NEW YORK - "The Geometry of Kandinsky and Malevich" au Guggenheim Museum
Russian artists Vasily Kandinsky (1866–1944) and Kazimir Malevich (1878–1935), considered two of the pioneers of abstraction, separately explored a geometric vocabulary during the course of their careers. Malevich is recognized for his circa 1914 invention of Suprematism, an abstract style expressing universal truths through the interrelationship of color and geometric forms. On the other hand, Kandinsky, who was also interested in the universal qualities of geometry, increasingly utilized geometric motifs in his art in the early 1920s, when he took up a teaching position at the Bauhaus, a school of art and applied design in Germany
- Malevich - Morning in the Village after Snowstorm (Utro posle v’iugi v derevne), 1912.
- Oil on canvas, 31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches (80 x 80 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York 52.1327
Unlike Malevich, Kandinsky insisted that even his most abstract work retained expressive content. Each artist would ultimately reinvent himself yet again at the end of his life : Malevich returning to a representational mode, and Kandinsky’s formal vocabulary altering to feature a softer palette and biomorphic forms.
The Geometry of Kandinsky and Malevich examines each artist’s distinctive approach to abstraction through a focused presentation of seven paintings. This exhibition is curated by Tracey Bashkoff, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, and Megan Fontanella, Assistant Curator.
- Vasily Kandinsky - Black Lines (Schwarze Linien), December 1913.
- Oil on canvas, 51 x 51 5/8 inches (129.4 x 131.1 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Founding Collection, By gift 37.241. © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris
Informations pratiques
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue (at 89th Street)
New York, NY 10128-0173
www.guggenheim.org
