Kandinsky’s abstract paintings are charged with emotion. The further away from realistic renderings they became, the more evocative they were with the use of raw color, form and line. Kandinsky often referred to his abstract paintings in musical terms such as ‘melodic’, which involves a single form, and ‘symphonic’ which is several different forms subordinated to an overall design, as can be seen in Squares with Concentric Circles. Color has a huge impact in abstract paintings and Kandinsky defined yellow as ‘an intense trumpet blast by its nature springing from the page’ and blue as having ‘a celestial sound that touches the depths’. These colors, both present in Squares with Concentric Circles, seem to justify Kandinsky’s descriptions.
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (1866–1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting one of the first purely abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa, where he graduated at Grekov Odessa Art school.
