Kandinsky always makes me happy, even when he may not intend it. This painting at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, called Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation), has bright colors and lines of motion that together make me happy. An improvisation is something that is made up or created on the spot but is usually done by a highly-skilled artist. Said artist can be a musician, composer, oil painter, sculptor, poet, etc. The distinguished point is that the work was not planned out ahead of time but was executed in a moment from pure artistic vigor.
The style of the painting resists characterization for several reasons, but I don’t want to go into all that here. I’ll just say that he wanted to create spiritual experiences with completely non-representational shapes. In this instance, Kandinsky seems to have done exactly that and to have done it with an unplanned improvisation.
I need a little happiness right now, so I’m grateful for Kandinsky’s artistic talent.
We must be soldiers for Art! 