Spiritual healing

Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) is one of the great figures of Modernism, a pioneer of abstraction, whose works are known in this country mostly from reproduction. The Tate has now gathered some 60 key paintings from important international collections (a significant portion come from Kandinsky’s native Russia) and put together a superb exhibition which it’s difficult to fault. It is particularly refreshing to be completely unaware of the galleries for a change, and focused so intently on the paintings. I was involved, drawn in, enthralled. These are paintings which seem to dematerialise the walls rather than simply hang upon them. The drama of the pictures takes over and monopolises the attention. For once, the splendid view from the windows of St Paul’s and the river is ignored. Kandinsky commands pride of place.

The show opens in rather a restrained manner, with the early, more naturalistic landscapes, though already the blazon of colour is upon them. Kandinsky was undoubtedly aware of the contemporary achievements of Gauguin and Fauvism, but even more crucial at this point was the influence of Russian folk art. He loved the symbolism of popular carvings and ornaments and their bright colours. Look at the lovely glowing hues of the ‘Ludwigskirche in Munich’ (1908), reverberant and rich as stained glass. In this first room we encounter some of the Murnau paintings, made in the south Bavarian Alps, where he often stayed with his lover (a talented painter in her own right, celebrated last year in a show at the Courtauld), Gabriele Münter. Three pictures in particular stand out: ‘Murnau — Village Street’, ‘Study for Murnau — Landscape with Church’ and ‘Murnau — Staffelsee 1’. The heightened colour of these joyous paintings, with their purples, blues and deep yellows, matches and enhances their emotional thrust. Kandinsky dreamt about the light and colours of the landscape and began to paint his experience of them, rather than its topography.