Riding Couple

This painting marks the beginning of Kandinsky’s move towards Expressionism. While the artist has depicted realistic forms, with two clearly defined figures on horseback in the foreground, and a recognisable cityscape in the background across a flowing river, Kandinsky has begun to move away from realistic colours and naturalistic brush stroke. The paint is applied in colourful dabs, which successfully captures the bright lights of the city reflected in the river, and the light of the moon in the leaves of the trees. This paint application creates an intense, dynamic feel to the scene as we see the two lovers caught in the moonlight. The palette used is dominated with blues and purples with yellow highlights. The image of the rider on horseback was seen frequently in Kandinsky’s work at this time, symbolising the artist’s battle against traditional artforms and methods which would only get more extreme from this point onwards.