NARRATOR:
As you take in the rich colors and bold brushstrokes of Vasily Kandinsky’s Deluge I, you can almost hear the crack of thunder, crashing waves and pelting rain of a terrible storm. This is a sketch for a larger painting, one of several Kandinsky did on Biblical themes of destruction. It was 1912, and he was consciously moving away from representation toward a more spiritual art that expressed itself through color and form. Indeed, he would be the first artist to create a completely abstract work of art. Here, though, he uses these elements to suggest, and in some instances literally illustrate, the the flood. Colors overlap, edges are blurred, and brush strokes run in every direction, giving an impression of chaos.
Still, the artist recognized that viewers of his day were not ready to appreciate completely abstract art. He declared:
KANDINSKY (actor):
“We are still firmly bound to the outward appearance of nature and must draw forms from it.”
NARRATOR:
To help make the transition from representation to abstraction, Kandinsky included a few identifiable fragments in his work. Look closely at this sketch, and you’ll discover many suggestive elements that are open to interpretation. In the upper right, for example, is a boxy ochre shape that might represent the Biblical ark…. Nearby, a man with outstretched arms seems washed away…. At the upper left, the horizon tilts at a steep angle as the ocean churns into a towering wave. In the center, that massive greenish mound may suggest a volcano topped by plumes of white smoke…. From the upper right corner, a jagged form slashes across the composition like a bolt of lightening.
Within a few years of completing this painting, Kandinsky would remove recognizable imagery entirely from his work, and rely entirely on passionate arrangements of line, form and color.
Sketch for "Deluge I"
1912
Vassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866–1944)
Not on View
Kandinsky studied law in Moscow, then moved to Munich to study painting in 1896. He first worked in a Symbolist style, in which naturalism moved toward the edge of abstraction. In this small but highly animated painting, we can see a long white jagged line of lightning and a mountain that seems to be erupting. Less recognizable are several small figures attempting to escape the flood. Kandinsky's reference point was still the world of material reality. Later in 1912, when he began to make drawings for "Deluge II," all realistic symbols disappeared.
Details
- Artist Name: Vassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866–1944)
- Title: Sketch for "Deluge I"
- Date: 1912
- Medium: Oil and charcoal on cardboard mounted on wood
- Dimensions: 13-7/8 x 19-1/8 in. (35.2 x 48.6 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Museum, Museum Purchase with funds acquired from the Galka E. Scheyer Estate, for the Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection
- Accession Number: P.1964.39
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Museum
Object Information
The artist to, 1912-1940? (early history unknown).
Noelle Lecoutour, Paris, probably 1940s.
[Galerie Bing, Paris, probably 1950s].
Joseph Silfka, New York by 1957.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hirschland, New York, by 1964.
[Richard Feigen Gallery, Beverly Hills, in 1964];
Paul Kantor Gallery, Beverly Hills, sold 1964 to;
Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena,1954-1975 (purchased with funds from the Galka Scheyer Estate);
Norton Simon Museum, 1975.
Noelle Lecoutour, Paris, probably 1940s.
[Galerie Bing, Paris, probably 1950s].
Joseph Silfka, New York by 1957.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hirschland, New York, by 1964.
[Richard Feigen Gallery, Beverly Hills, in 1964];
Paul Kantor Gallery, Beverly Hills, sold 1964 to;
Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena,1954-1975 (purchased with funds from the Galka Scheyer Estate);
Norton Simon Museum, 1975.
Kandinsky Paintings and Graphics: Retrospective of Kandinsky's Bauhaus Years
- Norton Simon Museum, 1989-01-19 to 1990-01-14
- Haas, Robert B., Du, p. 38
- Barnett, Vivian Endicott, The Blue Four Collection at the Norton Simon Museum,no. 269 pp. 224-225
- Campbell Abdo, Sara, Wassily Kandinsky, p. 5
- Daniel Albright, Putting Modernism Together,2015, p. 130
- Seuphor, Michel, Dictionnaire de la peinture abstraite, p. 9
- L'expressionnisme : une esthétique Européenne,2017, p. 207 ; p. 204 (ill.)
- Grohmann, Will, Wassily Kandinsky: Life and Work,cc 75 pp. 332, 355
- Ringbom, Sixten, The Sounding Cosmos: A Study in the Spiritualism of Kandinsky and the Genesis of Abstract Painting (Reprint - 2022),2022, pl. 58 pp. 176
- Ringbom, Sixten, The Sounding Cosmos: A Study in the Spiritualism of Kandinsky and the Genesis of Abstract Painting,pl. 58 pp. 155-156
- Washton Long, Rose-Carol, Kandinsky: The Development of an Abstract Style,pl. 94 pp. 94, 178
- The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection, Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena,no. 234 pp. 83, 85
- Roethel, Hans K. and Jean K. Benjamin, Kandinsky: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings 1900-1915,no. 433
Additional Artwork by Artist
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