Vivian Endicott Barnett

Wassily Kandinsky was my chosen calendar artist for 2024, so I figured that since I don’t know much about him (besides being intrigued by his abstract artworks showcased for 2024) I should probably pick up a book or two and read up. This catalogue from the major retrospective exhibition hosted by the Guggenheim Museum, Centre Georges Pompidou, and Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus looked like the perfect place to begin since it promised a plethora of artworks from the three major museum/gallery collections of Kandinsky’s work. Unfortunately, the text assumed that the reader was well-versed in the Russian expat artist and his life, and dove right into a collection of essays that examined carefully curated sections of his artistic output. I’m sure that for Kandinsky aficionados, scholars, and collectors this book is a lovely addition to their reading list, but I needed a far more grounded approach to get into Kandinsky’s work. The focus on artistic minutia and art world language made me lose interest halfway through most of the essays, and the lack of embedded visuals left me with little to centre on. For a brief moment during Tracey Bashkoff’s essay “Kandinsky and ‘America in General’” I had some familiar subject matter to grasp - as she touches on the Third Reich’s effect on the German art community - but this moment was all to brief before I was thrown once again into the deluge. Not even once I had reached the collection of plates was I able to fully surface and find my bearing with Kandinsky, since the accompanying text lacked any sense of emotional depth and relied on the familiar academic snobbery and expectation of knowledge that so often alienates me while exploring art books. I appreciated the chronological aspect of the section, but left to the finale and without a well-narrated life story it came too late to remedy my disappointment with this book. I’ll take a break from any sort of further exploration of Kandinsky for now, and simply enjoy each month’s artwork as it is presented - and hopefully at some point I’ll stumble upon a more accessible method of understanding his work.… (altro)

A talented artist who studied in Munich, Berlin, and Paris, Hilla Rebay embraced the idea of non-representational art as both a style and an aesthetic philosophy. At age 22 she began to exhibit and was introduced to the influential and avant-garde gallery Der Sturm in Berlin, where she was drawn to modern giants such as Marc Chagall, Vasily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee. When Rebay moved to America in 1927, she was commissioned by Solomon R. Guggenheim to paint his portrait, and from that point she began her mission to enlighten him with the art she so fervently supported. Rebay introduced Guggenheim to artists such as Kandinsky, and in 1937, he established the Solomon R. Guggenheim foundation for the magnificent collection he had purchased, based on Rebay's advice. In 1939, he and Rebay started the Museum of Non-objective painting, which, in 1959 opened as today's Guggenheim Museum in New York City. This catalogue, which accompanies the exhibition Art of Tomorrow: Hilla Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim, shows Rebay not only as a director and curator, but also as a prolific artist--her early abstract watercolors, drawings, abstract and figurative collages, and large-scale non-objective paintings are featured here. Also included are early masterpieces by Rebay's artist colleagues and friends Arp, Bauer, Kandinsky, Richter, and others. Not only a testament to Rebay's artistic and curatorial prowess, this book also gives touching insight into the extraordinary collaboration between her and Solomon R. Guggenheim, which resulted in one of the world's finest collections of early 20th century modernism.… (altro)