GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In the spring of 1908, Wassily Kandinsky discovered Murnau, a village located at the foot of the Bavarian Alps. He lived in Murnau from 1909 to 1914, crucial years in his evolution toward abstraction. The pristine beauty of this landscape apparently exerted a liberating influence on his work, which shortly thereafter made a radical shift toward abstraction. Kandinsky's ultimate goal was to invest his paintings with spiritual meaning but without representational subject. In Murnau, Burggrabenstrasse 1, 1908, Kandinsky both abstracts from nature and tests the expressive possibilities of color. Although the village is recognizable, Kandinsky has not depicted the scene literally but rather decoratively.
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2010.
NOTES
Created in 1908
Text entries added from 2012 and 1997 guides.
This view of Murnau is one of the earliest urban landscapes Wassily Kandinsky painted in this town at the foot of the Bavarian Alps. Similar to examples from the French Fauve (Wild Beasts) movement of almost the same period, the painting shows the liberating effect of strong colors. It was during these crucial years that Kandinsky and his companion, Gabriele Münter, launched—with Franz Marc, Lionel Feininger, August Macke, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, and Albert Bloch—the Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider), one of the most progressive and inventive artistic groups in Germany. Shortly thereafter, Kandinsky made a radical shift toward abstraction. Münter kept this painting in her Murnau house until 1957, having hidden it and other Blaue Reiter works from the Nazis during the Third Reich.
Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Murnau, Burggrabenstrasse 1, 1908," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 233.
Kandinsky was one of the first artists of the early twentieth century to produce abstract paintings. Inspired by mysticism, his ultimate goal was to invest his work with spiritual meaning but without directly representing a subject. His style progressed rapidly as he learned to capture the essence of a subject through printmaking with woodcut, and from teh dynamic palette of the fauve painters, he realized the expressive potential of color.
It was shortly after Kandinsky discovered Murnau, a village at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, that the artist made a revolutionary breakthrough to abstraction. The pristine beauty of this landscape apparently exerted a liberating influence on his painting style which is evident in the slashing and swirling brushstrokes that create both identifiable elements as well as areas of pure color in Houses in Murnau. Using luminous pinks, yellows, blues, and greens and casting deep shadows at the right, Kandinsky conveyed the intense subalpine sunlight striking the village. The high-keyed palette, flattened forms, and nonillusionistic space reflect Kandinsky's belief in expressing his emotions through a subjective use of color, line, and form. Working in the brilliant light of Murnau, Kandinsky experimented increasingly with two-dimensionality and the freeing color from line to create abstract forms, the first steps in his path toward nonobjective painting. Houses in Murnau marks a critical stage when the artist was evidently giving freer expression to his mystical feelings and imagination, and shortly thereafter, between 1910 and 1914, Kandinsky created some of his first abstract paintings.
Shirley Reece-Hughes, "Houses in Murnau", in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Suzanne Kotz (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 120.
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Depicted location and place of origin: Murnau (inhabited place/Germany): TGN: 7004704
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Oil on cardboard
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- Archive.com~Read Wassily Kandisnky's On the Spiritual in Art: First Complete English Translation, with Four Full Colour Page Reproductions, Woodcuts and Half Tones on the Guggenheim Internet Archives.
- Guggenheim, New York~Read a biography of Kandinsky from the Guggenheim.
- Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid~View another work Kandinsky created in Murnau.
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General Description
In the spring of 1908, Wassily Kandinsky discovered Murnau, a village located at the foot of the Bavarian Alps. He lived in Murnau from 1909 to 1914, crucial years in his evolution toward abstraction. The pristine beauty of this landscape apparently exerted a liberating influence on his work, which shortly thereafter made a radical shift toward abstraction. Kandinsky's ultimate goal was to invest his paintings with spiritual meaning but without representational subject. In Murnau, Burggrabenstrasse 1, 1908, Kandinsky both abstracts from nature and tests the expressive possibilities of color. Although the village is recognizable, Kandinsky has not depicted the scene literally but rather decoratively.
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2010.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Archive.com~Read Wassily Kandisnky's On the Spiritual in Art: First Complete English Translation, with Four Full Colour Page Reproductions, Woodcuts and Half Tones on the Guggenheim Internet Archives.
- Guggenheim, New York~Read a biography of Kandinsky from the Guggenheim.
- Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid~View another work Kandinsky created in Murnau.
Notes
Created in 1908
Text entries added from 2012 and 1997 guides.
This view of Murnau is one of the earliest urban landscapes Wassily Kandinsky painted in this town at the foot of the Bavarian Alps. Similar to examples from the French Fauve (Wild Beasts) movement of almost the same period, the painting shows the liberating effect of strong colors. It was during these crucial years that Kandinsky and his companion, Gabriele Münter, launched—with Franz Marc, Lionel Feininger, August Macke, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, and Albert Bloch—the Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider), one of the most progressive and inventive artistic groups in Germany. Shortly thereafter, Kandinsky made a radical shift toward abstraction. Münter kept this painting in her Murnau house until 1957, having hidden it and other Blaue Reiter works from the Nazis during the Third Reich.
Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Murnau, Burggrabenstrasse 1, 1908," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 233.
Kandinsky was one of the first artists of the early twentieth century to produce abstract paintings. Inspired by mysticism, his ultimate goal was to invest his work with spiritual meaning but without directly representing a subject. His style progressed rapidly as he learned to capture the essence of a subject through printmaking with woodcut, and from teh dynamic palette of the fauve painters, he realized the expressive potential of color.
It was shortly after Kandinsky discovered Murnau, a village at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, that the artist made a revolutionary breakthrough to abstraction. The pristine beauty of this landscape apparently exerted a liberating influence on his painting style which is evident in the slashing and swirling brushstrokes that create both identifiable elements as well as areas of pure color in Houses in Murnau. Using luminous pinks, yellows, blues, and greens and casting deep shadows at the right, Kandinsky conveyed the intense subalpine sunlight striking the village. The high-keyed palette, flattened forms, and nonillusionistic space reflect Kandinsky's belief in expressing his emotions through a subjective use of color, line, and form. Working in the brilliant light of Murnau, Kandinsky experimented increasingly with two-dimensionality and the freeing color from line to create abstract forms, the first steps in his path toward nonobjective painting. Houses in Murnau marks a critical stage when the artist was evidently giving freer expression to his mystical feelings and imagination, and shortly thereafter, between 1910 and 1914, Kandinsky created some of his first abstract paintings.
Shirley Reece-Hughes, "Houses in Murnau", in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Suzanne Kotz (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 120.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location and place of origin: Murnau (inhabited place/Germany): TGN: 7004704
Process/materials
Oil on cardboard
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
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