Salvador Dali & The Surrealists: The Argillet Collection | Page 50

Wa s s i l y K a n d i n s ky

1866-1944

Wassily Kandinsky pioneered the birth of abstract art and
radical changes in painting through  the development of his
art theory.  He considered art as the reflection of the artist’s
inner world, its sacred meaning could be revealed through nonobjectivity constructed on rhythm and the juxtaposition of
color contrast, dynamics and static.  He would often compare
art and the artist working with colors and forms with the
composer, who creates music through sound and timbre.
Graphical works of 1904-1911 mark a crucial period of
understanding Kandinsky’s art. They gave birth to new abstract
forms suggested in his Theory Concerning the Spiritual in
Art (1910). His woodcuts become of special interest to Pierre
Argillet after meeting Nina Kandinsky’s near Paris in 1967.  It
resulted in the publication of engravings on wood.
“The artist must train not only
his eye but also his soul.”
—KANDINSKY

In 1968 Pierre Argillet took the original woodcuts in
Kandinsky’s widow’s collection and created a second
publication with wide margins. 
DETAIL:
The Blue Horseman

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