Bunte Leben

by Vivian Endicott Barnett

Born in Russia, Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was one of the most original and influential artists to emerge in the twentieth century. He is known primarily for his daring use of color in startling non-objective works. Vasily Kandinsky: A Colorful Life is the most comprehensive and fully illustrated account to date of his early work, from 1900 to 1914, the period in which he made his radical shift to abstraction - and in so doing altered the very concept of art itself. The works presented here are from the collection of the city museum of Munich, or Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus. They were given to the Galerie in 1957 by the artist Gabriele Munter, who was Kandinsky's companion from 1903 to the beginning of World War I. They are being shown at the Galerie in their entirety for the first time in a major exhibition, for which this book serves as the catalogue. In compelling, readable text that draws on the latest research, noted Kandinsky expert Vivian Endicott Barnett illuminates the