 
342  Self -Portrait  (Selbstportrat).     191 1 
Oil  on  cardboard,  1914  x  17"  (48.9  x 
43. z  cm.) 
Collection  Schonberg  Estate,  Los  Angeles 


Z99 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
343  Cover,  Transition,  no.  27,  April-May 
7932  (Umschlag  fur  Transition).     1932 
Screenprint  on  paper,  7%  x  51//' 
(20  x  13.3  cm.) 

Collection  The  Art  Reference  Library, 
The  Brooklyn  Museum,  New  York 


DOCUMENTS 


August  Endell 

344  Um  die  Schonheit . . .  (On  Beauty  .  .  .), 
Munich,  Verlag  Emil  Franke,  1896 
Collection  Bayerische  Staatsbibliothek, 
Munich 


345  Die  hisel  (Monatscbrift  mil  Buchschmuck 
und  lllustrationen)  (The  island  [Monthly 
Magazine  with  Book  Decoration  and 
Illustrations}),  vol.  I,  no.  7  (3rd  quarter), 
1900 

Published  by  Schuster  &  Loeffler,  Berlin 
Collection  Library  of  Congress,  Washing- 
ton, D.C. 


346  Jugend  (Youth),  vol.  II,  parts,  I,  II,  1897 
Published  by  Georg  Hirth,  Munich 
Collection  Library  of  Congress,  Washing- 
ton, D.C. 


347  Deutsche  Kunst  und  Dekoration  (German 
Art  and  Decoration),  vol.  I,  October- 
March,  1897-98 

Published  by  Alexander  Koch,  Darmstadt 
Collection  The  New  York  State  Library, 
The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
Cultural  Education  Center,  Albany 


348  Mi'tnclmer  Almanack:  Ein  Sammelbuch 
neuer  deutscher  Dichtung  (Munich  Alma- 
nac: An  Anthology  of  Recent  German 
Literature),  Munich  and  Leipzig,  R.  Piper 
&C  Co.,  1905 

Essays,  plays,  poetry  and  music  by  Oskar 
A.  H.  Schmitz,  George  Fuchs,  Wilhelm 
Worringer  and  others 
Private  Collection,  United  States 


Hermann  Obrist 

349  Neue  Moglichkeiten  (New  Possibilities), 
Leipzig,  Eugen  Diederichs,  1903 
Essays 

Printed  by  Oscar  Brandstetter,  Leipzig 
Private  Collection,  United  States 


300 


35°  Linie  und  Form  (Line  and  Form),  exhibi- 
tion catalogue,  Kaiser  Wilhelm-Museum, 
Krefeld,  April-May  1904 
Published  and  printed  by  Kramer  &C 
Baum,  Krefeld 
Private  Collection,  United  States 


351  Farbenschau  im  Kaiser  Wilhelm-Museum 
(Color  Show  in  the  Kaiser  'Wilhelm- 
Museum),  exhibition  catalogue,  Kaiser 
Wilhelm-Museum,  Krefeld,  April  1902. 
Cover  design  by  Ludwig  von  Hofmann, 
text  design  by  Richard  Grimm 
Published  and  printed  by  G.  A.  Hohns 
Sohne,  Krefeld 
Private  Collection,  United  States 


357  Katalog  der  VII.  Ausstellung  der  Miinch- 
ner  Kiinstler-Vereinigung  Phalanx  (Cata- 
logue of  the  VII.  Exhibition  of  the  Munich 
Artists'  Association  Phalanx),  Munich, 
May-June  1903 

Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


358  Katalog  der  VIII.  Ausstellung  der  Miinch- 
ner  Kiinstler-Vereinigung  Phalanx  (Cata- 
logue of  the  VIII.  Exhibition  of  the 
Munich  Artists'  Association  Phalanx), 
Munich,  November-December  1903 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


364  Katalog  der  //.  Ausstellung  der  Neuen 

Kiinstlervereinigung  Miinchen  (Catalogue 
of  the  II.  Exhibition  of  the  Neue  Kiinstler- 
vereinigung Miinchen),  Turnus,  1910-n 
Introductory  statements  by  Le  Fauconnier, 
Dmitri  and  Vladimir  Burliuk,  Kandinsky 
and  Odilon  Redon 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


365  Der  Blaue  Reiter  Almanack  (The  Blue 
Rider  Almanac),  2nd  edition,  Munich, 
R.  Piper  5c  Co.,  1914 
Special  Collections,  University  Library, 
State  University  of  New  York  at  Bing- 
hamton 


Walter  Crane 

352  Line  and  Form,  3rd  edition,  London, 
George  Bell  &C  Sons,  1904 
Private  Collection,  United  States 


Alfred  Kubin 

359  Die  andere  Seite  (The  Other  Side), 
Munich,  Georg  Miiller,  1909 
Blau  Memorial  Collection,  Princeton 
University,  New  Jersey 


366  Katalog  der  I.  Ausstellung  der  Blauer 
Reiter  (Catalogue  of  the  1.  Exhibition  of 
the  Blue  Rider),  Munich,  1910-11 
Collection  Kenneth  C.  Lindsay,  Bing- 
hamton,  New  York 


Walter  Crane 

353  Linie  und  Form  (Line  and  Form),  trans. 
Paul  Seliger,  1st  German  edition,  Munich, 
Hermann  Seeman  Nachfolger,  1901 
Cover  design  and  illustrations  by  Walter 
Crane 
Private  Collection,  United  States 


Vasily  Kandinsky 

360  Klange  (Sounds),  Munich,  R.  Piper  &  Co., 
1913 

38  poems  in  prose,  12  color  woodcuts,  44 
black  and  white  woodcuts 
Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
367  Uber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst  (Concern- 
ing the  Spiritual  in  Art),  1st  edition, 
R.  Piper  &  Co.,  1912 
Collection  Kenneth  C.  Lindsay,  Bing- 
hamton,  New  York 


354  Katalog  der  II.  Ausstellung  der  Miinchner 
Kiinstler-Vereinigung,  Phalanx  (Catalogue 
of  the  II.  Exhibition  of  the  Munich  Art-  - 
ists'  Association  Phalanx),  Munich, 
January-March  1902 
Collection  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
bachhaus,  Munich 


Franz  Marc 

355  Web-Muster  entworfen  von  Franz  Marc 
fiir  den  Plessmannschen  Handwebestuhl 
(Weaving  Patterns  Designed  by  Franz 
Marc  for  the  Plessman  Handloom), 
Munich,  Simon  A.  von  Eckhardt,  Verlag 
der  Miinchner  Lehrmittelhandlung, 
Wilhelm  Plessman,  1909 
Collection  Price-Gilbert  Memorial 
Library,  Georgia  Institute  of  Technology, 
Atlanta 


356  Katalog  der  IV.  Ausstellung  der  Miinch- 
ner Kiinstler-Vereinigung  Phalanx  (Cata- 
logue of  the  IV.  Exhibition  of  the  Munich 
Artists'  Association  Phalanx),  Munich, 
1902 

Collection  Gallen-Kallela  Museum,  Es- 
poo,  Finland 


Stefan  George  and  Karl  Wolfskehl 

361  Deutsche  Dichtung  (German  Poetry),  vol. 
II,  Goethe,  Berlin,  Blatter  fiir  die  Kunst, 
1900-02 

Title  page  illumination  by  Melchior 
Lechter 

Collection  Library  of  Congress,  Washing- 
ton, D.C. 


Stefan  George 

362  Teppich  des  Lebens  und  die  Lieder  von 
Traum  und  Tod  mit  einem  Vorspiel  (The 
Tapestry  of  Life  and  the  Songs  of  Dream 
and  Death  with  a  Prelude),  Berlin,  Blat- 
ter fiir  die  Kunst,  1900 
Designed  and  illustrated  by  Melchior 
Lechter 

Collection  Library  of  Congress,  Washing- 
ton, D.C. 


Stefan  George 

363  Das  Jahr  der  Seele  (The  Year  of  the  Soul), 
Berlin,  Blatter  fiir  die  Kunst,  1897 
Collection  Library  of  Congress,  Washing- 
ton, D.C. 


Hugo  von  Tschudi 

368  Gesammelte  Schriften  zur  neueren  Kunst 
(Collected  Writings  on  Recent  Art),  Dr.  E. 
Schwedeler-Meyer,  ed.,  1912 
Private  Collection,  United  States 


Vasily  Kandinsky 
369  Point  and  Line  to  Plane  (Punkt  und  Linie 
zu  Flache),  trans.  Howard  Dearstyne  and 
Hilla  Rebay,  New  York,  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Foundation,  1947 
Collection  The  Solomon  R.  Guggenheim 
Museum,  New  York 


301 


There  ivas  a  piebald  horse  (with  yellow  ochre  body  and  bright  yellow  mane) 
in  a  game  of  horse  race  which  my  aunt  and  I  especially  liked.  We  always  fol- 
lowed a  strict  order:  I  was  allowed  one  turn  to  have  this  horse  under  my 
jockeys,  then  my  aunt  one.  To  this  day  I  have  not  lost  my  love  for  these 
horses.  It  is  a  joy  for  me  to  see  one  such  piebald  horse  in  the  streets  of  Munich: 
he  comes  into  sight  every  summer  when  the  streets  are  sprinkled.  He  awakens 
the  sun  living  in  me.  He  is  immortal,  for  in  the  fifteen  years  that  I  have  known 
him  he  has  not  aged.  It  teas  one  of  my  first  impressions  when  I  moved  to 
Munich  that  long  ago— and  the  strongest.  I  stood  still  and  followed  him  for 
a  long  time  with  my  eyes.  And  a  half-conscious  but  sunny  promise  stirred  in 
my  heart.  It  brought  the  little  lead  horse  within  me  to  life  and  joined  Munich 
to  the  years  of  my  childhood.  This  piebald  horse  suddenly  made  me  feel  at 
home  in  Munich.  As  a  child  I  spoke  a  great  deal  of  German  (my  maternal 
grandmother  came  from  the  Baltic).  The  German  fairy  tales  which  I  had  so 
often  heard  as  a  child  came  to  life.  The  high,  narrow  roofs  of  the  Promenaden 
Platz  and  the  Maximilian  Platz,  which  have  noiv  disappeared,  old  Schivabing, 
and  particularly  the  An  which  I  once  discovered  by  chance,  transformed  these 
fairy  tales  into  reality.  The  blue  tramway  passed  through  the  streets  like  the 
embodiment  of  a  fairy-tale  atmosphere  that  makes  breathing  light  and  joyful. 
The  yellow  mailboxes  sang  their  canary-yellow-loud  song  on  the  corners.  I 
welcomed  the  inscription  "art  mill"  and  felt  that  I  ivas  in  a  city  of  art,  which 
was  the  same  to  me  as  a  fairy-tale  city.  From  these  impressions  came  the 
medieval  pictures  which  I  later  painted. 

Kandinsky 

"Riickblicke,"  1913 


302 


CHRONOLOGY 


So  many  sources  have  been  consulted  in 
the  compilation  of  this  chronology  that  it 
is  not  possible  to  cite  them  all.  However, 
it  should  be  noted  that  in  addition  to  the 
standard  studies  (such  as  Eichner,  Groh- 
mann  and  Gordon),  the  following  more 
recent  works  also  cited  in  the  bibliogra- 
phy have  been  particularly  helpful:  Rothel 
and  Benjamin,  Kandinsky,  New  York, 
1979;  Post-Impressionism  Cross-Currents 
in  European  Painting,  Royal  Academy 
exh.  cat.,  New  York,  1979;  and  the  Kan; 
dinsky-Miinter  correspondence,  Lindsay 
collection.  Only  the  years  covered  by  this 
exhibition,  1896-1914,  are  treated  in  de- 
tail here. 

1866 

December  4.  Kandinsky  born  in  Moscow 
(according  to  old  Russian  calendar, 
November  22). 

1869 

Travels  to  Italy  with  parents. 

1871 

Family  moves  to  Odessa,  where  he  studies 
art  and  music,  and  later  attends  humanis- 
tic Gymnasium. 


Enters  University  of  Moscow,  studies  law 
and  economics. 


Participates  in  expedition  to  Vologda 
province  sponsored  by  Society  of  Natural 
Science  and  Anthropology;  writes  study 
of  peasant  laws  and  customs,  which 
Society  publishes.  Kandinsky  is  much  im- 
pressed by  vigorous  peasant  folk  art. 
Visits  St.  Petersburg  and  Paris. 


Completes  university  studies,  passes  law 
examination.  Marries  Ania  Shemiakina, 
a  cousin.  Second  trip  to  Paris. 

1893 

Becomes  teaching  assistant  at  University 
of  Moscow. 


1895 

Works  as  an  artistic  director  in  Kusverev 
printing  firm  in  Moscow. 

1896 

At  exhibition  of  French  painting  in  Mos- 
cow, Kandinsky  is  overwhelmed  by 
Monet's  Haystack  in  the  Sun  (fig.  9); 
observes  that  the  object  is  not  indispen- 
sable to  the  painting. 
Rejects  offer  of  teaching  position  at  Uni- 
versity of  Dorpat  (Tartu,  Estonia)  to  de- 
vote himself  to  study  of  painting. 
Moves  to  Munich,  enters  Azbe  atelier, 
where  he  studies  for  two  years. 

1897 

June  1.  Residence  registered  in  Stadtar- 
chiv  as  Georgenstrasse  62. 
June  23.  Moves  to  Giselastrasse  28. 
Meets  painters  Alexej  Jawlensky  and 
Marianne  von  Werefkin.  Visits  Munich 
Secession  exhibitions,  encounters  the  hey- 
day of  Munich  Jugendstil. 

1898-99 

Rejected  by  Munich  Academy,  works  in- 
dependently. 

1899-1901 

Resides  at  Georgenstrasse  35  (Miinchner 
Stadtadressbuch). 

1900 

Studies  with  Franz  Stuck  at  Munich 
Academy.  Meets  Ernst  Stern,  Alexander 
von  Salzmann,  Albert  Weisgerber,  Hans 
Purrmann.  May  have  met  Klee  in  passing 
at  school. 
1901 

April  12.  First  performance  of  cabaret 
group  Elf  Scharfrichter  in  Munich. 
April  17.  Kandinsky's  first  art  review, 
"Kritika  kritikov"  ("A  Critique  of  Crit- 
ics"), published  in  Novosti  dnia,  Moscow. 
May.  Founds  Phalanx  exhibition  society 
with  Rolf  Niczky,  Waldemar  Hecker, 
Gustav  Freytag  and  Wilhelm  Hiisgen. 
June.  Establishment  of  Phalanx  an- 
nounced in  Knnst  fur  Alle,  Munich. 
July  14.  Moves  to  Friedrichstrasse  1. 


Mid-August.  First  Phalanx  exhibition 
opens  at  Finkenstrasse  2;  includes  works 
by  three  members  of  Elf  Scharfrichter. 
Late  summer  or  early  autumn.  Becomes 
president  of  Phalanx. 
First  visit  to  Rothenburg  ob  der  Tauber. 
Trip  to  Odessa. 

1901-02 

Winter.  Kandinsky  and  other  Phalanx 
members  establish  Phalanx  school  at 
Hohenzollernstrasse  6. 

1902 

Meets  Gabriele  Miinter,  who  enters  his 
painting  class.  Friendship  with  Hermann 
Obrist,  who  opens  school  for  applied 
arts  near  Phalanx  school. 
January-March.  Second  Phalanx  exhibi- 
tion, devoted  to  Arts  and  Crafts  Movement, 
features  artists  associated  with  Darmstadt 
Ki'tnstlerkolonie,  including  Peter  Behrens. 
Kandinsky  exhibits  decorative  designs, 
including  Twilight  (Dammerung),  1901 
(cat.  no.  184).  Works  by  members  of 
Munich's  Vereinigten  Werkstatten  fiir 
Kunst  im  Handwerk  also  shown. 
Writes  review  of  Munich  art  scene, 
"Korrespondentsiia  iz  Miunkhena"  ("Cor- 
respondence from  Munich")  for  periodical 
Mir  Iskttsstva,  St.  Petersburg. 
Participates  in  World  of  Art  Exhibition, 
St.  Petersburg. 

Spring.  Exhibits  at  Berlin  Secession. 
May-June.  Third  Phalanx  exhibition 
(guest  artists  Lovis  Corinth  and  Wilhelm 
Triibner). 

Spends  part  of  summer  with  his  school  at 
Kochel. 

July-August.  Fourth  Phalanx  exhibition 
(guest  artists  Akseli  Gallen-Kallela  and 
Albert  Weissgerber). 

1903 

January  (?).  Fifth  Phalanx  exhibition  (no 

catalogue,  no  reviews). 

April  (?).  Sixth  Phalanx  exhibition  (no 

catalogue,  no  reviews). 

Spring  and  Summer.  Kandinsky's  interest 


303 


in  woodcut  grows;  makes  designs  for 
embroideries,  decorative  drawings. 
April.  Visits  Viennese  Sezession  exhibition. 
May-July.  Seventh  Phalanx  exhibition 
(guest  artist,  Claude  Monet).  Kandinsky 
escorts  Prince  Regent  Luitpold  through 
show. 

June  10-12.  Travels  to  Ansbach  and  Nurn- 
berg  with  Miinter.  Spends  part  of  summer 
with  school  at  Kallmunz. 
August  8-19.  Travels  to  Nabburg,  Regens- 
burg  and  Landshut  with  Miinter. 
August.  Behrens  offers  him  directorship  of 
decorative  painting  class  at  Diisseldorf 
Kunstgewerbeschule;  he  subsequently  de- 
clines invitation. 

September  2-November  1.  Travels  from 
Venice  through  Vienna  to  Odessa  and 
Moscow;  returns  to  Munich  via  Berlin 
and  Cologne.  Moved  by  Italian  Renais- 
sance masters  he  sees  at  Kunsthistorische 
Museum,  Vienna,  in  September.  Impressed 
by  Zuloaga  at  international  exhibition, 
Venice,  in  September;  finds  paintings  and 
mosaics  at  San  Marco  "unforgettable." 
Sees  Greek,  Egyptian,  old  German  and 
Italian  masters  in  Berlin  museums  in 
October;  comments  enthusiastically  on 
them  in  letters  to  Miinter. 
November  3-5.  Travels  to  Wiirzburg, 
Rothenburg  ob  der  Tauber  with  Miinter. 
November-December.  Eighth  Phalanx 
exhibition  (guest  artist,  Carl  Strathmann). 

1904 

January-February.  Ninth  Phalanx  exhibi- 
tion (guest  artist,  Alfred  Kubin).  Kandin- 
sky shows  color  drawings  and  woodcuts. 
February  15.  Fifteen  works  exhibited  at 
Moscoiv  Association  of  Artists. 
April.  Writes  to  Miinter  that  he  is  work- 
ing on  a  theory  of  color  and  a  "Farben- 
sprache"  (color  language). 
April-May.  Tenth  Phalanx  exhibition 
includes  Paul  Signac,  Theo  van  Ryssel- 
berghe,  Felix  Vallotton  and  Toulouse- 
Lautrec  (no  catalogue). 
Eleventh  Phalanx  exhibition  at  Helbing's 
Salon,  Wagmiillerstrasse,  features  graphic 
art.  Kandinsky  exhibits  seven  woodcuts 
including  Farewell,  1903,  and  Night  (Large 
Version),  1903  (cat.  nos.  215,  218). 
May  n-June  6.  Travels  with  Miinter  to 
Krefeld,  Diisseldorf,  Cologne,  Bonn,  Rot- 
terdam, The  Hague,  Haarlem,  Amster- 
dam, Zaandam,  Edam,  Volendam, 
Marken,  Brock,  Hoorn  and  Arnheim. 
Summer.  Remains  in  Munich,  where  he 
works  on  woodcuts,  exhibits  at  Kunst- 
verein.  Makes  craft  designs  for  Vereini- 
gnng  fiir  angewandte  Kunst. 


September.  Separates  from  wife;  moves 
from  Friedrichstrasse. 
October  5-16.  With  Miinter  to  Frankfurt 
am  Kreuznach  and  Minister  am  Stein. 
October  10-November  21.  Travels 
through  Berlin  to  Odessa  and  returns  to 
Munich  via  Berlin. 
Kandinsky's  Verses  Without  Words, 
album  of  woodcuts,  published  in  Moscow. 
Participates  in  XV  Exhibition  of  Associa- 
tion of  South  Russian  Artists  in  Odessa; 
first  exhibition  of  New  Society  of  Artists 
in  St.  Petersburg. 

November  22-26.  Travels  to  Cologne  and 
Bonn  with  Miinter. 

November  27-December  2.  Travels  alone 
to  Paris. 

December.  Twelfth  Phalanx  exhibition 
reported  in  Darmstadt  (no  catalogue). 
December  6-25.  Travels  with  Miinter  to 
Tunisia  via  Strassbourg,  Basel,  Lyon, 
Marseille,  spends  Christmas  in  Bizerta. 
1905 

January-March.  In  Tunisia  with  Miinter, 
visits  Carthage,  Sousse  and  Kairouan. 
March.  Exhibits  at  Moscow  Association 
of  Artists. 

April.  Travels  through  Palermo,  Naples, 
Florence,  Bologna  and  Verona  on  return 
trip  from  Tunisia. 

April  16-May  23.  Travels  to  Innsbruck, 
Igels,  Starnberg  and  Dresden. 
May  24.  Bicycle  trip  with  Miinter  to 
Reichenbach,  Lichtenstein,  Chemnitz, 
Freiberg  and  Meissen. 
June  i-August  15.  In  Dresden  with  Miin- 
ter at  Schnorrstrasse  44. 
August  17-September  29.  Works  in 
Munich. 

August  and  September.  Bicycle  trips  from 
Munich  to  Seeshaupt,  Tutzing,  Herr- 
sching,  Starnberg;  then  visits  Garmisch- 
Hollental  area. 

September  29-November  n.  To  Odessa 
with  father  via  Vienna,  Budapest,  Lem- 
berg.  Returns  to  Munich  through  Vienna 
and  Cologne. 

Exhibits  paintings,  prints,  craft  designs  at 
Salon  d'Automne,  Paris. 
November  13-25.  Meets  Miinter  in 
Cologne;  they  travel  to  Diisseldorf,  back 
to  Cologne,  Bonn,  Liittich  and  Brussels. 
December  12.  With  Miinter  to  Milan, 
Genoa,  Sestri,  Levante,  Monoglia,  Chi- 
avari,  St.  Margerita  and  Monte  Telegrafo. 
December  1905-April  1906.  Winters  at 
Rapallo  with  Miinter. 

1906 

Spring.  Participates  in  Berlin  Secession. 

May.  Travels  via  Switzerland  to  Paris, 


where  he  stays  at  12,  rue  des  Ursulines 
until  June. 

June.  Moves  to  4,  petite  rue  des  Binelles, 
in  Sevres  near  Paris,  where  he  resides  until 
June  1907. 

Becomes  member  of  Union  Internationale 
des  Beattx-Arts  et  des  Lettres,  Paris. 
July.  Visits  Dinard  and  Mont  St.  Michel. 
Participates  in  XVII  Exhibition  of  Asso- 
ciation of  South  Russian  Artists,  Odessa; 
Exhibition  of  Signs  and  Posters  organized 
by  Leonardo  da  Vinci  Society,  Moscow. 
Works  on  woodcuts  for  Xylographies, 
some  of  which  are  published  in  Les 
Tenda?ices  Nottvelles. 
October-November.  Exhibits  paintings, 
woodcuts,  craft  designs  at  Salon 
d'Automne,  Paris. 

Winter  1906-07.  Exhibits  with  Die  Briicke 
in  Dresden,  Secession  in  Berlin. 

1907 

January  4-5.  Visits  Chartres. 
May  14.  Visits  St.  Vres  (Seine  et  Oise). 
May.  Shows  109  works  at  exhibition  he 
Musee  du  Peuple,  Angers,  sponsored  by 
Les  Tendances  Notwelles. 
June  1-9.  In  Paris. 
June  10-13.  Returns  to  Munich. 
June  14-July  23.  Rest  cure  in  Bad  Reich- 
enhall. 

July  2-7.  Travels  through  favorite  Alpine 
areas  (Rosenheim,  Tolz,  Kochel,  Starnberg 
and  Traunstein). 
July.  In  Munich. 

July  30-August.  With  Miinter  to  Stuttgart 
and  Singen;  they  bicycle  from  Schaff- 
hausen  to  Ziirich;  then  travel  to  Brienz, 
near  Simplon  Pass  and  Fliesch  where  they 
hike. 

September  (?).  To  Frankfurt,  Bonn,  Co- 
logne, Hannover  and  Hildesheim.  Partici- 
pates in  XVIII  Exhibition  of  Association 
of  South  Russian  Artists,  Odessa. 
September.  To  Berlin,  where  he  stays  with 
Miinter  until  end  of  April  1908. 
December  25-26.  Spends  Christmas  in 
Wittenberg,  Zerbst. 


March-May.  Participates  in  Salon  des 
Independants,  Paris. 

April- June.  Hikes  with  Miinter  in  South 
Tyrol;  returns  to  Munich  through  Austria 
and  Bavarian  Alps,  traveling  by  foot,  one- 
horse  carriage,  mail  coach  and  train. 
June.  Settles  permanently  in  Munich. 
June  12.  Munich  residence  registered  as 
Schellingstrasse  75. 

June  17-19.  Trip  to  Starnbergersee  and 
Staffelsee  at  Murnau. 


304 


July  24-August  8..  Travels  to  Stock  am 
Cheimsee,  then  to  Salzburg,  Attersee, 
Wolfgangsee,  Schafberg  and  Mondsee. 
Mid-August-September  30.  First  long 
sojourn  in  Murnau. 
September  4.  Takes  apartment  at  Ain- 
millerstrasse  36  in  Munich's  Schwabing 
sector  (official  registration,  September  16). 
October-November.  Participates  in  Salon 
d'Automne,  Paris;  XIX  Exliibition  of  As- 
sociation of  South  Russian  Artists,  Odessa. 
Winter.  Exhibits  at  Berlin  Secession. 

1909 

January.  Founds  Neue  Kiinstlervereini- 
gitng  Miinchen  (NKVM),  and  is  elected  its 
president. 

February-March.  Travels  to  Garmisch, 
Mittenwald  and  Kochel. 
Spring.  Begins  work  on  compositions  for 
the  stage,  such  as  Der  gelbe  Klang  (The 
Yellow  Sound),  which  is  later  published 
in  Blaue  Reiter  almanac. 
March-May.  Participates  in  Salon  des 
Artistes  Independants,  Paris. 
May.  In  Murnau  with  Miinter. 
Summer.  Sees  large  exhibition  of  Japanese 
and  East  Asian  art  in  Munich. 
July-August.  Miinter  acquires  house  in 
Murnau  where  she  and  Kandinsky  reside 
intermittently  until  late  summer  1914. 
Summer  (?).  First  Hinterglasmalereien 
(glass  paintings),  in  emulation  of  this  tra- 
ditional Bavarian  folk  art. 
Begins  Improvisations. 
Writes  reviews,  "Pismo  iz  Miunkhena" 
("Letter  from  Munich"),  for  periodical 
Apollon,  St.  Petersburg;  these  are  pub- 
lished through  1910. 
Publication  of  Xylographies,  woodcuts, 
Editions  Tendances  Nouvelles,  Paris. 
October-November.  Participates  in  Salon 
d'Automne,  Paris. 
December  1-15.  First  exhibition  of 
NKVM,  Thannhauser's  Moderne  Galerie, 
Munich;  Kandinsky  shows  paintings  and 
woodcuts.  Participates  in  XX  Exhibition 
of  Association  of  South  Russian  Artists, 
Odessa. 

1910 

Begins  Compositions. 

Early  February  (?).  Travels  alone  to  Kuf- 

stein  in  Austrian  Alps. 

February-April.  Stays  primarily  in 

Murnau. 

Summer.  Sees  monumental  exhibition  of 

Mohammedan  Art  in  Munich. 

July  i-mid-August.  In  Murnau. 

July-October.  Participates  in  Sonderbund 

Westdeutscher  Kiinstler,  Diisseldorf. 


September  1-14.  Second  exhibition  of 
NKVM  at  Thannhauser's  Moderne  Gal- 
erie, Munich,  now  with  international 
participation.  Kandinsky  exhibits  Com- 
position II,  1910,  Improvisation  10,  1910, 
Boatride,  1910,  a  landscape  and  six 
woodcuts. 

Marc  writes  commentary  on  the  show, 
which  leads  to  his  first  meeting  with 
Kandinsky. 

September-October.  Included  in  Salon 
d'Automne,  Paris. 
Mid-October.  Travels  to  Russia  via 
Weimar  and  Berlin. 
October  14-November  29.  In  Moscow 
and  St.  Petersburg. 
December  1-12.  To  Odessa  where  he 
shows  fifty-two  works  in  Second  Salon 
Izdebsky,  Odessa,  which  takes  place  fol- 
lowing month.  Participates  in  XI  Exhibi- 
tion of  Paintings  of  the  Ekaterinoslav  Art 
and  Theater  Society  in  Ekaterinoslav. 
December  22.  Returns  to  Munich. 
"First  abstract  watercolor,"  by  Kandinsky, 
is  dated  1910.  (Lindsay  has  suggested  that 
this  work,  which  is  a  sketch  for  Composi- 
tion VII,  1913,  may  accidentally  have  been 
misdated  at  a  later  time.)  Completes 
manuscript  of  Uber  das  Geistige  in  der 
Kanst  (Concerning  the  Spiritual  in  Art). 


1911 

January  2.  Attends  Schonberg  concert 
with  Marc  and  other  members  of  NKVM. 
January  10.  Resigns  presidency  of  NKVM. 
January  18.  Initiates  correspondence  with 
Schonberg. 

January  20-28.  In  Murnau. 
February  5.  Marc  joins  NKVM. 
February.  Publishes  "Kuda  idet  'novoe' 
iskusstvo,"  ("Whither  the  'New'  Art"),  in 
periodical  Odesskie  novosti,  Odessa. 
April- June.  Participates  in  Salon  des 
Artistes  Independants,  Paris. 
May  17-19.  Visits  Marc  in  Sindelsdorf, 
Bavaria. 

May  23-June  13.  In  Murnau. 
Early  summer.  Joins  Marc  and  others  with 
statement  published  in  Im  Kampf  um  die 
Kunst  in  answer  to  Carl  Vinnen's  pam- 
phlet Protest  deutscher  Kiinstler. 
June  19.  Begins  plans  with  Marc  for  Blaue 
Reiter  almanac. 
June  26-30.  In  Munich. 
June  30-August  21.  Works  in  Murnau. 
Fall  (?).  Divorce  from  Ania  Shemiakina  is 
legally  finalized. 

October.  Participates  in  Kanst  unserer 
Zeit  at  Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, 
Cologne. 


Mid-October.  Meets  with  Marc  and 
August  Macke  at  Sindelsdorf  to  work  on 
Blaue  Reiter  almanac. 
October  or  November.  Beginning  of 
friendship  with  Klee. 
November  1911-January  1912.  Partici- 
pates in  Neue  Secession,  Berlin. 
December  2.  Kandinsky's  Composition  V, 
191 1,  rejected  by  NKVM  jury;  Kandinsky, 
Marc,  Miinter  and  Alfred  Kubin  resign 
from  the  society. 

December  18.  Erste  Ausstellitng  der 
Redaktion  der  Blaue  Reiter  (First  Exhibi- 
tion of  the  Editorial  Board  of  the  Blaue 
Reiter)  opens  at  Thannhauser's  Moderne 
Galerie,  Munich  (third  exhibition  of 
NKVM  is  held  simultaneously). 
December.  Uber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst 
published  by  Piper  of  Munich,  although 
it  is  dated  1912. 

December  29-31.  Abridged  version  of 
Uber  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst  read  at 
Second  Ail-Russian  Congress  of  Artists 
in  St.  Petersburg. 

Friendships  with  Marc,  Kubin,  Klee, 
Macke,  Schonberg  and  Karl  Wolfskehl 
documented  in  correspondence. 

1912 

January  23-31.  First  Blaue  Reiter  exhibi- 
tion shown  at  Gereonsklub,  Cologne. 
January.  Participates  in  fourth  exhibition 
of  Neue  Secession,  Berlin. 
February  12-April.  Second  Blaue  Reiter 
exhibition  at  Galerie  Hans  Goltz, 
Munich  (3x5  works,  all  graphics). 
March  12-May  10.  First  Blaue  Reiter  ex- 
hibition at  Galerie  Der  Sturm,  Berlin. 
March-May.  Participates  in  Salon  des 
Artistes  Independants,  Paris. 
April.  Second  edition  of  Uber  das  Geistige 
in  der  Kunst  published  in  Munich;  "For- 
men  und  Farbensprache"  ("Language  of 
Forms  and  Colors"),  from  Uber  das 
Geistige,  published  in  Der  Sturm,  Berlin. 
May.  Blaue  Reiter  almanac  published  in 
Munich. 

May- June.  In  Murnau. 
May-September.  Participates  in  Sonder- 
bund Internationale  Kunstausstellung, 
Cologne. 

July.  Extracts  from  Uber  das  Geistige 
published  by  Alfred  Stieglitz  in  Camera 
Work,  New  York. 

July  (?).  Participates  in  Moderne  Kunst 
exhibition  at  Folkwang  Museum,  Hagen. 
July  10.  Undergoes  hernia  operation. 
August.  Recuperates  in  Murnau;  remains 
there  through  September. 
August  17.  Michael  Ernest  Sadler  and  his 


305 


son  Michael  T.  Sadleir  visit  Kandinsky 
and  Miinter  in  Murnau. 
September.  Signs  contract  with  Piper  for 
publication  of  Klange  (Resonances),  vol- 
ume of  prose  poems  and  woodcuts. 
Autumn.  Third  edition  of  Vber  das  Geis- 
tige  in  dcr  Kunst  published  in  Munich. 
October.  "Ober  Kunstverstehen"  ("On 
Understanding  Art")  appears  in  Der 
Sturm,  Berlin. 

October  6.  First  one-man  exhibition  opens 
at  Galerie  Der  Sturm,  Berlin;  later  tours 
to  other  German  cities. 
October  16-26.  Travels  from  Berlin  to 
Odessa. 

October  Z7-December  13.  In  Moscow, 
also  visits  St.  Petersburg  where  he  lec- 
tures on  "The  Criterion  for  Evaluating  a 
Painting"  at  Art  and  Theater  Association. 
Participates  in  Contemporary  Painting 
exhibition  in  Ekaterinodar. 
December  15-16.  Returns  to  Munich  via 
Berlin. 

December  22.  Begins  sketches  for  Paint- 
ing with  White  Border,  1913  (cat.  no.  323). 

1913 

Kandinsky  and  Marc  prepare  for  second 
Blaue  Reiter  almanac,  with  contributions 
by  Mikhail  Larionov,  Wolfskehl  and  oth- 
ers, but  the  volume  is  never  realized. 
January  13-15.  In  Murnau. 
February-March.  Works  exhibited  in 
Armory  Shoiv  in  New  York,  then  in 
Chicago  and  Boston. 
March-May.  Primarily  in  Murnau. 
Summer.  Arthur  Jerome  Eddy  of  Chicago, 
one  of  first  Americans  to  collect  Kan- 
dinsky's work,  visits  the  artist. 
July  5-August.  To  Moscow  via  Berlin. 
September  6.  Returns  from  Russia  to 
Munich  via  Berlin. 

September  20-December  1.  Participates  in 
Erster  Deutscher  Herbstsalon  at  Galerie 
Der  Sturm  in  Berlin. 
Autumn.  Publication  of  Sturm  Album, 
Berlin,  which  includes  Kandinsky's 
"Riickblicke"  ("Reminiscences").  Klange 
published  by  Piper  in  Munich;  some  of 
its  poems  had  already  appeared,  without 
Kandinsky's  permission,  in  the  Russian 
avant-garde  publication  A  Slap  in  the 
Face  of  Public  Taste. 
October.  In  Murnau. 
Completes  Composition  VI  and  Compo- 
sition VII,  last  Compositions  executed 
before  World  War  I. 

1914 

January  1.  One-man  exhibition,  originally 

planned  by  Hans  Goltz  for  Autumn  1912, 


opens  at  Thannhauser's  Moderne  Galerie, 
Munich. 

January.  One-man  exhibition  at  Kreis 
fiir  Kunst,  Cologne. 
March.  Second  edition  of  Blaue  Reiter 
almanac  published  in  Munich. 
February,  April.  In  Murnau. 
April  9-20.  Visits  Merano,  Italy,  with  his 
mother. 

April.  Ober  das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst 
translated  and  published  as  The  Art  of 
Spiritual  Harmony,  with  an  introduction 
by  Michael  T.  Sadleir,  in  London  and 
Boston. 

Catalogue  of  Spring  Exhibition  of  Paint- 
ings.in  Odessa  (Vesennaiaia  vystavka  Kar- 
tin)  published,  with  "O  ponimanii 
iskusstva,"  Russian  variant  of  Kandinsky's 
"Uber  Kunstverstehen." 
Spring.  Hugo  Ball  proposes  performance 
of  Kandinsky's  Der  gelbe  Klang  at 
Munich  Kiinstlertheater. 
May,  June-August  1.  In  Murnau  with 
trips  to  Oberammergau,  Ettal,  Garmisch 
and  Hollentalklamm. 
August  1.  Returns  to  Munich  as  Germany 
declares  war  on  Russia. 
August  3,  evening.  Flight  to  Switzerland; 
travels  to  Lindau,  accompanied  by  Miin- 
ter; next  day  to  Rorschach,  then  to 
Mariahalde  near  Goldach  on  Lake  Con- 
stance where  they  stay  until  November 
16.  Klee  and  his  family  visit  them.  Begins 
work  on  manuscript  Punkt  und  Linie  zu 
Flache  (Point  and  Line  to  Plane). 
November  16.  To  Ziirich. 
November  25.  Begins  trip  to  Russia, 
where  he  takes  up  residence. 
Winter  1915-16.  Last  visit  with  Miinter 
in  Stockholm. 
1917 

Marries  Nina  de  Andreevskaya. 
1918-21 

Engages  in  various  activities  as  member 
of  Commissariat  for  Cultural  Progress 
(NARKOMPROS),  Moscow.  Teaches  at 
the  Moscow  Svomas  (Free  State  Art 
Studios);  helps  found  Institute  of  Artistic 
Culture  (Inkhuk)  and  Museum  of  Pictorial 
Culture,  Moscow;  instrumental  in  dis- 
tributing paintings  to  twenty-two  provin- 
cial museums. 
1921 

Leaves  Russia  for  Berlin. 
1922 

Accepts  post  at  Bauhaus  at  Weimar. 
1923 

Given  first  one-man  exhibition  in  New 
York  by  Societe  Anonyme,  of  which  he 
becomes  vice-president. 


1924 

With  Lyonel  Feininger,  Klee  and  Jaw- 
lensky  forms  Blaue  Vier  (Blue  Four) 
group;  Galka  Scheyer  is  their  representa- 
tive in  the  United  States. 
1925 

Moves  with  Bauhaus  to  Dessau. 
1926 

Punkt  und  Linie  zu  Flache  published  in 
Munich. 

1933 

Moves  to  Paris  when  Nazis  close  Bauhaus. 
Settles  at  Neuilly-sur-Seine.  During  1930s 
exhibits  in  Paris,  San  Francisco,  New  York 
and  London. 

1937 

Nazis  confiscate  and  sell  many  of  Kan- 
dinsky's paintings  as  entartete  Kunst 
(degenerate  art). 
1940 

Despite  invitations  to  come  to  Linked 
States,  remains  in  France. 
1944 

Becomes  ill  in  spring. 
December  13.  Dies  in  Neuilly. 


306 


SELECTED   BIBLIOGRAPHY 


For  more  extensive  bibliographical  infor- 
mation, the  reader  should  consult  the 
sources  cited  in  footnote  2,  p.  28. 

Metin  And,  Karagoz:  Turkish  Shadow 
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Dominik  Bartmann,  August  Macke 
Kunsthandwerk,  foreword  by  Leopold 
Reidemeister,  Berlin,  Gebr.  Mann  Verlag, 
1979 

Kristian  Bathe,  Wer  wohnte  wo  in 
Schwabing?,  Munich,  Siiddeutscher  Ver- 
lag, 1965 

Bayern:  Kunst  und  Kidtur,  exh.  cat., 
Munich  Stadtmuseum,  Munich,  Prestel 
Verlag,  1972 

Silvie  Lampe-von  Bennigsen,  Hermann 
Obrist,  Erinnerungen,  Munich,  Verlag 
Herbert  Post  Presse,  1970 

John  E.  Bowlt  and  Rose-Carol  Washton 
Long,  eds.,  The  Life  of  Vasilii  Kandinsky 
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Klaus  Brisch,  Wassily  Kandinsky,  Unter- 
suchung  zur  Entstehung  der  gegenstands- 
losen  Malerie  an  seinem  Werk  von  1900- 
1921,  Ph.D.  dissertation,  University  of 
Bonn,  1955 

Tilmann  Buddensieg,  "Zur  Fruhzeit  von 
August  Endell — seine  Miinchener  Briefe 
an  Kurt  Breysig,"  Festschrift  fiir  Eduard 
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Joseph  Campbell,  The  Hero  with  a  Thou- 
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Occidental  Mythology,  New  York,  Pen- 
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sammlung  des  Miinchner  Stadtmuseums, 
exh.  cat.,  second  revised  edition,  1978 

H.  C.  Ebertshauser,  Malerei  in  19.  Jahr- 
hnndert  Miinchner  Schule,  Munich, 
Keyersche  Verlagsbuchhandlung,  1979 

Johannes  Eichner,  Kandinsky  und  Gab- 
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J.  A.  Schmoll  gen.  Eisenwerth,  ed.,  Franz 
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Richard  Ettinghausen,  "Early  Shadow 
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Jonathan  D.  Fineberg,  Kandinsky  in  Paris 
1906-oj,  Ph.D.  dissertation,  Harvard 
University,  1975 

Christian  Geelhaar,  "Paul  Klee:  Biogra- 
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Kezensionen  und  Aufsdtze,  Cologne, 
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Rosel  Gollek,  ed.,  Der  Blaue  Reiter  im 
Lenbachhaus  Miinchen,  Munich,  Prestel 
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Rosel  Gollek,  Gabriele  Miinter  1S77- 
1962:  Gemalde,  Zeichnungen,  Hinter- 
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Creative  Mythology,  New  York,  Penguin 
Books,  1968 

Volker  Duvigneau,  ed.,  Plakate  in 
Miinchen  aus  den  Bestanden  der  Plakat- 


1916,  Munich,  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Len- 
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Donald  E.  Gordon,  Modern  Art  Exhibi- 
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Documentation,  2  vols.,  Munich,  Prestel 
Verlag,  1974 


Sara  H.  Gregg,  "The  Art  of  Gabriele 
Miinter:  An  Evaluation  of  Content,"  Mas- 
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at  Binghamton,  1980 

,  "Grabriele  Miinter  in 

Sweden:  Interlude  and  Separation,"  Arts 
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Will  Grohmann,  Wassily  Kandinsky:  Life 
and  Work,  New  York,  Harry  N.  Abrams, 
Inc.,  1958 

Sonja  Giinther,  Interieurs  um  1900:  Bern- 
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Karl  Gutbrod.,  ed.,  "Lieber  Freund  .  .  .," 
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Cologne,  DuMont  Schauberg,  1968 

Jelena  Hahl-Koch,  ed.,  Arnold  Schonberg 
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Dokumente  einer  aussergewbhnlichen 
Begegnung,  Salzburg  and  Vienna,  Resi- 
denz  Verlag,  1980 

Jelena  Hahl-Koch,  "Kandinsky's  Role 
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melten  Schriften:  Stiicke  fiir  die  Biihne, 
forthcoming 

Edith  Hamilton,  Mythology,  New  York, 
Mentor  Books,  1957 

Erika  Hanfstaengl,  ed.,  Wassily  Kan- 
dinsky: Zeichnungen  und  Aquarelle  im 
Lenbachhaus  Miinchen,  Munich,  Prestel 
Verlag,  1974 

Ulrike  von  Hase,  Schmuck  in  Deutschland 
und  Osterreich  1895-1914,  Symbolismus- 
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Charles  W.  Haxthausen,  "Klees  kiinstler- 
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307 


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Adolf  Holzel,  "Uber  Formen  und  Mas- 
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Peter  Jelavich,  "Die  Elf  Scharfrichter:  The 
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1S90-1914:  A  Study  of  the  Social  Origins 
of  Modernist  Culture,  Ph.D.  dissertation, 
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Erich  Kahler,  "The  Nature  of  the  Sym- 
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Religion  and  Literature,  New  York, 
George  Braziller,  Inc.,  i960 

Kandinsky:  Kollekth'-Ausstellung  1901- 
1912,  introductory  autobiographical 
sketch  by  Kandinsky,  Munich,  Verlag 
"Neue  Kunst"  Hans  Goltz,  1912 

Vasily  Kandinsky,  "Pismo  iz  Miinchen" 
(Letters  from  Munich),  Apollon,  I,  Octo- 
ber 1909;  IV,  January  1910;  VII,  April 
1910;  VIII,  May-June  1910;  XI,  October- 
November  1910 

"Riickblicke,"  Kan- 
dinsky, 1901-1913,  Berlin,  Der  Sturm, 
1913 

,  Letter  to  Paul  West- 

heim,  "Der  Blaue  Reiter  (Riickblick)," 
Das  Kunstblatt,  XIV,  1930 

,  "Betrachtungen  iiber 

die  abstrakte  Kunst,"  in  Max  Bill,  ed., 
Kandinsky  Essays  iiber  Kunst  und  Kiinst- 
ler,  Bern,  Benteli  Verlag,  1963.  Originally 
published  in  Cahiers  d'Art,  no.  1,  193 1 

,  "Mes  gravures  sur 

bois,"  XX*  Siecle,  no.  27,  December 
1966.  Originally  published  in  XX*  Siecle, 
no.  3,  1938 

,  Punkt  und  Linie  zu 

Fldche,  Beitrag  zur  Analyse  der  male- 
rischen  Elemente,  introduction  by  Max 
Bill,  ed.,  Bern,  Benteli  Verlag,  1964. 
Originally  published  by  Albert  Langen, 
Munich,  1926 

,  "Der  gelbe  Klang," 

Der  Blaue  Reiter,  new  documentary  edi- 


tion by  Klaus  Lankheit,  Munich,  R.  Piper 
&  Co.,  1965 

,  Uber  das  Geistige  in 


der  Kunst,  eighth  edition  [sic],  Bern, 
Benteli  Verlag,  1965.  Originally  published 
by  R.  Piper  &  Co.,  Munich,  1912 

,  "Uber  die  Formfrage," 


Der  Blaue  Reiter,  Klaus  Lankheit  edition, 
Munich,  R.  Piper  &C  Co.,  1965 

Kliinge,  Munich,  R. 

Piper  &  Co.,  1913.  English  translation  by 
Elizabeth  R.  Napier:  Sounds,  New  Haven 
and  London,  Yale  LIniversity  Press,  1981 

Kandinsky  and  Franz  Marc,  eds.,  Der 
Blaue  Reiter,  Klaus  Lankheit  edition, 
Munich,  R.  Piper  &  Co.,  1965.  Originally 
published  in  1912 

Edward  J.  Kimball,  unpublished  pic- 
torial analysis  in  eleven  drawings  of  In 
the  Black  Square,  New  York,  Columbia 
University,  1975 

Paul  Klee,  The  Diaries  of  Paul  Klee, 
1898-1918,  introduction  by  Felix  Klee, 
ed.,  Berkeley,  University  of  California 
Press,  1968.  Originally  published  by 
DuMont  Schauberg,  Cologne,  1957 

Alfred  Koeppen,  Die  moderne  Malerei 
in  Deutschland,  Bielefeld  and  Leipzig, 
Verlag  von  Velhagen,  1902 

Alfred  Kubin,  Die  andere  Seite,  Munich, 
Nymphenburger  Verlagshandlung,  1968 

Ernst  Kiihnel,  "Die  Ausstellung  Moham- 
medanischer  Kunst  Miinchen  1910," 
Miinchner  Jahrbuch  der  bildenden  Kunst, 
1910 

Johannes  Langner,  "Impression  V:  Ob- 
servations sur  un  theme  chez  Kandinsky," 
Revue  de  I' art,  vol.  45,  1979 

Klaus  Lankheit,  "Die  Fruhromantik  und 
die  Grundlagen  der  gegenstandslosen 
Malerei,"  Neue  Heidelberger  Jahrbiicher, 
Neue  Folge,  195 1 

,  Franz  Marc:  Katalog 

der  Werke,  Cologne,  DuMont  Schauberg, 
1970 

,  Franz  Marc  Schrif- 

ten,  Cologne,  DuMont  Buchverlag,  1978 

Kenneth  C.  Lindsay,  "The  Genesis  and 
Meaning  of  the  Cover  Design  for  the 
First  Blaue  Reiter  Catalog,"  Art  Bulletin, 
vol.  XXXV,  March  1953 

,  "Kandinsky  in  1914 

in  New  York:  Solving  a  Riddle,"  Art 
News,  vol.  55,  May  1956 


Kenneth  C.  Lindsay  and  Peter  Vergo,  eds., 
Kandinsky:  Complete  Writings  on  Art, 
Boston,  G.  K.  Hall,  1982 

Rose-Carol  Washton  Long,  Kandinsky: 
The  Development  of  an  Abstract  Style, 
Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1980 

Wolfgang  Macke,  ed.,  August  Macke, 
Franz  Marc:  Briefwechsel,  Cologne, 
DuMont  Schauberg,  1964 

Thomas  Mann,  "On  the  Spirit  of  Medi- 
cine," quoted  in  Joseph  Campbell,  The 
Masks  of  God:  Creative  Mythology,  New 
York,  Penguin  Books,  1968 

Wilhelm  Michel,  "Kandinsky,  W.  Ueber 
das  Geistige  in  der  Kunst,"  Die  Kunst  fur 
Alle,  September  15,  191 2 

Ann  Mochon,  Gabriele  Miinter:  Between 
Munich  and  Mumau,  exh.  cat.,  Busch- 
Reisinger  Museum,  Harvard  University, 
1980 

"Miinchen  um  1910,"  Du,  vol.  29,  July 
1969  (special  issue),  Manuel  Gasser,  Peter 
Killen,  Klara  Obermuller,  eds.,  Zurich 

Miinchner  Malerei  1891-1914  von  der 
Sezession  zum  Blauen  Reiter,  exh.  cat., 
Museum  for  Modern  Art,  Hokkaido, 
Japan, 1977 

Erdmann  Neumeister,  Thomas  Manns 
friihe  Erzdhlungen:  Der  Jugendstil  als 
Kunstform  im  friihen  Werk,  third  edition, 
Bonn,  Bouvier  Verlag,  Herbert  Grund- 
mann,  1977 

Reinhard  Piper,  Briefivechsel  mit  Autoren 
und  Kiinstlern  1903-1954,  Munich. 
R.  Piper  &C  Co.,  1979 

Post-Impressionism  Cross-Currents  in 
European  Painting,  Royal  Academy  exh. 
cat.,  New  York,  1979 

W.  H.  Roscher,  Ausfiihrliches  Lexikon 
Griechischen  und  Romischen  Mythologie, 
Leipzig,  Verlag  B.  G.  Teubner,  1884-86 

Hans  Konrad  Rothel,  Kandinsky:  Das 
graphische  Werk,  Cologne,  DuMont 
Schauberg,  1970 

Hans  Konrad  Rothel  and  Jean  Benjamin, 
Kandinsky,  New  York,  Hudson  Hills 
Press,  1979 

Angelica  Rudenstine,  The  Guggenheim 
Museum  Collection:  Paintings  18S5- 
194S,  vol.  I,  New  York,  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Foundation,  1976 
Eberhard  Ruhmer,  ed.,  Die  Miinchner 
Schule  iSfo-1914,  exh.  cat.,  Bayerische 
Staatsgemaldesammlungen  and  Haus  der 
Kunst,  Munich,  F.  Bruckman,  1979 


308 


Sigrid  Russ,  ed.,  Marianne  Werefkin: 
Gemalde  and  Skizzen,  exh.  cat.,  Museum 
Wiesbaden,  1980 

Salme  Sarajas-Korte,  Suomen  varhaissym- 
bolismi  ja  sen  lahteet,  Helsinki,  Otava, 


,  "Kandinsky  et  la 

Finlande  I,  1906-1914,"  Ateneumin 
Taidemuseo  Museojulkaisa ,  15  Vuo- 
sikerta,  1970 

Peter  Selz,  German  Expressionist  Paint- 
ing, Berkeley  and  Los  Angeles,  University 
of  California  Press,  1957 

Susan  Stein,  "The  Ultimate  Synthesis:  An 
Intepretation  of  the  Meaning  and  Signifi- 
cance of  Wassily  Kandinsky's  The  Yellow 
Sound,"  Master's  thesis,  State  University 
of  New  York  at  Binghamton,  1980 

Otto  Stelzer,  Die  Vorgeschichte  der  Ab- 
strakten  Kitnst,  Denhnodelle  and  Vor- 
Bilder,  Munich,  R.  Piper  &c  Co.,  1964 

Ernest  Stern,  My  Life,  My  Stage,  London, 
Victor  Gollancz  Ltd.,  1951 

Wolfgang  Venzmer,  ed.,  Adolf  Holzel, 
sein  Weg  zur  Abstraktion:  Aasstellung 
1972,  with  introduction  by  Wolfgang 
Venzmer,  Dachau,  Staat  Dachau,  1972 

. ,  Adolf  Holzel:  Werk- 

Katalog,  Stuttgart,  Deutsche  Verlagsan- 
stalt,  1982 

Rose-Carol  Washton,  Vasily  Kandinsky, 
1909-1913:  fainting  and  Theory,  Ph.D. 
dissertation,  Yale  University,  1968 

Peg  Weiss,  "The  Graphic  Art  of  Kan- 
dinsky," Art  News,  vol.  73,  March  1974, 
pp.  42-44 

,  "Kandinsky  and  the 

'Jugendstil'  Arts  and  Crafts  Movement," 
The  Burlington  Magazine,  vol.  CXVII, 
May  1975,  pp.  270-279 

,  "Kandinsky  and  the 

Munich  Academy,"  paper  presented  at  the 
Annual  Meeting,  College  Art  Association 
of  America,  January  1974 


,  Kandinsky  in 


Munich:  The  Formative  Jugendstil  Years, 
Princeton,  Princeton  University  Press,  1979 

,  "Kandinsky:  Sym- 


bolist Poetics  and  Theater  in  Munich," 
Pantheon,  vol.  XXXV,  July-August- 
September  1977,  pp. 209-218 

.,  "Kandinsky,  Wolf- 


,  "Wassily  Kandinsky, 

the  Utopian  Focus:  Jugendstil,  Art  Deco, 
and  the  Centre  Pompidou,"  Arts  Maga- 
zine, vol.  51,  April  1977,  pp.  102-107 

Siegfried  Wichmann,  Jugendstil  Art  Nou- 

veau,  Munich,  Schuler  Verlagsgesellschaft, 

1977 

Siegfried  Wichmann,  ed.,  Miinchen  1869- 

1958  Aufbruch  zur  modernen  Kunst,  exh. 

cat.,  Munich,  Haus  der  Kunst,  1958 

Daniel  Wildenstein,  Claude  Monet:  Biog- 
raphie  et  catalogue  raisonne,  Tome  III: 
1887-1898  Peintures,  Lausanne-Paris,  La 
Bibliotheque  des  Arts,  1979 

Clara  B.  Wilpert,  Schattentheater ,  Ham- 
burg, Hamburgisches  Museum  fur  Volker- 
kunde,  1973 


skehl  und  Stefan  George,"  Castrum 
Peregrini,  CXXXVIII,  1979,  pp.  26-51 


309 


INDEX  OF  ARTISTS  IN  THE  CATALOGUE 


Anonymous     cat.  no.  224 

Azbe,  Anton     cat.  nos.  72-75 

Bartera-Bossi,  Erma     cat.  no.  287 

Bauer,  Karl     cat.  nos.  221,  223 

von  Bechtejeff,  Vladimir     cat.  no.  297 

Behrens,  Peter     cat.  nos.  ioa-b,  107,  108, 
126,  141 

Bingen,  J.  Hilsdorf     cat.  no.  222 

Bloch,  Albert     cat.  nos.  97,  256 

Bosselt,  Rudolf     cat.  no.  127 

Crane,  Walter     cat.  nos.  352,  353 

Christiansen,  Hans     cat.  nos.  in,  112, 
114-117, 120-122,  125,  133-136,  138 

Cunz,  Martha     cat.  no.  259 

Diez,  Julius     cat.  no.  2 

von  Egidy,  Emmy     cat.  nos.  128,  129 

Endell,  August     cat.  nos.  15-17,  19,  21, 
26,  27,  50,  344 

Engels,  Robert     cat.  no.  8 

Erler,  Fritz     cat.  nos.  225,  227 

Freytag,  Gustav     cat.  no.  190 

Gallen-Kallela,  Akseli     cat.  nos.  57, 
179-183 

George,  Stefan     cat.  nos.  361-363 

Girieud,  Pierre     cat.  no.  286 

de  Hartmann,  Thomas     cat.  no.  337 

Hauser,  Ferdinand     cat.  no.  119 

Hecker,  Waldemar     cat.  no.  96a-g 

Heine,  Thomas  Theodor     cat.  nos.  6,  95 

Hengeler,  Adolf     cat.  no.  228 

Hoerschelman,  Rolf     cat.  no.  229 

von  Hoffmann,  Ludwig     cat.  no.  140 

Holzel,  Adolf     cat.  nos.  143,  144, 

133-2-35,  i37.  M*.  -4L  M4,  148-253, 
262-264 


Huber,  Patriz     cat.  nos.  123,  124 

Hiisgen,  Wilhelm     cat.  no.  99 

von  Kahler,  Eugen     cat.  no.  255 

Kandinsky,  Vasily     cat.  nos.  30-37,  39, 
43-49,  76-81,  83-85,  90-92,  94,  109,  no, 
113,  118,  137,  139,  142,  145-149, 154-161, 
178,  184-1893-^  191,  194-196,  199, 
210-220,  230-232,  238-240,  243,  245,  258, 
260,  261,  265-275,  277,  284,  285,  296, 
299-301,  311-334,  338,  343,  36oa-b,  367, 
369 

Kastner  and  Lossen     cat.  no.  356 
Klee,  Paul     cat.  nos.  171,  204-207,  236, 
2-54.  -9- 

Kogan,  Moissey     cat.  nos.  42,  283 
Kubin,  Alfred     cat.  nos.  208,  209,  257,  359 
Littmann,  Max     cat.  no.  226 

Macke,  August     cat.  nos.  41, 150, 

162-164,  246,  -47 

Marc,  Franz     cat.  nos.  40,  151-153, 

!73-i77>  i89,  i93-295.  3°3>  335.  336> 

339,  355 

Marc,  Franz,  after     cat.  no.  172 

Miinter,  Gabriele     cat.  nos.  38,  192,  193, 
290,  291,  298,  302 

Niczky,  Rolf     cat.  no.  98 

Obrist,  Hermann     cat.  nos.  18,  20,  28a-b, 
29,  52,  58-71,  349 

Paul,  Bruno     cat.  nos.  4,  11-13 

Poppel  and  Kurz     cat.  no.  14 

Riemerschmid,  Richard     cat.  nos.  18, 
23-25,  130-132 

Schmidhammer,  Arpad     cat.  no.  102 

Schmithals,  Hans     cat.  nos.  53-56 

Schnellenbiihel,  Gertraud     cat.  no.  22 

Schonberg,  Arnold     cat.  nos.  340,  342 

Stern,  Ernst     cat.  nos.  9,  100,  101,  103 

Strathmann,  Carl     cat.  nos.  197, 198, 
200-203 


von  Stuck,  Franz     cat.  nos.  1,  51,  82, 
86-89,  93 

von  Tschudi,  Hugo     cat.  no.  368 

Weisgerber,  Albert     cat.  no. 5 

Weiss,  Emil  Rudolf     cat.  no.  3 

von  Werefkin,  Marianne     cat.  no.  288 

von  Wersin,  Wolfgang     cat.  nos.  166-170 

Wolfskehl,  Karl     cat.  no.  361 

von  Zumbusch,  Ludwig     cat.  no.  7 


310 


PHOTOGRAPHIC  CREDITS 


Color 

Courtesy  Bayerische  Staatsgemaldesamm- 

lungen,  Graphische  Sammlung: 

cat.  no.  63 

Mary  Donlon:     cat.  no.  332 

Courtesy  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benjamin  Fortson, 

Fort  Worth:     cat.  no.  265 

Courtesy  Aivi  Gallen-Kallela-Siren: 

cat.  no.  57 

S.  R.  Gnamm,  Munich;  courtesy  Siegfried 

Wichmann:     cat.  no.  21 

Robert  E.  Mates:     cat.  nos.  219,  284,  285 

Robert  E.  Mates  and  Susan  Lazarus: 
cat.  no.  323 

Courtesy  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich:     cat.  nos.  96a-g,  98,  201 

Courtesy  Museum  Boymans-van  Beunin- 
gen,  Rotterdam:     cat.  no.  267 
Courtesy  Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana: 
cat.  no.  75 

Courtesy  Neue  Pinakothek,  Munich: 
cat.  no.  54 

Courtesy  Pelikan  Kunstsammlung,  Han- 
nover:    cat.  no.  262 

Courtesy  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbach- 
haus,  Munich:     cat.  nos.  38, 139,  214,  215, 
258,  261,  299,  315,  318,  320,  322,  326 

Herbert  H.  G.  Wolf,  Wetzlar;  courtesy 
Wachtersbacher  Keramik,  Brachttal, 
Germany:     cat.  no.  nr 


Black  and  White 

Jorg  P.  Anders,  Berlin;  courtesy  Staatliche 
Museen  Preussischer  Kulturbesitz, 
Nationalgalerie,  Berlin:     fig.  1; 
cat.  no.  140 

Courtesy  Architektursammlung  der 
Technische  Universitat  Miinchen: 
cat.  no.  24 

Courtesy  The  Art  Museum  of  the 
Ateneum,  Helsinki:  figs.  18,  19; 
cat.  nos.  179,  180 

Courtesy  Badisches  Landesmuseum, 
Karlsruhe:     cat.  nos.  123,  197,  200 

Courtesy  Bayerische  Staatsgemaldesamm- 
lungen,  Munich:     figs.  13,  42; 
cat.  nos.  291,  297 

Courtesy  Museum  Boymans-van  Beunin- 
gen,  Rotterdam:     cat.  no.  195 

Courtesy  The  Brooklyn  Museum: 
cat.  no.  343 

Courtesy  Biihrle  Collection,  Zurich: 
fig- 3i 

Courtesy  Deutsches  Theatermuseum, 
Munich:     cat.  nos.  226-228 

Courtesy  Everson  Museum  of  Art,  Syra- 
cuse, New  York:     cat.  no.  97 

Courtesy  Galerie  Gunzenhauser,  Munich: 
cat.  nos.  t78,  286 

Courtesy  Gallen-Kallela  Museum,  Espoo, 
Finland:      cat.  nos.  181-183 

S.  R.  Gnamm,  Munich:     cat.  no.  19 

S.  R.  Gnamm,  Munich;  courtesy  Siegfried 
Wichmann:     cat.  nos.  23,  28a-b,  29,  56, 
128,  129,  131,  132 

Courtesy  Graphische  Sammlung,  Staats- 
galerie  Stuttgart:     cat.  no.  142 

Courtesy  Library  of  Congress,  Washing- 
ton, D.C.:     cat.  no.  340 

Courtesy  Harry  Hess:     cat.  no.  288 
Courtesy  Hessisches  Landesmuseum, 
Darmstadt:     fig.  15 


Courtesy  The  Houghton  Library,  Harvard 
University,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts: 
fig-  2-3 

Courtesy  Institute  fur  Kunstgeschichte  der 
Universitat,  Karlsruhe:     cat.  nos.  257, 
271, 280-282 

Dorothee  Jordens;  courtesy  Miinchner 
Stadtmuseum,  Munich:     cat.  nos.  22,  87 

Courtesy  Felix  Klee,  Bern:      fig.  14; 
cat.  nos.  204-207,  236,  256 

Courtesy  Kunstbibliothek  Staatliche 
Museen  Preussischer  Kulturbesitz,  Berlin: 
cat.  nos.  1,  13,  108,  141 

Courtesy  Kunsthalle  Bremen:     cat.  no.  95 

Courtesy  Kunsthaus  Zurich:     fig.  9 

Courtesy  Paul  Klee-Stiftung,  Kunst- 
museum  Bern:  cat.  no.  171 

Courtesy  Kupferstichkabinett,  Kunst- 
museum  Basel:     cat.  nos.  335,  336 

Courtesy  Delvard  Nachlass,  Miinchner 
Stadtmuseum,  Munich:     cat.no.  105 

Courtesy  Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana: 
cat.  nos.  72-74 

Courtesy  Heirs  of  Dr.  W.  Macke,  Bonn: 
cat.  nos.  4T,  150, 161-164,  246,  247 

Robert  E.  Mates:  figs.  3, 16,  43,  44;  cat. 
nos.  39,  43,  44,  80,  94,  212,  260,  269,  285, 
2-96,  3°3>  32-1 

Robert  E.  Mates  and  Mary  Donlon: 
fig.  20;  cat.  nos.  192,  216 

Courtesy  Mittelrheinisches  Landes- 
museum, Mainz:     fig.  22 

Courtesy  Miinchner  Stadtmuseum, 
Munich:     cat.  nos.  2-4,  14,  20,  26,  50,  52, 
53>  93>  99>  io4j  i^S-17°j  191,  202,  224, 
225,  289 

Courtesy  Gabriele  Miinter- Johannes 
Eichner  Stiftung,  Munich:     cat.  nos.  30, 
32>  33>  35—37, 158,  i6oa-d,  302,  341 
Courtesy  Musee  du  Louvre,  Paris:     fig.  35 


311 


Courtesy  Musee  National  d'Art  Moderne, 
Paris:     cat.  nos.  325,  333 

Courtesy  Museum  Bellerive,  Zurich: 
cat.  nos.  18,  68-71 

Courtesy  Museum  fur  Kunst  und 
Gewerbe,  Hamburg:     cat.  no.  27 

Courtesy  The  Museum  of  Modern  Art, 
New  York:     cat.  nos.  45,  46,  55,  126, 
130,  210 

Courtesy  Narodna  Galerija,  Ljubljana: 
figs.  10,  11 

Courtesy  National  Gallery  of  Art,  Wash- 
ington, D.C.:     figs.  5,  28 

Rosmarie  Nohr,  Munich:     fig.  36 

Courtesy  Pelikan  Kunstsammlung, 
Hannover:  cat.  nos.  241,  242,  244, 
248-253, 264 

Gerd  Remmer,  Flensburg,  Germany; 
courtesy  Stadtische  Museum  Flensburg: 
cat.  nos.  114, 121,  125,  133-136,  138 

Courtesy  J.  A.  Schmoll-Eisenwerth, 
Munich:     cat.  no.  85 

Courtesy  Schonberg  Estate,  Los  Angeles: 
cat.  no.  342 

Courtesy  Schiller-Nationalmuseum, 
Munich:     cat.  no.  221 

Courtesy  Schiller-Nationalmuseum/ 
Deutsches  Literaturarchiv,  Marbach: 
cat.  no.  223 

Carsten  Seltrecht;  courtesy  Kunstmuseum 
St.  Gallen:     cat.  no.  259 

Courtesy  David  Lee  Sherman:  cat.  no.  106 

Courtesy  Staatliche  Graphische  Samm- 
lung,  Munich:  cat.  nos.  11, 12,  58-62, 
64,  66,  67 

Courtesy  Staatliches  Museum  fur  Volker- 
kunde,  Munich:     cat.  nos.  304-310 

Courtesy  Stadtbibliothek  mit  Hand- 
schriftensammlung,  Munich:     cat.  nos. 
100-102,  229 


Courtesy  Stadtische  Galerie  im  Lenbach- 
haus,  Munich:     figs.  21,  32,  38,  41;  cat. 
nos.  5,  25,  34,  42,  47-49,  76"79,  81-84, 
86,90-92,  109,  no,  113, 118,  137, 
145-149,  155-157, 159, 161,  17^-174, 
176, 177, 184, 185, 187, 193, 194, 196, 
199,  203,  209,  213,  217, 220,  230-231, 
238-240,  243,  245,  254,  255,  266,  270, 
272-275,  283,  290,  292-295,  298,  301, 
311-314,  316,  317,  319,  324,  327-330, 
334, 339 

Courtesy  Stuck-Jugendstil-Verein, 
Munich:     cat.  nos.  51,  234,  235,  237 

Courtesy  Gerhard  Weiss,  Munich: 
cat.  no.  88 

Courtesy  Peg  Weiss:     figs.  2,  17,  40; 
cat.  nos.  15-17 

Liselotte  Witzel,  Essen;  courtesy  Museum 
Folkwang,  Essen:     cat.  no.  331 

Herbert  H.  G.  Wolf,  Wetzlar;  courtesy 
Wachtersbacher  Keramik,  Brachttal, 
Germany:     cat.  nos.  112,  115-117,  120, 
122 

Courtesy  Wiirttembergisches  Landes- 
museum,  Stuttgart:     cat.  nos.  119,  124, 


Exhibition  82/1 

10,000  copies  of  this  catalogue,  designed 
by  Malcolm  Grear  Designers,  typeset  by 
Dumar  Typesetting,  Inc.,  have  been 
printed  by  Eastern  Press  in  January  1982 
for  the  Trustees  of  The  Solomon  R. 
Guggenheim  Foundation  on  the  occasion 
of  the  exhibition  Kandinsky  in  Munich: 
1896-1914. 


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