Serenity

Wassily Kandinsky

Serenity

1938

In this painting various shapes (both two- and three-dimensional) float on a light blue background. The feel of the piece is light and airy, with cheerful bright colours being used throughout. The shapes are semi-recognisable: pieces of paper, scroll-shapes, and what could be cotton reels. This work was made late in Kandinsky’s career, and he incorporates elements of the Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism for which he is so well known. While the shapes in his compositions are not necessarily recognisable, the artist believed that they would give off a feeling through their colour: their “expression”.