Composition IV

Wassily Kandinsky 1866 - 1944

Summary

A vibrant semi-abstract scene filled with soft colours and harsh lines. Harsh, jagged black lines are on the left. A rainbow appears beneath the black lines. In the centre are two thick vertical black lines that divide the image in half. The two lines are spears or lances being held by two blurred figures, standing next to a third figure with a purple sword. The figures stand in front of a blue hill or mountain with a castle on top of it. Softer colours and lines are used on the right. There appears to be two figures, laying down on the bottom right. This is a print of the painting 'Composition IV' from 1911 now at the Kunstammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Dusseldorf, Germany. It is a semi-abstract representation of Cossacks in Moscow during the revolutionary period of 1905-1906. Kandinsky combined expressive abstract elements of different colours and forms with representational elements - three red-hatted Cossacks two of whom hold sabres for example - to create a 'pure painting' that could provide the same emotional power as a musical composition.